Vernacular marketing enables brands to establish a sense of belonging: Devarshy R Ganguly

In the real estate industry, where the decision to purchase a home is emotional and intricate, it becomes imperative for brands to establish authentic connections that transcend borders and resonate with customers. Magicbricks has recently launched a multi-city, omnichannel marketing campaign – #OurCityOurHome – to celebrate the growth engines for real estate in India.

The campaign’s cornerstone is a trilogy of long-format videos that tug at the heart, offering home seekers a view into the evolution of each city and showcasing a melange of cultural nuances, heritage, hotbeds of growth, culinary delights, and contemporary lifestyle of Chennai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru as real estate growth engines.

In conversation with Adgully, Devarshy R Ganguly, Head of Marketing, Magicbricks, speaks at length about the core idea behind the #OurCityOurHome campaign, vernacular marketing, cultural sensitivity and relevance when adapting marketing messages to different languages, some unique marketing strategies by MagicBricks, and more.

What is the core idea behind the campaign #OurCityOurHome by Magicbricks?

Magicbricks has been dedicatedly assisting customers in their pursuit of finding a home across the country for over 15 years. In order to reaffirm this commitment and emphasise our comprehensive knowledge of these cities, we aim to serve as the ultimate platform for customers in their search for their ideal homes. This idea led to the inception of a multifaceted, omnichannel marketing campaign, called #OurCityOurHome. The cornerstone of the campaign was a series of videos which highlighted and celebrated Chandigarh, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Jaipur and Lucknow, which are at the forefront of driving real estate growth in the country.

These videos evoke deep emotional connections by providing prospective home seekers with insights into the growth and transformation of each city. They showcase a diverse blend of cultural nuances, historical heritage, flourishing areas of development, gastronomic delights, and contemporary lifestyles prevalent in these vibrant cities.

Lucknow

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-O7jwlI8jo

Bengaluru

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoUFn1547aw&list=PLbU2RciPKjUzjpU9gWlMIE-XAQWqO0fjm

Chennai

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTKIKZWb6CQ&list=PLbU2RciPKjUzjpU9gWlMIE-XAQWqO0fjm&index=2

Jaipur

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2mV0LqhyUE&t=11s

Magicbricks used vernacular marketing in its recent campaign, what was its impact on customer engagement?

Vernacular marketing enables brands to establish a sense of belonging and forge genuine connections with their customers. By communicating in a language that resonates with the target audience, brands can enhance engagement levels and cultivate a more favorable perception of their brand. An illustration of this approach is our campaign, #OurCityOurHome.

In this campaign, we not only incorporated well-known landmarks from the respective cities, but also integrated subtle nuances that locals would recognize. For instance, we highlighted the famous kulfi in Hazratganj (Lucknow) and captured the bustling street atmosphere that resonates with residents of the city. Furthermore, our out-of-home (OOH) activations and social media communication embraced local references and employed vernacular marketing strategies. We also collaborated with local influencers who amplified the campaign’s message in a dialect that their audiences could readily relate to.

As a result, our campaign achieved remarkable success, boasting a highly impressive click-through rate (CTR) exceeding 4% and an engagement rate of 4% on social media platforms. The comprehensive approach we adopted yielded significant growth in website traffic, with a remarkable 2x increase observed in the cities where the campaign was actively deployed. This outcome serves as a testament to the campaign's positive reception among our valued customers.

Could you discuss the importance of incorporating local languages, especially in the era of Voice Search, and how does it help in reaching a wider customer base?

By integrating regional languages into their marketing strategy, brands can create a smoother and more intuitive user experience for individuals who prefer to interact with technology in their native tongue. This not only improves accessibility and inclusivity but also broadens the brand's appeal to a larger audience. By tailoring content to local languages, businesses can enhance their presence in voice search outcomes and expand their reach to a more extensive customer base. Our blogs for example, which host a variety of articles to assist customers in their home-search, are available in 9 vernacular languages to aid those who may prefer to consume information in their native languages.

Moreover, by acknowledging and embracing India’s diverse linguistic landscape, brands that cater to the language preferences of communities can forge stronger connections with customers and distinguish themselves from competitors who may solely focus on dominant languages.

How do you ensure cultural sensitivity and relevance when adapting marketing messages to different languages or dialects?

In the contemporary phygital landscape, the significance of seamless customer experience cannot be overstated. The discerning customer seeks best solutions and looks for brands that can offer an authentic partnership experience in search of that optimal solution. Consequently, an integral component of this paradigm shift involves recognising the intrinsic value of culture and language in fostering customer engagement.

In order to effectively resonate with the target audiences, marketers should duly acknowledge the cultural elements that shape it and adapt their marketing strategies accordingly. This necessitates a comprehensive understanding of the culture and language within the target market, through diligent research and collaboration with cultural experts. While adapting messages for local markets, including idioms and expressions that strike a chord with the intended audience can prove highly advantageous. For instance, in our video celebrating Chennai, we have incorporated the phrase “Varuvorai Varaverkum Chennai; Vandhaarai Vaazha vaikkum Chennai”, which means “The Chennai that welcomes everyone who comes in, with open arms. The Chennai that ensures a prosperous life for everyone who has come in” – which communicates the warmth and growth prospects the city has to offer. Similarly, in Hyderabad, we have talked about Charminar, Irani Chai and Dum Biryani, which evoke nostalgia and love for the city in those who have lived or visited Hyderabad.

Essentially, knowledge of the place and understanding of the language nuances come together in the form of elements in communication such as talking about food, or highlighting aspects of the city with relevance to infrastructure. When we speak in the language our audience prefers, the connections become more special.

Nonetheless, it is imperative to exercise caution to avoid perpetuating stereotypes or engaging in generalisations, warranting the implementation of A/B testing to ensure message effectiveness and appropriateness.

Magicbricks operates in a highly competitive real estate market. What are some unique marketing strategies or approaches that you have implemented to differentiate the brand and attract customers?

When Magicbricks started its operations in 2005, it was a game changer in an industry which thus far relied heavily on word-of-mouth and site visits. Bringing a comprehensive pool of listings at the click of a button, and leveraging technology for real estate engagements brought a new wave of convenience and seamlessness in this fragmented market. With this started the journey of industry-first disruptions and innovations that reflected in everything we did at Magicbricks, including marketing strategies.

Our marketing strategy is deeply ingrained on the intersection of customer needs and technology. As a customer-centric organisation, Magicbricks has invested in strong research and content capabilities to build a robust ecosystem that brings authentic advice and data driven insights to customers to make informed decisions. As a result, we launched India’s first dedicated YouTube channel for real estate – MBTV – which has become an authoritative voice bringing property-related videos, including locality and project previews, industry opinions, and expert advice to aid customers in this journey. Similarly, our marketing efforts include reports covering customer behavior and insights to determine real estate trends in India. Our PropIndex, Rent Update and How India Searched for Homes have become the go-to reports for detailed insights.

In 2008, Magicbricks also launched PropWorth, India’s first real estate mobile app which benchmarked residential prices across major cities, making this crucial information available 24x7. We also introduced the industry’s first 3D Experience Center that brought immersive 3D virtual tours of properties for prospective home buyers to experience.

On the campaign front, we have consistently driven category narratives. We echoed the fact that technology can open more choices for customers to explore from in our “Choice Choice” campaign in 2017, and during the pandemic, we launched a crowd-sourced campaign to celebrate the importance of homes during those trying times. In 2021, recognizing the needs of the digital-first customer, we launched #PropertyBhiAurServicesSabhi campaign, which unveiled our metamorphosis into a full-stack service provider for all real estate needs. A standout innovation during this bonanza campaign was our collaboration with over 100 content creators and micro influencers to intersect creative narratives with different popular genres to expand audience outreach and make it relatable. We collaborated with creators from sports, health, lifestyle, entertainment, culinary and several other genres which garnered over 59 million views, and received 2X engagement versus the industry average.

There are a lot of other exciting martech tools, innovations and data driven insights which are brewing at Magicbricks and our customers have a lot of exciting things to look forward to in their home-buying journey.