Building a brand

As more and more projects are launched in the Gulf every day, developers are ploughing millions into marketing and branding. Monika Grzesik examines the best ways to get noticed in today's crowded marketplace.

With developers giving away free Bentleys with every apartment, reams of marketing material extolling the virtues of the latest ‘luxury living' concept, and A-listers from Brad Pitt to Pamela Anderson showing up to endorse eco-projects around the region, it seems that the real estate industry in the Gulf has been built on branding.

In an increasingly competitive market, the right branding is crucial to developers drawing attention to their projects and being noticed above the rest. "It's a fairly sophisticated market just because of the wealth that's here," says Rina Plapler, executive director of global brand consultancy Futurebrand.

"On a superficial level, it's very well understood. Delivering the brand is the more challenging part."

Reach for the stars

There's no doubt that, for most developers in the region, money is no object and, when it comes to enticing buyers, some are willing to pull out all the stops. As this year's Cityscape demonstrated, nothing beats a celebrity endorsement.

The exhibition saw a whole host of famous faces, from Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta Jones attending the launch party of Nakheel's tower project and Bollywood sensation Shah Rukh Khan unveiling his new Ras Al Khamiah beachfront development, to Michael Schumacher - already a well known face on the property scene having now put his name to two UAE projects - who launched the Michael Schumacher Champion Tower, a tie-in with Deyaar.

Kunal Aurora, marketing analyst at Deyaar, believes that the association with the F1 star has been well worth the investment, thanks to the hype generated around the project. "People went completely crazy. Michael Schumacher was mobbed," he said.

"We had initially thought that maybe he could spend some time on the stand, but I couldn't even get a photograph with him! We don't even have brochures for this building yet. The only thing we have is the fact that it's the Michael Schumacher World Champion Tower. It's all pinned on that."

Aurora declined to specify how much Schumacher would be paid for his part in the project, but he acknowledged that it would be a substantial sum. "By all means, it would cost millions of dirham. He has the whole tower named after him, so he is going to make a lot of money. But we don't rely solely on celebrity endorsement," he added.

"If the product is not nice it won't sell. Michael Schumacher's involvement gives us the extra push."

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