Track2Realty Exclusive: It is generally believed in the sector that CSR can not be a brand driver the way other branding efforts are being evaluated in terms of ROI. Diipesh Bhagtani, Executive Director, Jaycee Homes, says that CSR alone cannot be the catalyst for brand building; there is no case study as such. CSR is seen more as a responsibility towards the society rather than a business promotion activity.
Track2Realty Exclusive: Brand building and maintaining the brand image is a big challenge for any business, and more so for in real estate where one has a direct contact with the end user. Moreover, brand positioning of the business of real estate is dependent on the overall eco system where demand and supply is dependent upon a host of external factors such as the state of the economy, government policies, etc.
Track2Realty Exclusive: Real estate in search of the twin objectives of sales and brand promotions has, of late, learnt that there is no better mechanism to achieve the both than property exhibitions. It brings many buyers & multiple sellers on board to showcase what is available in the given market.
Track2Realty Exclusive: Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a new concept in the Indian real estate and companies are going through the learning curve. Some are adopting it with greater amount of conviction, while for others it is an emerging necessary evil.
Track2Realty Exclusive: A section of developers are not in favour of experimenting with the advertisements as this may have negative effect. According to Diipesh Bhagtani Executive Director, Jaycee Homes, ads have some components which are common and similar in all their creative. This helps us build, recognize and recollect the brand name. This also helps build and reinforce the brand identity.
Track2Realty Exclusive: I won’t blame the marketing or the branding team in such a set-up where the defined role of corporate communication is very clear—advertising specialist is one who can negotiate the best rate with the media or the ad agencies, PR guy is one who can get them in column-centimetre of print and soundbytes of television studio and others are good for their dealing with the vendors to deliver brochure and other marketing kit on time. Any extra grey cell and one is a misfit in the company and liability for the management.
Track2Realty: Mumbai witnessed sluggish commercial leasing activity during the third quarter of 2013. The micro markets of Lower Parel, Thane and Navi Mumbai witnessed maximum traction and were the preferred region for office space leasing. Rental values in Mumbai remained largely stable with marginal dip in the CBD and ABD locations, according to the findings of CBRE’s latest report,India Office Market View Q3 2013.
Track2Realty Exclusive: Public Relations or the PR stands for different things to different people in this part of the world. In the business of Indian real estate the philosophy is how much coverage do I get by paying how less. And only developers are not to be blamed for this since agencies understand the psychology of developers and tend to over-promise, thanks to the cut-throat competition in the business.
Track2Realty Exclusive: The question is do brand ambassadors really buy the flats of the realty firms they endorse? Most unlikely! Of course, those who earn huge sums won’t live in flats even if they are very luxurious.
Track2Realty Exclusive: In today’s real estate market where projects are more often than not adding only to the inventory, marketing department of respective companies are wondering as to what went wrong in the brand positioning of the project.