In the dynamic property industry, there are two key drivers of marketing success.  They are: 1) Strategy, and (2) Tactics.  Strategy is what you determine inside the company and that includes the product, its positioning, its price among other things.  Tactics on the other hand are what you decide outside the company which include, the advertising, the PR, the sales channel among other things.

You call the two drivers: (1) Strategy, and (2) Tactics. Of the two, strategy should come first if you want to achieve market leadership.  This is because tactics like advertising, PR and its messaging cannot achieve more than what the strategy will allow.

However, most marketing communications area tends to focus on the tactics, when the real opportunities lie inside the company. The product, its price and its positioning.  In other words, the strategy.

A lot more can be achieved by having the right strategy comes before the tactics.

A strategy for property brands

What should a property brand do to achieve market leadership in a new territory? It should narrow its focus to one singular attribute, a key differentiating idea.  And then hammer that differentiating idea into everything it does, including its name and its strategic position.

In 2018, Trinity Group, a boutique developer from Puchong, planned to extend its reach into the upmarket and competitive suburb of Mont’ Kiara.  The project, located on Jalan Kiara 5 which sits on 2.9 acres of freehold land will have 330 units, with most units having a built-up area of 2,057 sq. ft. onwards.  For Trinity, venturing into the uncharted territory comes with its challenges.

First of all, the Trinity brand name was relatively unknown in the high-end Mont’ Kiara market.  And secondly, the developer’s brand image was associated with that of a mass market developer whose strength is in bringing affordable luxury to the middle market segment.  In other words, the property brand lacked a solid track record in this niche market segment.

In order to stand out in the Mont’ Kiara market, the property developer needed to develop a strategy that was focused on a single attribute, a key differentiating idea and then hammer that into everything it does. 

After conducting a series of in-depth competitive studies on the market, a strategy was developed to offer the discerning buyers in Mont’ Kiara a condominium project inspired by the idea of penthouse-styled living with luxurious built-up areas.  This differentiating strategy served the project well in a market that is receptive towards a high-priced positioning.

The name Pentamont (a portmanteau that combines two words “penthouse” and “Mont Kiara”) was created to represent a new category of game-changing condominiums crafted out of liberating spaces and well-planned designs to create a living experience reserved for residents of penthouses.  Everything, from the project’s brand name, its product styling and value proposition was carefully crafted to communicate this unique differentiating idea.

Tactical executions that are tied to strategic plans drive impactful business results

For the tactical execution, a unique integrated campaign “Size Does Matter” was mooted to promote Trinity Pentamont, dramatizing the key attribute of the units’ luxurious built-up areas.  For its media launch, Trinity worked with its agency partner to fly out 2 Sumo wrestlers from Japan to launch the property.  The developer built a sumo ring in the showroom living area and conducted a live sumo match witnessed by the media and other targeted stakeholders. Media members also took part in a fully interactive event followed by tours of the show units.

The result?  The project achieved 50% sales within the first month of its launch surpassing the developer’s target of 3 months to achieve a 50% take-up rate.  On top of that, the media event attracted wide media coverage with more than 60 media titles covering the event (generating a PR value of RM1.2 million ringgit) which helped Trinity to kick off the entire brand activation for the launch of Trinity Pentamont.

Conclusion

In the property industry, most marketing communications areas tend to focus on the tactical aspects of Marketing where they identify the audience that their brands are most likely to appeal to.  And then jump right into tactics to create a video, send out a news release or create an Instagram page targeting the intended audience.  We agree that tactics can be the fun part of planning, but like what they said, without strategy, tactic is aimless.

There’s a better approach for property developers who want to achieve market leadership in an increasingly challenging business environment.  You need to have a Strategy First, Tactics Second mindset by first mapping out a winning strategy for the project based on a key differentiation idea that resonates with its category (by studying the location of the project, its product category, its customers and the competition).  And then tie your marketing executions to your strategic plan in order to achieve market leadership and drive maximum sales growth.

Try this approach the next time you launch a new property project.

About Ng Ching Yee (CY Ng)
[email protected]

CY Ng, the award-winning marketer with a strong passion in property marketing is the Founder and CEO of Divergent Strategy (www.divergentstrategy.com.my). With over 25 years of property marketing and leadership experience at both large public-listed and growing development companies, she brings some of the best practices in strategic marketing, branding, sales management, product marketing and demand generation expertise in strategy and differentiation to help developers grow their market presence, drive revenue and enhance bottom-line growth. 

Extensive C-Suite Executive Experience with proven success in working with growing developers and jumpstarting growth by leveraging strategic insights. 

Best Marketer in Event & Experiential Marketing (Gold) in the Malaysian CMO Awards 2018

CY has earned accolades for her consistency in blending strategy with experiential marketing to create successful campaigns with outstanding sales performance and strong event ROI for a series of projects for Trinity Group.