24 June 2016

Impact of the Decision to Leave the EU on Property Marketing

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One of our Clients - Rettie & Co, based in Scotland - sent me an email which I feel summarises some of the sentiment well.

Whilst the outcome of yesterday’s EU Referendum had never been a certainty, waking up to the reality of the country’s decision to exit the EU definitely came as a shock this morning. Not even the rosy glow of our commendation for The Colyer at the property marketing awards last evening was enough to pierce the initial fog of disappointment, uncertainty & even mild panic. In the few hours since the result was announced, however, I’ve spoken with a number of people within the property industry, and overall they’ve left me feeling significantly more positive & hopeful.

One of our Clients - Rettie & Co, based in Scotland - sent me an email which I feel summarises some of the sentiment well.

“Housing is a necessity and we are not building enough houses (and have not been for some time). We also have a rising population and household growth that is outstripping new supply. This continuing demand/supply imbalance will likely serve to support house prices However, the uncertainty is likely to see a drop in transactions in the short-term as people try to work through the ramifications of the result. That is a natural response. Fundamentally though, people still need to buy houses, which is why housing markets tend to be fairly resilient. Levels of new housing are also likely to fall back, which will tighten supply and support prices until the outlook is clearer.”

And as for those of us who work in the property marketing industry - what do we think less than a day since the referendum result was announced? My thoughts are these.

As the team at Rettie & Co say, there will always be a demand for purchasing houses and apartments. Today has just made it that little bit harder to reach & convert the best potential buyers. In the last 12 months we’ve seen the market change considerably as developers and agents realise that they can no longer rely on South East Asia as a guaranteed audience for their stock. And perhaps the most constructive way of looking at today’s news is as the next chapter in the evolution of our industry – one which require marketing to raise its game.

I feel it’s going to be a good wake up call for the property industry. No longer can a generic piece of marketing adequately ‘do the job’. You can no longer simply knock out a logo based on the shape of the building, call it luxury apartments, produce a brochure and expect it to sell well.

As a strategically and commercially focused business, which bases all of our positioning and marketing decisions on insight rather than gut feel, I believe we are in a fantastic position to capitalise on this progression. We know that this is going to become more and more important to clients, and if we can prove… keep going about their business… and keep spending on marketing!

Hopefully this time next year we’ll all feel positive about the changes brought about by today’s decision. Oh and yes, Silk Road Marketing will of course have won the Grand Prix at the 2017 Property Marketing Awards after demonstrating marketing excellence during a period when others didn’t change with the times.