By: Ravi Sinha
Track2Realty Exclusive
Less launches, pragmatic marketing, innovative packages, product bundling and online brand promotion, the real estate developers in Mumbai are leaving no stone unturned to beat the inflationary pressure and make the festive spirit of Navratra-Diwali alive. While the tried and tasted method of discounts and free gifts still remain in business, various out-of-the-box marketing strategies are seen this time around to make sure developers make up for the loss of property sales in the last few months.
After all, property booking in Mumbai has touched a record 27 months low; developers believe the festive season will bring smile back to the sector. After all, Navratri is an auspicious occasion and people especially defer their property buying decision to these days. Though there is a concern on rising interest rates, but developers believe genuine property buyers know that interest rates do vary during the general 20 years loan period.
In fact around this time the buyers are also looking forward to get some kind of discount or price advantage. And since the market has turned out to be a buyers’ market, the developers are also not disappointing. Ackruti City is launching Hill Crest, a residential project where they are offering discount of Rs.50-150 per sq ft depending upon the various factors such as sale volume and purchasing inclinations.
Mayur Shah, Chief Sales, Ackruti City says, “Festival season promises a lot for everyone in the real estate industry including the buyers. In India, festival season has always seen good sales as traditionally these are the times when Indians invest in things of great value, such as gold, car or home. Hence buyers who were holding their decisions will now close their deals with festival benefits and discounts.”
Kruti Jain, Director, Kumar Urban Developers asserts they are getting positive response from home buyers and to keep maintaining this they are trying to go for more affordable housing concepts, good discount offers and schemes. They have come up with a unique concept KUL Ecoloch which is been constructed on the need and requirements of our home buyers. KUL is also offering 0% interest rate for one year on their ready stocks which coincides with their 45th anniversary offer.
“We come up with scheme after a lot of research and gaging the need of the market. Thus most of these offer we definitely get positive outcome from it. For example, our 45th anniversary was to help client plan their finances better so that client do not need to compromise and differ investments in doing up their house when they are moving into a new house. And especially during festive season buyers prefer to do huge investments,” says Kruti.
Atul Modak, Head of Kohinoor City agrees with this. According to him the strategy, though sales driven, may not lead to conversion as it is a demand driven market where a huge investment in house purchase may not be guided by a world tour package along with the property booking.
“I believe buying a house is not like buying a television or refrigerator where a good marketing proposal leads to purchase. It is a demand driven market and while people may postpone house buying during festivals because of auspicious value, marketing innovations are not the catalyst to increase chances of conversion,” says Modak.
Bharat Dhuppar, CMO, Omkar Realtors & Developers also believes the focus should always remain on the product offering and providing a value proposition. According to him generating interest cannot be an outcome of a marketing innovation alone. In today’s scenario it is the interest rate, the growing inflation and general economic slowdown which are more important.
“It is the sentiments more than the lucrative offerings that play a role in any sale. During festive time it has become a norm to provide unique and interesting offerings to customers, as the customer is expecting the same, but in my opinion they really are not the reasons for deciding on property purchase,” says Dhuppar.
Notwithstanding such school of thought, Sunil Mantri Group’s Mantri Mahotsav offers cash discounts or freebies valued from Rs.30,000 to Rs.1,00,000. New project launches seen at this time also give a chance for ‘early bird’ discounts at a new location. Home loan companies and banks also usually offer a lower rate of interest during the festive occasion of Dussehra-Diwali.
As a matter of fact, the sluggish market sentiments have forced the developers to think out-of-the-box this time around. And hence various innovations are being applied to bring cheer to the sentiments of the prospective home buyers. One such marketing innovation is the holiday packages where a lot of builders are creating holiday packages. Some of the marketing innovations club the aspirations of the average Mumbaikars along with the property buying. For instance, Navratri 2011 schemes like ‘Buy a home and win a trip for two to Goa/Kerala.’ Some premium property developers are also offering foreign tours – to Singapore, Mauritius, Sri Lanka etc.
Developers are also offering product bundling by creating a lot of modern amenities in their projects and are giving exclusive access to the property buyers to these assets. Some of them have tied up with the group buying sites for the purpose where a set of like minded property seekers join together and deal with the developer with their wish list.
In terms of brand building also there are out-of-the-box strategies applied and while print media still remains the preferred choice, the Out-of-Home options are increasingly being replaced by creating proper presence of their brand on major websites in India and are going for a thoughtful approach to brand building. Their aim is to create a simplified presence online from a user perspective and attract customers to their projects. Developers start realizing that online reputation management is now the key to attract the customers.
