We see a top-line of Rs 10,000 cr in 3 to 5 years: Bhavik Bhandari, Ashwin Sheth Group

Luxury realty player Ashwin Sheth Group, based in Mumbai, predominantly operates in three segments - premium, luxury and super luxury. Though the overall realty sector has seen a roller coaster ride in the last two to three years, the luxury market has seen a significant offtake in supply and demand.

A key psyche for HNI clients buying into luxury properties is signature projects that can be showcased. As per Bhavik Bhandari, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer, Ashwin Sheth Group, “The super luxury market has seen an evolution with the focus on customization, exclusivity, and prime location where the minimum starting price per square foot is over one lakh rupees in prime areas. So, prime location, an exclusive, well-designed product, with a reputed brand is what one looks at as a status symbol. That's the future for the luxury market and in the coming two years it will keep evolving and grow between 15% to 20%.”

#3YearsFromNow

The Ashwin Sheth group recently launched its campaign #3YearsFromNow for its marquee project Edmont Aurelia in the western suburb of Mumbai, Kandivali.

Bhandari says, “As a brand, our philosophy is to keep the customer in the central focus when we do something. For this campaign our objective was to target consumers looking to buy a home in Kandivali and someone who's looking to upgrade their lifestyle.”

The team spoke to prospective customers, channel partners; while this process provided valuable insights, it also showed that not all customers were foresighted and looked at only immediate outcomes and not from a long-term perspective.

As a location, Bhandari notes that Kandivali has transitioned in the past five to seven years and has seen a significant offtake. The main reasons for this being connectivity, livability, safety, greenery and low pollution compared to other key junctions.

Also, the cultural fabric of Kandivali resonates with certain affluent communities – such as Gujaratis, Marwaris, Jains etc – and are now looking to stay in a project with lifestyle amenities. He states, “When a customer is buying a home, he looks at a number these tick boxes, and if all are ticked, then the icing on the top of is the appreciation he gets from his project. This was the reason why we took in a deep analysis after talking to all stakeholders and then created something really creative.”

Number & Performance Focused

Being a number-driven and performance focused firm, the Ashwin Sheth Group has listed a number of parameters for all their marketing initiatives. The first criteria is the buzz creation matrix when the campaign is released, general perception of the campaign, conversations around the campaign positioning, are the current and prospective customers talking to the brand, the response gathered by channel partners and if the campaign positioning has helped them sell the project to customers.

Bhandari says, “We saw a significant improvement, almost 29% up from channel partners, when it came to the ease of communication and positioning the project in front of prospective customers on how they see the project three years from now. The customers were also able to recollect the campaign.” He continues, “The second matrix was organic lead generation and site visits when the campaign was launched. On an average, if 30,000 people visited the site, post this campaign we saw traction movement up by 43% for consistently three weeks. The campaign films drew traction on the YouTube channel, almost a 16% increase. Fourth, the quality of site visit, the ratio moved from 20% up to 31%. Finally, the campaign gave us a good conversion ratio of site visits to walk in to 9% as against 7% to 7.5%, over a 20% increase. Another positive was that it created funneling for the project for the coming months, because once you establish a project it becomes easier to achieve a better price. Post the campaign we were able to achieve 16% higher premium on price. We are thinking of extending the campaign so that we can further exploit it.”

A big shift according to Bhandari has been seen among GenZs and millennials. For a generation that preferred to spend on experiences, travel etc. rather than on an asset; however post-Covid 19, this segment has seen a change in their mindset and are now looking to own their own home or real estate as a form of security. Bhandari says, “This segment was not existing, and from 2021-22 they entered with huge volumes. Our business model changed completely, from a contribution of 10% to 11%, millennial share moved up to 41% millennials and there has been a significant rise in GenZ numbers too.”

A key factor behind this is that millennials and GenZs are able to leverage a loan period for a longer duration and are seen to take more risks than the older segment.” Another shift is in their behavior, with demand for 2-BHK and 3-BHK homes seeing a significant demand nationally as against 1-BHK which is now least preferred.

While Digital helps the realty major, target specific cohorts right down to their location and Pin code, ATL helps the brand create a positioning across all genres and customization communication happens through digital, events, IPs. Citing examples, Bhandari says that Ashwin Sheth targets millennials and GenZs with stand-up comedy shows, community lifestyle, health and clubhouse amenities etc. while senior citizens look at safety, security, a temple on the premise etc. He says, “We use multiple routes and channels to ensure that we capture the right audience.”

Commenting on the bifurcation of the marketing budget he says, “40% of my marketing budget goes in Digital, 30% goes in ATL which includes Print and Outdoor, 10% go in collaborations, tie-ups, influencers etc, the remaining 20% is on experiences whether through platform of an event, exhibition, roadshow, experience on-site or experience through experiential marketing through collaterals.”

Leveraging Technology

On the use of technology, Bhandari says that as a brand Ashwin Sheth Group is “tech-savy”, using Martech and AI across every single channel to significantly up productivity, customization, data insights and analytics. Sharing an example, he says for any customer coming on to their website, their analytics and information is translated using tools and AI with advanced SFDC automation to identify the predictive analysis. So, if a customer is looking for a 3-BHK across 3 to 4 callers, the pre sales caller will pitch the best product available for 3-BHK which improves the success ratio as the brand is only targeting the consumer based on their requirement, providing a seamless omni-channel experience e very time a customer connects through any touch-point.

He says, “Tech insights are used to create a marketable outcome which lead to better RoI and the right communication with the customer depending on his past searches. We have also used the tech our channel partner communication with an app. We are now working on how we can use AI further, starting with predicting basis the PIN code, age group, right down to the customization they are looking at depending on the profile of each family member and then target each family member individually with communication, customized based on their needs. That’s our philosophy, we want to mesmerize the client with the experience.”

Looking at the year gone by Bhandari says, “This year has been fabulous, in terms of growth, revenue growth, and land acquisition. Our footprint has increased and closed JVs in 9 to ten land parcels. We have Bangalore and our term sheet conversations are going on for Delhi, Chennai, and Pune. Overall, this has been a rewarding year as a lot of work that has happened will increase our book value next year, because those launches will significantly enhance the overall growth of the organization.

Looking ahead, there is lot planned at The Ashwin Sheth Group, with growth being the center-point. The company will entering new cities, and then go deep across Mumbai and pan MMR (Mumbai Metropolitan Region). The realty firm is also entering new asset classes and segments. The Ashwin Sheth Group is also gearing up to be listed on the bourses in the next 12 to 18 months. Bhandari states, “You will see us in the next four to five years among the top 10 developers of the nation, and not just in Mumbai or MMR. We see a top-line of at least Rs 10,000 crore in the next three to five years with Mumbai contributing 30% to 35% of the revenue. You will see us a lot more in luxury to super luxury segment and asset classes like farmhouse plotted development, branded residences, wellness living concepts, retail, malls, and are trying to connect the dots when it comes to signature commercial offices.”

He continues, “Our product bifurcation ratio will be 80% to 85% residential, 10% to 12% commercial, retail malls, and other typologies will be in range of another 8 to 10%. There is a lot to be done when it comes to Mumbai, and will increase our penetration across the city.”