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Realty badshah’s are visiting hip branding studios for a corporate style makeover...
Gone are the days when advertising agencies wanted a long list of clientele and a presence in every vertical. Today, advertising agencies are going in for a clientele base that boasts of fewer but renowned names and believe in investing their intellectual capital on them. Leading this new herd of advertising agencies is Orchard Advertising which boasts of sharp creative acumen and a committed team that is charting an opulently crafted presence for itself.
Orchard began its journey in 1999 as a protégé of Leo Burnett and was a brainchild of Arvind Sharma, Chairman & CEO, Leo Burnett and based in Bangalore. Speaking of the agency’s journey, Thomas Xavier, National Creative Director, Orchard Advertising reminisces, “We deliberately moved to Bangalore as the boom was beginning to start at that moment (1999) here and we had good access to talent & infrastructure. It helped us evolve from a totally different perspective.” Evolve it surely did and how?
Thomas Xavier states, “We understand the Indian entrepreneur better than any other agency and we have been able to evolve because we were not under the shade of Leo Burnett.” Orchard has access to all the learnings and the wisdom of a network like Leo Burnett Worldwide. This becomes one of the highlight of Orchard as Thomas points out, “We don’t have what we call the aligned accounts that agencies are forced to take on. That’s one problem which all the multinational agencies face.” The strategy of Orchard has been to garner few accounts but big ones and put in the best of its talent base to work on them. “So, we give our intellectual expertise to smaller set of accounts and our clients get better quality of inputs as all the senior people are available for all the clients,” enthuses Thomas. When the topic shifts towards approaching a client, Thomas gets candid, “We need to understand what the client’s marketing ambitions are? So when we take a business, we expect the client to take us on his side of the table. Our idea is to give us the right to think from within the brand. So, we get inside the brand and we don’t sit outside.”
Biggies apart, mid-size companies have also joined the party, among them Taneja Developers and Infrastructure (TDI) whose account is now handled by veteran Rediffusion DY&R, Purvankara, Eros, Vipul, et al. “Brand building is an integral part of any corporation as market dynamics have changed. One needs to invest in a brand to keep afloat in a competitive market,” explains Brijesh Bhanote, VP-Sales & Marketing, Vipul Ltd. This emphasis on brand building is not an overnight development. Considering that quite a few of the biggies have fallen to the charms of an IPO, corporate brand-enhancing campaigns have been a norm over the last couple of years to attract the crème in investors. With more real estate majors going in for an IPO, the high visibility generated by corporate campaigns plays a crucial role in successfully marketing an IPO. Anmol Dar, MD, Superbrands added another angle to the issue. “The number of realty players in metros have proliferated. Each of them has to convey how extraordinary they are and this comes by indirectly showing that the competitor is inferior,” he says.
The government allowing 100% FDI in the sector in 2005 is another reason for the branding drive. Jones Lang LaSalle estimates that nearly $10 billion worth of foreign investment is all set to enter over the next two years, with global names like Ayala (Philippines) and Signature (Dubai) already doing the rounds. Big ticket deals like the recent Morgan Stanley rendezvous with Oberoi Constructions, worth a staggering $150 million are the norm.
Given the stakes, nothing is too big and no amount too steep to cultivate your brand in the eyes of these global investors, right? So DLF is sponsoring several flagship events like DLF Cup, Tri Series and the UAE Cup; biggie EmaarMGF’s recent association being the T20 World Cup. An increasing number of real estate players are in the process of evolving into national players. To cultivate hitherto unexplored markets from ground zero, brand visibility is the key mantra. For example, few in India’s northern and western markets would have heard of Sobha Developers or of its huge might in the southern markets. Currently, with over 50 residential complexes in Bangalore, Sobha Developers is all set to wade into cities like Hyderabad, Mangalore, Kochi, Pune, Bhubaneshwar, Chandigarh and Ahmedabad. They’ll need to cut across competition in the regions. Divya Pall, Senior Manager-Marketing Communications, DTZ says, “As the competition matures, every company needs to differentiate itself from others. Primary purpose of brand building is to build confidence in the brand promise, which amongst the end-users translates into improved market penetration, premium & sales.”
As the moolah flows in, the trend is only going to move northward. “We believe that a strong DLF brand will facilitate new business generation and enhance our ability to attract talented personnel,” says Shalini.
Others also voice similar sentiments. “The brand-spend for sure is going to show an upward trend. As we diversify our operations and reach, we plan to allocate more resources towards branding,” avers Kaushik Sengupta, VP Sales & Marketing, Eros Group. Bhanote of Vipul also chips in. “The canvas is getting wider. We expect a considerable rise in brand spend,” he says.
According to ASSOCHAM, the Indian real estate sector is expected to become a $60 billion commodity by 2010 from the current levels of $16 billion. PHDCCI predicts that this figure will zoom to $180 billion by 2020. And this despite the supposed present downturn in real estate fortunes due to rising interest rates. No wonder realty companies are cruising along the branding highway, singing in unison – “If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands…”
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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).
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