PropertyGuru and MRCB digital marketing deal marks a shift

• PropertyGuru will be responsible for developing the campaign, using drones too!
• Digital marketing budget takes up 40% of MRCB’s total budget, up from 10-20%

ONLINE property company PropertyGuru is tying up with property developer and construction group Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd (MRCB) on what is believed to be the biggest digital marketing campaign in the property sector.
 
The partnership will see PropertyGuru developing a customised digital marketing and branding plan for one of MRCB’s latest property projects, Sentral Suite.
 
This includes developing the campaign from scratch, its execution strategy, as well as media buying.
 
The entire campaign, which will last from June to December this year, is expected to cost RM4 million (about US$1 million).
 
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“This is the biggest campaign as far as the Malaysia's online property space is concerned” PropertyGuru Malaysia country manager Sheldon Fernandez told a media briefing in Kuala Lumpur yesterday (Aug 17).
 
Fernandez said the campaign will use a results-based model, which means PropertyGuru gets paid when it manages to get sales leads for MRCB.
 
“We have mutually agreed targets at various stages of the campaign, that once achieved, will see the campaign progress right up to December,” he said.
 
A new buying experience
 
For MRCB, putting an increased focus on digital marketing was a no-brainer.
 
“In the past, our digital marketing was more on an ad hoc basis,” said MRCB chief operating officer Kwan Joon Hoe.
 
“Digital marketing usually takes up about 10-20% of our total marketing and promotions budget, but this is shifting. For this Sentral Suite campaign, digital marketing will take up about 40% of our total budget.
 
“Today, more and more buyers are doing their research online before deciding to purchase a particular property. That’s why it is important for us to have an increased focus on this space,” he added.
 
As part of its efforts to give potential customers a better experience, PropertyGuru will be using drones to capture actual aerial views of the KL Sentral skyline from each floor.
 
“This gives potential buyers a true bird’s eye view and redefines the meaning of ‘what you see is what you get.’ We have flown our drone squadron to take views from each floor to make this happen,” said Fernandez.
 
“We will also have a built-in chatbox. This allows MRCB and PropertyGuru to share information with buyers about Sentral Suite as and when required, or when customers wish to chat with us for more information.
 
“This is useful if you have a quick question and wish to chat informally. The chatbox will sit on both the MRCB microsite as well as on PropertyGuru’s website,” he added.
 
Why the tie-up
 
With the RM4-million budget, MRCB could have easily appointed a specialist digital marketing company, and the money could have been spent on most online media, as well as on main property portals – including both PropertyGuru and its rival iProperty.com.
 
So why did MRCB decide to embark on this journey with PropertyGuru?
 
“We like PropertyGuru because it has existing inventories and key followers, and is also one of the largest in this region,” said Kwan (pic).
 
“Also, from our findings, our target market will go to all portals before making their buying decision. So having a presence in a strong one [property portal] will be sufficient.
 
“[PropertyGuru] has a regional presence too. We have a lot of units (from our past developments) that are taken up by foreigners, probably about 10-20% of total units.
 
“And of course, it is a success-based model, so we are quite comfortable with that,” he added.
 
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