Property ads in the UAE aren’t renowned for creativity or building brand equity. Most rely on artist’s impressions of buildings which in reality are unfinished – or even unstarted – surrounded by the type of wide-open green spaces that anyone who lives in the country knows are non-existent here.
 
So when Dubai-based independent agency Brandcom won the ETA Star Properties account late last year, the team were determined to come up with something different for its new client, in an attempt to humanize the company’s products and aspirations.
 
The print version of the campaign features photographs of youngsters near the basic components of construction materials, namely sand, glass, stone and concrete.
 
“The [property] market is very money-driven,” says Manoj Ammanath, Brandcom’s creative director. This undermines agencies’ attempts to create original work, he says, with client demands turning to “I want my building to sell. Just park creativity aside.”
 
While the desire to turn in a quick profit is understandable, it is unsatisfying. “When you do that for, like, a couple of years and then you look back you say, ‘Hey, we didn’t create new brands…We just lost two, three years,’” he laments.
 
Other property developers like Nakheel and Emaar have been developing powerful brands because they can afford to, he says.
 
Which is why he feels the originality of the ETA Star campaign is exciting. Brandcom is “taking the company values, personality and everything [ETA] stand for” and relating it to consumers, he explains. Each one of the construction materials on display stands for a certain value which the agency feels appeals to customers.
 
Shyam Sunder, general manager of marketing at the ETA Star Properties UAE office, concurs. After a brand equity study showed the general public was unaware of the company’s values, ETA decided it was time to communicate its ethos. One of these values, says Sunder, is “that we’re a very transparent developer.” Hence the glass ad.
 
The key is cultivating strong relations with customers. But the campaign is not just directed at consumers. “It’s an internal campaign as well,” says Ammanath, with a desire to induce a belief in the company’s values in its employees.
 
Both agency and client are pleased with the results so far. “We are very happy with this campaign, it’s working very well for us,” says Sunder.
 
The ads have been launched only in the UAE so far, but the campaign is still in its early stages, says Ammanath. Brandcom intends to expand the campaign into a multimedia effort that combines print and outdoor ads in addition to television.
 
The campaign was shot entirely in Cape Town, and so far has cost ETA 1 million dirhams. The company expects to spend between 2 and 3 million dirhams for the overall effort.