By: Neeraj Bansal, Partner—Real Estate & Construction, KPMG
Track2Realty Exclusive: Though, a strong branding strategy could help deliver significant economic gains to developers, too much branding must be avoided as it doesn’t add any value. Developers should avoid excessive branding such as branding every single building or every single aspect of a project.
Too much branding is like no branding, since customers may not remember these individual brands and may not be able to have meaningful relationships or even perceptions about increasing number of projects and developments.
In addition to master brand which must be the centerpiece of corporate strategy, a developer may build brand for additional developments which are either large or unique (for instance destinations, icons or community).
All the projects level branding activities must fall under these bigger brands; otherwise, it would be difficult for any brand to stand. Further, marketing investments in the small projects may not have real branding effects besides supporting sales at a specific point in time.
Moving away from commoditized mindset to a brand driven organization is an essential requirement for developers looking to gain a competitive advantage.
A strong brand strategy goes a long way in establishing a unique identity, reduce marketing cost, improve project acceptability, minimize damage in case of any failure and stand apart during weak economic cycles.
Though, branding strategies can be framed and modified in a relatively short time, it needs to be followed for a long period before the benefits can be witnessed. Thus, branding is a continuous exercise which must be followed religiously over an organizations lifetime.
