By: Jackbastian K. Nazareth, Group CEO, Puravankara Projects
Track2Realty Exclusive: The real-estate category has taken the product-led path to brand building. Products occupy centre-stage in advertising campaigns; properties serve as brand emblems. Developers build properties, showcase them through advertisements, customers experience drives word-of-mouth, which in turn generates additional customers and on it goes. Through this iterative process, a brand is built. In other words, the brand identity is inherent in the developer’s real-estate footprint.
This path has served the category well thus far. But now, the landscape is changing– the market is increasingly getting crowded; new players are entering the fray. With liberalization of FDI norms, foreign entities too will stake out market share. Developers are no longer content to operate as regional players and nurture pan India ambitions. Against this milieu, the conventional brand building path may not suffice. The old ways of brand building may not serve those who aspire to scale-up quickly and expand into new geographies.
Trust is the biggest impediments to market entry, particularly for a category with a legacy of perception issues. Delays in project approvals and clearances exacerbate negative perceptions. Variances and vagaries of regulation across markets compound the challenge for a new entrant. Whereas the South is relatively conservative and developers await clearances prior to project launch, many in the North commence pre-launch sales without approvals in place. In these cases, the ability to generate sales hinges on the developer’s reputation and brand equity. Relatively unknown entities would be at a distinct disadvantage. Mitigating the brunt of delays while protecting brand reputation is the singular challenge for real-estate developers seeking pan-India expansion. The ability to absorb the impact of delays requires financial fortitude.
Brand-building is imperative in light of our category nuances, because at its core, a brand denotes quality and trust. Buying a home is a complex and highly involved process; consumers are willing to pay a premium for trusted, quality brands. As such, consistent, concerted brand-building activities will enable developers to command a market premium, overtime. One of the best arguments for brand-building is that it accelerates business growth – when you are well-known, when you symbolize quality, when you are trusted, you enable sales.
Competition has thrown up a plethora of product offerings, so that the consumer is riddled with choice. Faced with a sea of indistinct choices, how does the consumer distinguish one product from the other? Evidently, it is necessary to establish a differentiated brand positioning, and communicate it with resonance to the end-user.
It may be time for the category to move beyond logos, symbols and other such visual markers, and embody differentiation in all customer touch-points. I envision a significant opportunity for category transformation through brand differentiation.
It goes without saying, that brand promise must be embodied in the service delivery. Otherwise, it will ring hollow and brand equity will erode. Simply put, we must deliver what we promise and must not promise what we cannot deliver. By implication, the brand-building path must take cognizance of delivery constraints tied to the extraneous factors of clearances and approvals. With that said, communicating to the customer through the project lifecycle, particularly in light of delays, is an important element in brand reputation management.
Real-estate brands derive their equity from local connectedness. Credibility is a challenge for regional players in new markets. Showcasing accreditation to national bodies such as CREDAI is one way to gain credibility, providing the regional player is able to fulfil the pre-requisites of accreditation. Joint development with locally entrenched entities is an ingenious means to local connectedness-one that circumvents the bureaucratic challenges associated with market expansion.
Local affiliations, sponsorships, co-branded associations would drive awareness and affinity for a relatively unknown brand. Celebrity endorsement is yet another clutter-breaking route to visibility and credibility. The caveat with this tactic is that it generates eyeballs, but runs the risk that ‘celebrity-power’ could overshadow brand-saliency.
Perhaps socially responsible community engagement initiatives are a more enduring way to establish local affinity. Maintenance of local roads, parks and fire-stations, sponsorship of local arts, sports and environmental programs are evocative and effective conduits to brand-building.
The digital media is a boon for the realty sector in that it transcends geography. It opens up cost-effective customer acquisition avenues for regional players. Public relations activities also play a pivotal role in broadening the reach and reputation of regional players, through stories in the national media.
It would be prudent for developers to sow the seeds of brand-building in new markets, ahead of product launches. Regional players aspiring to territorial enlargement ought to leverage PR, co-branding and sponsorship opportunities, so that the brand is already familiar at the time of product launch. On a parallel path, shoring up word-of-mouth reputation in existing markets, is bound to permeate by osmosis into new markets.
While market differences may necessitate varied strategies, it is imperative that there is underlying synergy aligned to the brand and company vision. It must be underscored that brand-building is not a one-off activity–it is an ongoing, evolving process. It requires a long-term commitment and patience.
In a final word, as “location, location, location” is to real-estate, “consistency, consistency, consistency” is to effective branding.
