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Tag: Real Estate

  • Disney names Martha Welborne as SVP – real estate & global facilities

    Disney names Martha Welborne as SVP – real estate & global facilities

    MUMBAI: The Walt Disney Company has appointed Martha Welborne as senior vice president – real estate & global facilities.

     

    She will report to Walt Disney Company senior executive vice president and CFO Christine M. McCarthy.

     

    In this role, Welborne will drive the company’s overall real estate strategy while overseeing all real estate development, design, construction, asset management, portfolio management, and facilities support and services.

     

    “Welborne’s proven track record of bringing multiple stakeholders together on large scale projects makes her especially well-suited to her new role at Disney. Her experience positions her perfectly to lead our real estate strategy, working with various Disney businesses and external providers to deliver best-in-class service,” said McCarthy.

     

    Welborne most recently served as chief planning officer for countywide planning for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). Before joining the MTA, she was managing director of the Grand Avenue Committee.

  • Real estate marketing cos allocate 30% spends on digital marketing

    Real estate marketing cos allocate 30% spends on digital marketing

    KOLKATA: Over the last few years, advancement of technology has been swift and comprehensive. The digital world, which has changed the way people search and research for property, has led to real estate marketing companies earmarking around 30 per cent of the budget on digital marketing as compared to around five per cent some five years ago.

     

    Additionally, print advertising, which was the only way to sell property, saw companies striving for billboards and signages until a few years ago. However, now the focus is more on social media marketing as well as cross-promotion on different websites.

     

    “A company without an online presence is a rare and dying breed and social media is changing the way businesses are communicating with their customers. The print and hoarding spent, which was around 80-85 per cent, has come down to less than 50 per cent in last five years as people in the age group of 30 years-40 years can be targeted easily through digital marketing and advertisements,” said NK Realtors managing director Pawan Agarwal, who is a real estate marketing consultant in West Bengal.

     

    “The digital space, which could attract around five per cent of the marketing budget has been increased to 30 per cent in last five years,” informs Agarwal. 

     

    Cross promotion on different websites has also gained traction over the last few years. “Till some years ago, if our product was not in the newspaper, we did not get noticed. Marketing today has become a highly digitised experience, especially when compared with what was happening even five – six years ago,” said Pioneer Properties CMD Jitendra Khaitan.

     

    Smartphones and tablets will continue to impact on the way property is marketed and also the information available at a buyers’ fingertips, said a city-based real estate marketing executive.

     

    The analyst, referring to a recent advert featured, implying that house hunting has become that easy with a mouse, said house hunting with a mouse is the next hot thing after matrimony and job sites and it is poised to take over the print media in the coming years. 

     

    “House hunting on digital platform had already happened in the US and it was bound to happen here. Most builders predict a bright future for online property deals and thus, have their own websites for the purpose even,” he said.

     

    “Buying a home is not a piece of cake for most of us. Sparing time from our busy schedules to visit the various properties and then making the final decision makes it real tough. So digital or online scrutiny of the project helps a help,” Agarwal added.

  • 2014: A year of challenges and achievements for OOH

    2014: A year of challenges and achievements for OOH

    The year 2014 has been a challenging one for some sectors of the economy and a time of hope for others with the coming of the new government at the center. Overall, both trade as well as manufacturing have been sluggish. Outdoor like other advertising platforms is a barometer of the health of the economy. OOH grew by a 15 to 20 per cent in the last one year despite increased competition, unenthusiastic buyers and galloping inflation.
    In this scenario marked by rising operational costs, stiff competition and high inventories, Global responded by innovating its price, product as well as service offerings. We created Asia’s biggest hoarding in Bandra, threw a rope to cash-strapped real estate firms by offering barter deals and flexible payment options and offered complimentary PR and social media support.
    We have entered an interesting phase as far as the real estate sector is concerned. High rates of interest on home loans coupled with rising unit prices have built up big inventories as high as 15 months in some parts of the country. In this situation marked with serious cash flow issues, real estate players are offering discounts, easy payment facilities and other facilities to attract clients. Global is meeting this challenge by offering hoardings on EMI, and on barter to its builder clients across India. Mumbai’s buyers, who wish to invest in a second home as well as holiday villas and plots, have to be made aware of projects in markets that offer more reasonably priced properties with better ROI. We are making special efforts in this direction and have executed several campaigns in the last few months – the latest being for XRBIA in Pune which was a grand success.    

    If I have to note one big highlight in the year behind us, it would be the marked improvement in political campaigning. All parties led by the ruling party at the centre used OOH as a primary medium to send their message across to voters along with digital and social media. The last Lok Sabha campaign has changed the face of election campaigning in India for ever. This is good news for OOH as well as for advertisers in general as it underlined like never before the power of OOH as a medium.

    OOH has a long way to go before it can serve the grand designs of our PM to turn India into a global manufacturing hub. We continue to struggle with red tape, lack of standard norms and arbitrary levies and delays in decision making. There is also an urgent need for transparency, regular monitoring and a system that measures OOH media on the basis of accepted metrics. In several cities there are restrictions on erecting digital billboards that come in the way of developing new properties. These factors come in the way of growth of those in the outdoor business and also create trust issues between service providers and clients. One hopes that the PM will look into all these issues and work towards the creation of standardised guidelines for outdoor properties that include new, better, and transparent rules for the erection, leasing and licensing of billboards and other outdoor media.      

     (These are purely personal views of Global Advertisers MD and CEO Sanjeev Gupta and indiantelevision.com does not necessarily subscribe to these views.)

  • Global creates a successful campaign for XRBIA

    Global creates a successful campaign for XRBIA

    MUMBAI:  XRBIA appears to have arrived at the mix of real estate marketing: affordable units, a fixed rate home loan at 7.25 per cent and an innovative outdoor media mix plan in Mumbai and Pune by Global Advertisers.

     

    The OOH agency has succeeded in crafting a campaign to attract buyers and investors to XRBIA with Times Property being held from 27 to 30 November at BKC in Mumbai.

     

    The campaign according to the agency has scored a number of firsts.  For example, no Pune-based builder has launched a campaign of this size in Mumbai, so far. The 7.25per cent fixed rate home loan being offered by India Bulls is also a first, as is the response that the campaign has attracted for the brand. The outdoor campaign in Mumbai and Pune was spread over seven days, and employed three distinct creative artworks.

     

    XRBIA CMO Pradeep Iyengar said, “We had some big and bold ideas that needed urgent action. We trusted Global to coordinate and execute those ideas, and they did! We are very happy with the footfalls at the venue, and there are three more exciting days to go.”

     

    The Eiffel Group (XRBIA) is based in Pune with realty footprints in Mumbai, Nagpur, Delhi and Bangalore with over 25 million sq. ft. of existing development and 119 million sq. ft. of planned projects.

     

    Global Adverrtisers MD Sanjeev Gupta commented, “At our end we moved fast with our vendors, service providers and team members to ensure timely delivery. The results have been very heartening on the very first day. I am grateful to my team of marketers, media planners, vendors and all the people at XRBIA who made this happen.”

  • ‘Wealth Manager’ – Coming soon on Bloomberg TV India

    ‘Wealth Manager’ – Coming soon on Bloomberg TV India

    Mumbai: Bloomberg TV India, the country’s leading English business news channel, will unveil the show “Wealth Manager”. The first ever show on Wealth management will highlight the challenges, opportunities and risk of managing wealth in a growing market like India.

    Bloomberg TV India will focus on the crucial sectors of Wealth Management like Insurance, Mutual Funds, International investments, Equity, Real Estate, Estate planning and Gold to give a 360-degree view on each sector. The Channel will bring together the very best financial advisers, wealth managers and private bankers to share insights, analysis and advice.

    Wealth management as an investment-advisory discipline incorporates financial planning, investment portfolio management and a number of aggregated financial services.

    Commenting on the show launch, Ms. Mini Menon, Executive Editor, Bloomberg TV India said, “Looking at the way the markets have run up so intensely in the last few months, there is still a lot of opportunity waiting to get invested in the Indian market. Managing wealth will be a bigger challenge in 2015. ‘Wealth Manager’ is our attempt to look at the reality and on ground picture of the sector and the show will enable the viewers to take informed decision. We are delighted to start our series with a focus to provide deep insights on the industry and highlight emerging trends to our viewers.

  • Concept PR forays into CSR consultancy

    Concept PR forays into CSR consultancy

    MUMBAI August 20 2013: In a first in India's Public Relation consultancy business, Concept PR has announced the launch of its CSR wing called Concept Community Relations (CR).

    “With the new Companies Act making it mandatory for corporates to make CSR spend of at least 2% of their net profits, we expect that the community and social development landscape to witness a sea change. This also offers a huge opportunity for corporates to give back to the society,” Mr. Vivek Suchanti, Chairman and Managing Director of Concept Group, said:

    Said Mr. B N Kumar, Executive Director of Concept PR who heads Concept CR initiative: “We have been advising companies on the need to concentrate on CSR as part of their social obligation rather than looking at it as a tax saver. We are now initiating an entire new division which will advise clients with a 360-degree approach on CSR.”

    Concept CR will not only rope in select NGOs after a careful scrutiny, but also work on creative and unique ways of making the CSR spend meaningful. “BNK’s team, with their vast experience can identify the right CSR project or even customize it to suit a particular company’s business,” Mr. Suchanti explained.

    Apart from CSR, the bouquet of consultancy services that Concept PR offers include: Corporate Communication, Media Relations, Investor relations, Crisis Management, Media Training, Capital Market practices, Internal Communication, Sports and Event Communication, Brand and Image Building, Roadshows and the new age Online Reputation Management and Social Media.

    As per the new Companies Bill that has received Parliament’s seal of approval, Section 135 stipulates: “Every company having net worth of rupees five hundred crore or more, or turnover of rupees one thousand crore or more or a net profit of rupees five crore or more during any financial year shall constitute a Corporate Social Responsibility Committee of the Board consisting of three or more directors, out of which at least one director shall be an independent director.”

    The CSR Committee will also have to formulate policy and monitor the implementation and report back to the Board of Directors.

    “The Board ….shall ensure that the company spends, in every financial year, at least two per cent of the average net profits of the company made during the three immediately preceding financial years, in pursuance of its Corporate Social Responsibility Policy,” the Bill says.
    The Act also stipulates that companies will have to give priority to local areas where they operate from, which makes it imperative for them to focus on local needs. The Act, thus, seeks to ensure an all round development of the geographies around a corporate entity.

    Over the past decade or so, Concept PR has grown into a pan-India consultancy with ten offices and 40 associates understanding the local centric communication needs – be it linguistic or cultural. “Since we understand the local soil and the social pulse, we are better equipped to design and execute need-based and unique CSR projects,” said Mr. Kumar.

    Under its service offerings, Concept CR will Ideate with client’s CSR teams to Identify, Initiate, Implement and Impact Check of the projects, apart from Image Building.

    Since the Boards of Directors are accountable for every rupee that is spent, CSR activities may have to form part of the annual reports, much like the section on Corporate Governance. In the new, emerging transparency regime CSR spend will be most visible investment and the impact will therefore play a major role in a Company’s image, Mr Suchanti explained.

    Formulating a CSR policy that fits into a particular company’s scheme of things will be a big challenge as the Companies Bill that has been passed by both the houses of Parliament and will shortly become an Act since the Presidential assent is imminent.

    Concept PR is a leading PR and IR consultancy in the country with major clients spanning sectors like BFSI, infrastructure, real estate, power, aviation, transport, education, retail, tourism, lifestyle, entertainment, sports, textiles, gen and jewelry, health care amongst others. The agency is in a unique position to understand a corporate’s needs, mission and vision and above all the responsibilities of a Corporate Citizen.

    “This is not going to be just another spend or a matter of routine communication exercise. Companies will have to take it very seriously and we are happy that we have geared up to meet the new challenge,” Mr. Kumar added.