Track2Realty Exclusive: Call it controversial, blame it to be provocative or just dismiss it against the ethos of prudish Indian culture, but sex has been the tried and tested mantra of selling in advertising. Real estate the world over has courted this formula not just with sexually inducive advertising but as a holistic mantra of marketing, even when the campaign has attracted widespread criticism.
Track2Realty tries to decode why the Indian real estate has shied away from using sex in advertising, even though local market otherwise is overusing it to sell from coffee to car with success.
A sexually suggestive real estate billboard that has sparked controversy in Calgary, Canada, is raising questions over the use of advertising in an industry that is facing slowing sales in several major markets.
The billboard, depicting elegantly coiffed Re/Max agent Diana Arvatescu with the suggestive line, “Let me take you home. It’s gorgeous inside,” has sparked opposition in Calgary, where a female broker was killed several years ago after being “lured to an open house.”
In Orlando a luxury condominium developer markets condos with an ad featuring a man looking up, presumably at the woman whose spread legs are the only thing one can see, along with the backs of her high heels. The caption reads “Wide Open Views”.
Are sexy real estate ads the way to go in a softening housing market in India as well? After all, sex has been used to sell just about everything, from toilet paper to coffee. But we rarely see it in real estate. One wonders why sex in real estate advertising provokes more commentary than, say, sexy images being used to sell cars.
Brand strategists though agree that they are not so much selling the home as they are selling the lifestyle that comes with the beautiful views and durable hardwood flooring. So maybe adding a dollop of sex into that mix can spice it up enough to make people who are after the glamorous image of the hot condo or modern loft pull out their check books and reach for a pen.
There is no question that a sexy ad can pull eyes away from whatever else they are engaged with to focus on the mute promise well maybe not of the models featured in the picture, but certainly of a life that is more exciting than what one was wading through.
Objections to sexually-driven real estate marketing are many and varied. The image of a couple enjoying the privacy of their luxury condo is not likely to put a family in the mood for buying. A scantily-clad youth can draw the ire of people who question the objectification of people, especially women, in marketing. And, of course, there are those who view certain themes to be in very bad taste and will avoid anything marketed with them on principle.
…to be continued
