Print is to real estate what TV is to FMCG: Viral Oza

March 28, 2019

Travel through any major highway and one will find them dotted with huge hoardings announcing some housing project or the other. Traditionally, the real estate sector has been a major advertiser in Out of Home. Along with OOH, Print, too, has been playing an important component of the media mix for the real estate sector. Be it the Classifieds section of the newspapers or high-end glossies, the pages are filled with ads of different developers. 

One such major investor in print has been Lodha Group, India’s premier real estate developer with a wide range of commercial and residential properties in Mumbai, Thane, Pune, Hyderabad, and more. According to the company’s website, Lodha Group achieved net sales (in India) of over Rs 8,100 crore in FY2017-18. 

In an interaction with Adgully, Viral Oza, Chief Marketing Officer, Lodha Group, spoke about the importance of Print for the real estate major. Excerpts: 

How important a role does print advertising play in your overall brand communication strategy? 
Every medium plays a unique role and when used well, they work in unison to narrate a stronger brand story. In this context, Print is a critical medium for Real Estate as a category and especially for a leading, premium brand like Lodha. In some ways, Print is to us what TV is to FMCG – it creates impact and helps drive the brand imagery and positioning while in media terms delivers the rapid reach and awareness build up. 

What are the key benefits of print advertising in your product category? 
Over a period of time, Print creates the trustworthiness amongst the target audience and helps establish the overall brand message and cues. This is built on by driving specific key messages more effectively across other touch-points. Given that the reader spends far more time reading a magazine/ newspaper, the medium enables acquainting the readers with relevant details like product qualities and features, unique attributes along with service capabilities offered by the brand.

Would you agree that print scores on a lot of intangible benefits too? Have you witnessed the same for your brand? 
Print’s ability to create a reputation and trustworthiness is one of the crucial benefits that our brands have benefited from.

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