INDUSTRY FOCUS the value of BRAND PUBLICITY
INDUSTRY FOCUS the value of BRAND PUBLICITY
in place making
To put it simply, a cohesive marketing strategy that takes into account who your audience is, the context of engagement, what you’ re trying to say, and when and how you’ re going to deliver your messages is absolutely fundamental.
In the growing and highly competitive landscape of property development, creating a clearly defined brand proposition supported by the right sales and marketing strategy is an essential component of any new development. Just look at the growth along the North Coast of KwaZulu-Natal and you’ ll fully appreciate just how challenging it’ s becoming, not only to differentiate your product offering, but also to create brand equity that will last long after the first phase of sales has been achieved. So with the traditional structures of agents and advertising as established conventions in generating that all-important sales momentum, we have to ask: does public relations have a place in the marketing mix of property development, and if so, what is its role?
UNDERSTANDING THE BRAND’ S ESSENCE
Brand development and communications need to be underpinned by in-depth research into global macro trends. Fuelled with this invaluable insight, one needs to enter an immersive brand development process that not only informs the brand’ s DNA, but significantly influences the layers that the brand’ s proposition, identity and marketing communications are based on. Bigger picture thinking that moves beyond just a logo is what we need to aim for. Ultimately we must strive to uncover the brand’ s essence, and the result of this process is a powerful set of principles that guides future brand articulation and acts as a reference point, informing even business and strategic decision-making.
CREATIVE ARTICULATION
Having defined what your brand stands for and what you aim to achieve, an important next step is creating an authentic identity that speaks to these principles and powerfully communicates the brand message. Aligning a creative interpretation of your development to the brand DNA translates into a synergistic expression of your product, backed with the clarity of on-point messaging framed in appropriate extensions that speak to the brand and product at every level.