Do Real Estate brands actually make the effort to differentiate their product offering?

By Bennett,  Marketing & Brand Head

How important is Differentiation in Real Estate and why is execution critical to make that difference felt and understood?

In today’s dynamic scenario, real estate clones spring up faster than one can blink an eye.Let alone allowing a company to register profits through incremental premium charged by created differentiation.

The moot question is how can a brand supposed to penetrate one’s conscious, subconscious and the subterranean layers of one’s mind to create any favourable perceivable impact.

But how can differentiation be managed? Why must differentiation be relevant? And how does one perpetuate this relevance? All of this if managed well, allows any chances of a brand to have a strong and meaningful residual impact.

DIFFERENTIATION IS OFTEN MISUNDERSTOOD

Differentiation cannot merely be about creating a Unique Selling Proposition, crafting a benefit statement or the articulation of a Positioning Line. The reason being that most product offerings contain the same product attributes and therefore the Unique Selling Proposition if articulated ceases to exist and becomes only a temporary phenomenon. Then further, are functional attributes enough to warrant higher price realization?

In today’s evolving conditions, differentiation is as short-lived as it has begun. In real estate, where all decision making in a sub crore price band is made solely on price, even the basic parameters to evaluation of a specific brand offering is relegated to ‘best-in-class amenities’ being made available.

CREATING DIFFERENTIATION

A continual evolution of product attributes creating functional differentiation, a continual bettering and evolution of the articulation of how it fulfils not just a deep latent need but to really find resonance with the brand, a seamless transfusion of a higher order need state.

I think sometimes finding new answers by raising new questions more often than not helps find a new resonance with the brand and what it stands for. How can it stand for not just a deeply desirable need but most importantly how does it defend its promise against a host of other me-toos and clones in the market place and then of course continue to make its promise relevant to the prospect.

BRIDGING RELEVANCE THROUGH LOWER PRICING

Given the challenges of oversupply, the market offtake, especially amongst lesser known brands are dependant on lowering prices and succumbing to hard customer bargaining. While access to construction capital is becoming a major barrier, the lack of proprietary ownership to replicating floor plans, design, absolute need-to-have amenities and sales, marketing and communication strategy being plagiarised with no qualms at all are but a given in the current scenario.

Hyper-competition is rampant with competitors blatantly stealing headlines and the product proposition that is articulated is copied and hence what might have been a differentiator is under enormous strain with supposedly no credibility at all.

In the real estate continuum where walls and a roof are commoditised to a point where everything is brought down to the least common denominator, how does one create differentiation, how does one allow to command significant incremental over another in an intensely competitive marketplace.

So, you’re in a highly commoditised market with zero product differentiation and intense price competition. So, what are you going to do now? Sell cheaper? Steal attractive headlines from another brand and try and appropriate this or introduce what all real estate brands in the market place do which is boast of world class amenities and living standards. And what does one do when even all of this fails?

So, how does one initiate, establish and perpetuate differentiation?

Simply put, occupying mind space is important, occupying it permanently is even more important and becoming the primary brand of consideration by continually ‘REINVENTING’ the brand narrative which tells a thousand stories very differently but keeping the essence of the brand intact. The trademarking of innovative design, phraseology becomes critical. This does take a lot of effort though which is not commonplace in this market.

What delivers brand supremacy, and eventually incremental higher price realization is the unequivocal sameliness of the thread with which the brand narrative is being communicated. Be it at the reception desk, be it in the manner it is being felt though every object placed, congruously or the arrangement or various other elements of sensorial appeal

The manner in which the brandis being subliminally layered in at every point of interaction at the engagement while waiting. The sustained capture of one’s senses. The meticulousness with which the brand, product story is being narrated. Sales neveraccrue through a push salesman manager or a die-hard plea to convince on the product appeal and most certainly not on bringing the price down by 20% from the communicated retail pricing across external communication platforms.

In layering through every feature representation and the highest form of product involvement, the brand delivers higher perceivable value, engagement, absolute relevance and desire to own.

Corporate Comm India (CCI Newswire)