As consumer expectations and digital adoption reshape real estate marketing, brands must continuously adapt to changing consumer behaviours and technological advancements. Housing.com has been at the forefront of this transformation, embracing a digital-first approach and leveraging consumer insights to redefine how India buys and sells homes.
In an exclusive conversation on Pitch BrandTalk, Snehil Gautam, Chief Marketing Officer, Housing.com, shares the brand's journey, innovative marketing strategies, and the key factors behind its successful campaigns.
Shift to a Digital-First Strategy
Housing.com’s brand evolution has been about transitioning from traditional marketing methods to a comprehensive digital-first approach. “For us, we started heavily investing in the Housing.com brand during the 2018 period. And when we started, our media plans were very centric to television, because that's what the consumers were watching. But a lot of things have changed in the last five to six years. And I think the COVID period and lockdown, was a pivotal period from the consumer point of view," Gautam explains.
With shifting media consumption habits, Housing.com has adapted accordingly. “Whenever we do our Consumer Studies to see how the consumers are consuming the media, it's heavily on digital, and that's why, when we started our branding, the idea was to be present where our consumers are”, he elaborated
The brand has strategically moved away from television advertising and now focuses exclusively on digital platforms to reach its target audience of 25 to 35-year-olds - commonly referred to as cord-cutters. Shares Gautam, “They do not have the television cord. They do not have cable televisions, and they even watch cricket matches on OTTs now. They are heavily spending time on YouTube and social media, so our target media channels are OTTs and YouTube.”
A key part of this strategy has been investing in social media to engage with audiences in an organic and relatable manner. “We invest a lot in social media. So if you go through our Instagram page, you will see we do lots of stuff, which is all about how we can make real estate news and information in a more consumable fashion and a video format. So that has helped us and the brand in an overall sense”, he adds.
Ingredients Behind Successful Campaigns
Housing.com has launched several impactful campaigns, including 'Ghar Dhoondna Koi Inse Seekhe,' 'Yaha Search Khatam Karo,' and 'Perfect Home, Perfect Match.' Each campaign has resonated with audiences by blending humour, relevance, and strong brand messaging. Gautam attributes their success to three key elements.
Further elaborating on the key elements, Gautam adds, “For any campaign to be successful, there are three different variables. The first one is obviously the proposition quality - what you are selling as a product, which has to resonate with the audience. There has to be a genuine problem and how the brand is solving that problem. So that's proposition quality. The second factor is content quality, ensuring that messaging is engaging and relatable. We want to keep it light. We want to keep it humorous, and optimistic. At the same time, it has to be relevant, in the sense that the stories are taken from different stories already present among the consumers. Lastly, sharing of voice is critical to campaign effectiveness. You can create great content, but if you do not have a good share of voice among the competition, you will not see that impact.”
Each of Housing.com’s campaigns has played a strategic role in the brand’s journey. He adds, “Starting with the first campaign, 'Ghar Dhoondna Koi Inse Seekhe,' all these campaigns have been part of our evolution phase as an organization, as a brand. When we started, we were not a very well-known brand, to be honest.” To establish credibility, the brand enlisted prominent ambassadors like Vicky Kaushal and Kiara Advani, coupled with engaging narratives. As brand awareness grew, subsequent campaigns shifted focus to brand proposition. “When we reached a point where awareness levels were good enough, we decided to bring a new campaign, which was 'Yaha Search Khatam Karo.' Again, Manoj Bajpayee and Rajkummar Rao - there, we started to talk a little bit more in detail about our proposition. The latest campaign, 'Perfect Home, Perfect Match,' aims to deepen brand differentiation. “Each campaign has a very different objective for the consumers, depending upon where we were as a brand”, he explains.
Rise of Landlord-Centric Marketing
A significant trend shaping Housing.com’s marketing approach is the rise of do-it-yourself (DIY) property management among landlords. Gautam elaborates, “There’s an upcoming trend in India, and it's true for us as well. We like to do things ourselves, and we like to have control in our hands whenever we are doing any kind of transaction, and that's true for sellers as well as landlords.”
Recognizing this shift, Housing.com developed products catering specifically to property owners. “We first started to create products for these owners, for the landlords, where, you know, they can do it themselves. That’s what we call it internally - it’s a DIY product in that sense. So the seller, the owner, can list the property on housing.com and can talk to prospective tenants and rent out their properties or sell their properties”, he emphasised.
This approach has yielded significant success for the brand. Gautam explains, “We created products first, and then we took that product to the market with the help of 'Perfect Home, Perfect Match' version two campaigns. Again, I would say it was taken quite well by the seller’s group, and we have seen a significant jump in our listings that are created by the owners themselves on the platform. This one-piece has been increasing in terms of the revenue contribution to our overall top line.”
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