In the shifting sands of consumer behaviour, some categories evolve overnight while others hold onto legacies of trust and emotion. Real estate sits at the crossroads of both - steeped in sentiment yet increasingly defined by digital transformation. For Magicbricks, one of India’s largest property platforms, the challenge is not just to connect buyers and sellers, but to reimagine what trust, discovery, and decision-making mean in a digital-first world.
At the helm of this transformation is Prasun Kumar, Chief Marketing Officer of Magicbricks, who has seen the consumer tech space evolve across Justdial, telecom, and technology before returning “home” to real estate, gives a candid interview and shares his thoughts.
The Real Difference
Unlike FMCG or typical B2C categories where purchases are quick, sometimes even impulsive, Kumar highlights that real estate is a “high-involvement purchase.” Buying a home is not only one of the most expensive investments most consumers make in their lifetime but also one of the most emotional. “The sales cycle is long, stretching from discovery to decision, and every city is a different market in itself,” he explains. “That makes real estate hyperlocal by nature; Mumbai has different developers, dynamics, and consumer sentiments compared to Delhi or Chennai.”
This means marketing cannot be one-size-fits-all. It must be hyper-localised, city-specific, and deeply rooted in local culture and language. At the same time, technology plays the role of a unifier, stitching together regional nuances into a cohesive digital-first ecosystem.
Building Trust, Digitally and Beyond
Prasun Kumar stresses that trust is the bedrock of real estate marketing. Unlike online shopping, where return policies act as safety nets, property buying has no undo button. For Magicbricks, trust-building happens on multiple levels: verified listings, AI-driven price estimators like PropWorth, virtual walkthroughs, ROI calculators, and even site-visit services arranged end-to-end.
The company has also extended itself into adjacent services such as home loans and interiors, making it a fullstack platform. “The idea is that the customer journey doesn’t stop at discovery. We want to be present at every stage, right up to interiors,” Kumar notes.
The Storytelling Balancing Act
In an industry where decisions are emotional but marketing metrics are performance-driven, Kumar believes both approaches must co-exist. “Storytelling is integral everywhere, even in performance marketing today. Unless you tell a powerful story in three seconds, you won’t get a click.”
Magicbricks campaigns often tug at the heartstrings, but the backbone of performance is robust MarTech personalised recommendations, intent-based targeting, and AI-powered engagement.
Millennials, Gen Z, and a Digital Funnel
The new-age buyer is fundamentally different from the earlier generation of home-seekers. Millennials and Gen Z, Kumar says, are digital natives who see property not just as a home but also as an investment in their portfolio. “They’ve dabbled in stocks, crypto, and now see real estate as another opportunity for ROI.”
For them, the home-buying funnel is almost entirely digital from first discovering a listing on social media or a portal, to comparing localities online, to using calculators and AI-driven tools to make informed decisions. Only at the very end do they step into the offline world with a site visit. Magicbricks’ relationship managers ensure the transition between the online and offline touchpoints is seamless.
The Tier 2, Tier 3 Story
As metros saturate, emerging markets are drawing attention. But unlike traditional pan-India campaigns, regionalisation is the key here. “It’s not just about language; it’s about culture, heritage, and local nuances,” says Kumar. The company often works with regional influencers and city-specific campaigns to build resonance and credibility in these micro-markets.
Redefining Success Metrics
If impressions and clicks were once the marketing world’s holy grail, Kumar believes they are now “dinosaur metrics.” Magicbricks tracks deeper engagement time spent on the platform, repeat visits, lead maturity, and click-to-site-visit ratios. In other words, marketing today is closer to the conversion funnel than ever before.
The Future Blueprint
From hyperlocal strategies and AI-powered tools to storytelling that balances heart and performance, Magicbricks is mapping the future of real estate marketing. In Kumar’s words, “The fundamentals of marketing remain the same, but the consumer journey is now digital-first, hyper-personalised, and deeply local. Technology is not replacing emotion; it is enhancing trust.”
In a country where buying a home is still one of life’s most cherished milestones, Magicbricks is quietly scripting a new playbook: one where data meets emotion, and trust is the new currency.
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