WELCOME TO

How to build a real estate brand

But first we need to understand how a real estate company operates

Our focus is on the development phase of the property cycle

• There are several functions that ensure a well run real estate property development project/company

Development

UseDisposal

The property life cycle

• The cycle holds good for all property, commercial as well as residential as well corporate procurement

Development

UseDisposal

The departments in a typical real estate company

• Accounts & Legal• Managing legalities and smooth flow of money

• Administration & Operations• Ensuring the company and its projects functions without

any problems

• Sales & Marketing• Key department in ensuring closing deals and attracting

customers

• Design & Architecture• The creative department that starts the process of building

homes

• Procurement/letting/leasing department• Identifying right kind of properties to procure

We now look at how each department gets impacted as we build a strong real estate brand

But why do we need to build a brand? Is there a benefit?

A strong brand can sustain bad times.

Consumers choose strong brands at times of uncertainty.

There are far too many builders in Bangalore but very few are actual brands

• If asked consumers will have differing opinions about each companies / brands idea or strategy

Yet they are identifiable names and therefore mighty competitors

We need to be able to stand apart in this crowd and in order to do that we need to find that winning strategy

• A way to differentiate ourselves from the herd and be seen without spending too much money

• A strategy which gives us cut through without too much spends

But more than that brands contribute to your bottom line

• They are worth their weight in dollars and allow you to sustain bad times and grow exponentially in the good times.

Most big brands are 30 to 50% of the value of the company

Apple Inc.’s market cap is $446.99 billion dollars and the value of the brand is $182.95 billion dollars

• This means without the brand value, Apple Inc. would be worth $264 billion dollar.• A huge bite out of the whole.

Coca Cola’s market cap is 170 billion dollars and its brand value is 74 billion dollars which is 44% or the company’s value

• The glass would be only half full without the dollar value of the brand name

How do you build a real estate brand?

Sticking to the basics:Quality & Service

Well designed homesSmooth and easy sales process

Good advertising and good after sales service

Quality and service

• Sales department• Prompt availability of information• Site visits with detailed information of the property from layout to financials

• Design & Architecture and Operations• Good solid design with all the necessary expectations, timely progress with timely

delivery

• Legal and Accounts• Easy paperwork with documentation and clauses explained and simplified

Many make such claims but few live up to the promise.If one brand manages to deliver on the basics it stands apart• One example of this in another category is IndiGo

• The company leads in domestic share of air travel by promising the most basic of needs from that sector: On time

Demographic & Psychographic based targeting: Pick your audience

Budget homesLuxury homes for the middle class

Ultra Luxury homes

The targeted model• Design & Architecture

• Changes with each new project based on the target audience• Procurement

• Finding the perfect location based on the demographic and psychographics of the TG• Marketing

• The right kind of messaging, without being generic, focusing only on those things that differentiate such as the right kind of amenities for the right audience

• Sales• If talking to HNIs then giving them a luxury experience before they buy the home of if talking

to business people then keeping the sales process no-nonsense

Impact of the targeted model• Location

• Based on demographic chosen the location would differ

• Amenities based on audience• For low priced apartments you may have more amenities but very specific kind of services and amenities

for high priced condos

• Number of apartments per floor• This can become a selling point if there are fewer apartments in mid range condos with greater floor rise

• Design of building• More light & air or a different design style suited to more traditional audience or a more modern audience

For instance Ultra HNIs have specific preferences for homes

The choices have to be made while starting your first project

Illustrating with examples from other categories

• Fastrack today can sell any product as long as it is for the youth and it is a budget product

• If it is expensive, for an older audience and not stylish then it is not Fastrack and hence will not sell

Illustrating with examples from other categories

• Maruti Suzuki has become known for fuel efficient cars, easy maintenance and value for money

• They are not known for luxury or status symbols• Hence the failure of Baleno, Kizashi and the Grand Vitara

Illustrating with examples from other categories• Honda today is expanding into more segments

including value segments

• They sell both the Brio as well as the CRV with equal success

• They established themselves in the premium segment and then brought out value offerings

Implications

• For a consumer buying a home a brand name is important• It establishes credibility and trust• It also gives them an address they can proudly speak about

• Homes are very high involvement purchases and for most Indians buying a home comes after much hard work and the loans take several years to pay

• Hence if a builder is known for creating low cost homes, a luxury address from the same builder does not have the same status impact

• Yet a builder known for building luxury properties creates a budget property it lends credibility to their brand name

Route 2 allows us to choose the kind of builder we want to be such as a niche property builder who makes semi luxury homes and then diversify

A higher order benefit where the destination speaks about your personality: A Ideology

Regardless of brand or region, Consideration is definitely heightened if the brand is perceived to have a POV.

“Coke believes the world would be a better placeif we saw the glass as half full not half empty.”

“adidas believes the world would be a better place if people ignored the notion of failure.”

• “Dove believes the world would be a better placeif women were allowed to feel good about themselves.”

The brand’s point of view on how things should be.

“One must be something in order to do something”: Goethe

Great brands are caused by a cause: great brands have a purpose higher than profit

The answer to higher growth lies not in the question ‘how to grow more?’ but in ‘how do we mean more?’

An Ideology• A higher order benefit speaks to your consumer about the kind of homes you

build

• To your customer it gives an ideology that they believe in and their home reflects the same

• While creating such homes are not easy or cheap, they create a very specific space for your brand in the consumers minds becoming more desirable

• This also allows us to charge a premium for the property

Examples of Ideology:

Environmentally friendly homes or green homes

• Rain water harvesting and water recycling plant

• Green building material• Garden space and lesser trees cut

Examples of Ideology:

Architectural styles

• Reviving lost architectural styles• Creating buildings based on a single

design philosophy like using natural surroundings to create homes

Examples of Ideology:

Honest Builders

• No cash transactions• Absolute transparency• No hidden costs or clauses

But to choose this last route, one needs to clearly decide on the vision of the company

• In the last instance each department of the organization aligns itself to the ideology.

Deciding what we are can be arrived at through the following models

Who Am I?

Who Am I For?

Why Buy Me?

The concept of challenger brandsHow they compete against brand leaders

• Source: Eating the big fish - Adam Morgan

The leaders advantage• No. 1 of the category, thus change averse

• They are convention driven

• Has huge backing of critical mass

• ‘The superiority of their advantage increases almost exponentially the larger they get’• The law of increasing returns

• What the law of increasing returns means is that the challenger has to swim considerably harder than the brand leader just to remain in the same place

On the other hand• Challengers are disruption driven

• Aim to dislodge the No.1

• David vs Goliath • Ask: Why Not ?

• Challengers are change catalysts

• They are by nature restless and in the courage zone

What challengers do1. Redefine the Category2. Make a Powerful Statement3. Assume Thought Leadership4. Create symbols of re-evaluation5. Sacrifice & Choices6. Big Bang News7. Out Maneuver8. High Media Presence9. Become Idea Centered10. Mischievous Disruptions

Whichever route we choose we need to:Start with why?

Discussion

Thank you.