Track2Realty Exclusive: When it comes to the first P, that is Performance, the brand is measured at two levels—product level and experience level. At the product level, it must satisfy the functional and utilitarian characteristic as well as deliver on its practical physical attributes. It must stand up to the expected quality or design excellence ingredients like creativity, exclusivity, craftsmanship, precision, materials, high quality & innovation.
The brand must perform at the experiential level as well; that is the emotional value of the brand the consumers buy. Brand is not just about the ‘better product’ anymore; it is about the special experience people feel in buying and using or enjoying that ‘better product’.
This should be all the more relevant in the real estate where in most of the cases, consumers buy the house once in a lifetime. The question is—does it happen after buying a real estate product, even if one has bought the luxury apartment? Well, to be honest, in the Indian context home buying is the biggest emotional value and hence that special experience is there even if one has ‘compromised’ with what kind of a house one actually wanted to buy.
But when it comes to the performance of the brand, real estate fails miserably and more often than not the home buyers are not getting what they were promised or shown in the sample flat. As a matter of fact, a survey by Track2Realty finds that eight out of ten home buyers are sulking across the country after buying their dream home.
It is a brand killer for the entire realty sector per se and hence the sector in general and most companies in particular fail on the scale of performance.
The second P, that is Paucity, says over revelation and distribution of luxury brand causes dilution of luxury character, hence many brands try to maintain the perception that the goods are scarce.
Burberry, for example, diluted its brand image in the UK in the early 2000 by over-licensing its brand, thus reducing its image from a brand whose products were consumed only by the elite. Gucci, now largely sold in directly-owned stores, following a nearly crippling attempt to widely license their brand in the 1970s and 1980s.
In a larger context, there is natural paucity (actual scarcity). Natural paucity is generally as a consequence of scarce ingredients (platinum, diamonds, etc.) and/or those goods that require exceptional human expertise (e.g. handcrafted quality) that constraint mass production. There can also be technology-driven paucity as a natural consequence of conception-time involved in continuous innovation and research-&-development process.
Beyond these, brands employ promotional strategies like limited editions, special series, etc. Another deviation to this strategy is customization &/or individual craftsmanship of luxury good.
How far is that true with Indian real estate? Home though a scarce commodity in a country where housing shortage stands at 26 million, still fails to fulfil the desired ‘paucity’ characteristics of branding. Even if one takes ‘super luxury’ apartments and not mass housing as a case study, one still wonders is there any difference among the projects available in the market, forget the element of ‘exclusivity’.
When one finds the billboard of a super luxury apartment claiming to be sold ‘only by invitation’ on the down market crossways, one wonders whether they expect the ‘who-is-who’ to cross over these dingy by-lanes in search of a prestigious and exclusive address. Fact of the matter is that for the Indian real estate brand, at its best is something that is sold costly.
…to be continued
