Real estate narrative: Can positive storytelling revive the realty market?

[ecis2016.org] We explore how the real estate industry can create its own effective narrative like some of the other mature industries, to gain customers’ acceptance

When the mutual funds business was trying to gain ground in India the Mutual Fund Association of India successfully pulled in the members to create a narrative ‘Mutual Fund Sahi Hai’. The assets under management (AuM) in India’s mutual fund industry stands at Rs 24.55 trillion, as of May 31, 2020. The AuM in India has grown four-fold in a decade (2010-2020) and the industry added 44.2 million folios between March 2014 and June 2019. Almost the entire growth in folios came from the individual investors’ segment (retail and HNI), which logged a CAGR of 15.5% over this period. Their average ticket size, too, increased from Rs 1,02,000 in March 2014 to Rs 1,69,000 in June 2019.

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Similarly, when there were concerns over the cola industry for its high sugar content and harmful effects, the two leading and competing brands got together to create their own narrative. Bollywood celebrities and doctors were roped in, to endorse that a little bit of sugar is not that bad for health. Narratives, hence, play a large role in shaping public perception and industries across the board have been known to create their own narratives, to gain acceptance.

What is a real estate narrative?

In the business of real estate, a lot has been said about the need to create the right kind of narrative. Developers have often been found clueless, when there is a crisis over the business. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, there are more question marks over the sector, where buyers often have to make the biggest investment of life. After some initial panic, the voices coming out of the sector are either a defensive stance of, ‘sales are not as bad as anticipated’ or ‘all is well; the market has bounced back’. Developers need to acknowledge that the business needs to have a narrative that could gain acceptance among the buyers.

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JC Sharma, VC and MD of Sobha Limited, points to a larger issue when he says that like any other sector, real estate too has a strong symbiotic relationship between its products and its narrative. Narratives can evoke trust and authenticity during the present pandemic, when consolidation within the sector is imminent. “Players with strong processes in place, who have a good track record of delivering high quality products in time, will stand firm. They have been communicating with authenticity and sharing their stories with their target audience and the stakeholders. Such players will dominate the real estate sector soon and will gain immensely, by communicating with credibility,” says Sharma.

Real estate marketing during COVID-19

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Apurva Gupta, chief marketing officer, Rivali Park, CCI Projects, believes that during the present tough times for the industry, several real estate players and bodies are stepping forward, with plans and policies to deal with this unexpected situation. They are positively catering to the needs of construction workers and labourers, which can prove to be a major factor for its revival, considering the sector’s dependency on this migrating workforce. “With the economy now slowly rebooting, the industry, along with the government, must find strategies to meet the pent-up demand created due to the acute shortage of labourers. The resumption of construction activities will have multiple advantages like wages to labourers, cash flow to developers, credit growth for financial institutions and reopening of the country’s economic activity. Having targeted relief measures in place, will ensure that the industry continues to remain a foremost employment generator, thus, leveraging its future prospects,” says Gupta.

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How to create a positive real estate narrative?

Acceptance: Accept that there is a crisis. By denying the fact that there is stress and insisting that ‘all is well’ the buyers are further being pushed away due to lack of trust. After all, the sector also has to deal with its historical legacy of poor perception and projection.

Know your customer: Like any other business, KYC (know your customer) is the key in the housing market. Put yourself into the shoes of the prospective buyers. If someone has been financially hit (job losses or salary cut) there is no point telling him how this is the right time to buy a house. The better narrative would be to tell him to opt for a smaller apartment and have a lesser LTV (loan-to-value) with the bank.

Content marketing: Content marketing has been debated quite a bit, without being properly understood by the key stakeholders. The need of the hour is to have an informed debate, rather than guesswork. One may also need to rope in third-parties that are trustworthy in the public’s opinion.

Compelling storytelling: Human mind is pre-programmed to connect with compelling stories that we could relate ourselves with. Share stories of real life experiences of your buyers; keep the focus on ROX (return on experience), rather than ROI (return on investment).

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Focus on the larger issues in the micro-market: Across the country, there are projects that have actually elevated the profile of a region. If you have that kind of project, share it with the larger audience, subtly.

Video narratives: Create short videos with compelling stories about the ROI, comparison with other asset classes, projects, real life experiences, etc. This could help you to create a captive audience that will trust the brand and not reject the narrative as paid propaganda.

Spread the narrative: Make the compelling stories with media go viral. It has the potential to turn a vicious cycle into a virtuous cycle.

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Creating a narrative and making it gain acceptance needs far more effort than creating branded marketing content. It is about connecting with the audience and only a seasoned content specialist can goad the sector to long-term results. The incentive and the perspective has to be different.

FAQ

(The writer is CEO, Track2Realty)

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Category: Lifestyle