When writing my book (Growing your property practice – due out in May) I researched a lot of property partnerships and companies to see how the best were dealing with marketing and promotion (amongst other things).
And reading my London newspaper last week drew my attention to another example. In the distant past I had been a judge for the PAMADA (Property Advertising Marketing adn Design Awards) sponsored by Estates Gazette and the Company of Chartered Surveyors. And I remembered that Kinleigh Folkard & Hayward had won a number of awards.
And there was a big bold advert from them with the heading “No one’s more at home with London property” with the simple message “When you’re looking to buy, sell, let or rent, no one’s better placed to help”. I had a look at the web site and sure enough the strong branding (burgundy colour, drawing of a woman at home, swirly pattern) was there to make the connection with the advert (integrated marketing!) and a nice strapline “Completely London”.
The web site is clean and professional. It is well structured, with sections for residential, commercial, investors and developers. There are buttons to request a survey or a valuation. There’s also an easy to read 11 page survey with comments on the London market and some key areas. There are options to keep up to date with developments either by email or RSS feed. The traffic rankings show that the site generates a good amount of traffic and that there has been a sharp increase recently – possibly as a result of this campaign.
Many people cut back their marketing and advertising budgets when the markets are tough. The smart people recognise that your marketing bucks make a much bigger bang when the competitors have all tightened their belts. The campaign signifies either confidence that the London market is picking up or that the firm knows that its marketing strategy is on the right track. Either way, it’s good to see.
50 offices and 600 staff isn’t exactly a small firm – but it’s not as big as some. Which just goes to show that the best marketing isn’t always from the biggest firms. Nice one!
