Track2Realty Exclusive: Isn’t it ironical that the second largest advertiser in the Indian media space is not attracting the best of creative talent and seen as stale and repetitive in the collective consciousness?
Track2Realty delves into the strategic think tank of some of the realty companies & advertising professionals to understand whether realty ads really lack class or the nature of the business does not allow innovation. More importantly, why are top creative agencies reluctant to serve the sector that spends a fortune over advertising?
Print advertisements, TV commercials, Hoardings, Online banners, BTL (Below the Line) promotions…the Indian real estate has done it all and in the process emerged as the second largest advertiser after FMCG sector.
However, when it comes to qualitative assessment, it fails way below the standards and the huge amount spent has only led to quantitative exposure. Realty ads lack class, to say the least. Innovation has been few and far between and while the developers seem to be pretty comfortable with the tried and tested format, creative heads of advertising agencies maintain creativity is normally toned down, forget any innovation being allowed to bring to the table
What is even worse for the brand architecture of Indian realty companies is the fact that while advertising is at the top of the branding pyramid (though they try their best to make media believe that word-of-mouth goodwill is at the top), still some of the best creative agencies are not willing to work for the sector due to issues ranging from curbing creativity to overall perception issues, not to speak of late or non-payment in some of the cases.
Requesting anonymity a brand manager with one of the leading ad agencies says the sector not only lacks class in advertising but in its overall brand management. According to him, beyond the non-payment by some of the mid-size companies, even the leading realty companies are not open to the idea of new ideas.
“See, most of the realty companies are still promoter driven where the creatives are picked at the whims and fancies of the owners and creative agencies are there just as order takers to comply with what is being asked to do. It is not that in many of the companies there is dearth of professionals who understand the brand management, but then they are smart enough to speak what the promoter wants to listen,” he says.
After such a straight take by an advertising professional one is left wondering whether this is the reality of a few companies or the entire sector. Well, if the advertisements of most of the realty companies are any indication, the sector seems to be yet to evolve from branding standpoint.
Another advertising agency that has only recently been asked to leave by a Noida-based developer confirms the monopolistic attitude of promoters. According to him, even if the company says to create something different, their subconscious mind of the developer is not ready to go beyond what best can be described as ‘property tours’ than advertising.
“What is even worse is that the ad copy is full of clichéd adjectives, all marketing collaterals having same pics and messages. Then how is your advertising different? How you say your USP can be just as important as what you say. Try to be creative when you write all your ads but don’t be cheesy. If you are having a bad day and cheesy is the best you can manage, it is better to stick with the mundane,” he says.
…to be continued
