An analysis of property branding by more than 200 companies suggests that Purplebricks and OnTheMarket are two of the big winners with an increase in searches made for their names.
The investigation, by the brand agency MediaVision, looked at 200 firms across residential, commercial and digital property sectors.
Of the top 10 brands with the highest monthly search volume overall, only four saw a positive uplift in brand demand year on year. And of the top 50 overall, more than half saw a decline in brand demand over the last year - according to MediaVision this “indicates just how tough and diverse the landscape is right now.”
However, of those seeing an increase in searches, OnTheMarket enjoyed a 31 per cent rise and Purplebricks saw an 18 per cent surge; the London agency brand Dexters also enjoyed a spike, albeit of a more modest six per cent.
Dexters beat Savills, Knight Frank and Foxtons, which all saw a decline in brand demand.
MediaVision says: “For brands in the fiercely competitive online property sector, an increase or decrease in brand search can be attributed to several things: the effectiveness of the marketing strategy, market-related factors, the economy, changing consumer habits or the efforts of rival brands.”
The report continues: “With an increase in brand demand at 31 per cent year on year, industry disruptor OnTheMarket has become a major competitor to property portals Zoopla and Rightmove, who both slipped from the top spots with a decreasing brand demand. The big portals are still far ahead in terms of volume but there is no doubting OnTheMarket’s trajectory.”
Amongst the property start-ups, WeWork led the way this year with a 58 per cent increase in brand demand reflecting the increasing awareness of flexible office space.
MediaVision chief executive Louis Venter says: “Due to ongoing uncertainty caused by Brexit, we’re seeing a lot of demand exit the market. Searches for office space and residential property are down year on year, which is a sign of a tough market.
“Brand search is no different and predominantly, there’s a reduction in demand for the biggest property brands across the board. The market is undoubtedly tough.
“However we still see pockets of great performance from innovative brands deploying great marketing strategies. There’s a strong focus on digital and measurement, which is helping them disrupt the sector and gain market share.”
You can see the full report here.
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It’s great having a well know brand. The £millions spent on deceiveing the general public must be paying dividends - not with the bank though. Purple bricks revenues were up but profits were down, and now the growth of online “agents” seems to be “collapsing” according to the ticker tape report on EAT. It’s all very well having brand awareness much in the way that Ratners did but Ratners proves that you can have the best brand awareness in the country and still take a trip down the swannie!
Blah blah blah
OTM searches are probably up because they are probably paying people to search them, much like they are paying agents to list on their site... or is this just me being cynical?
More likely to be because many more agents like us are using the 'new and exclusive' option.
Leads from RM dropping, leads from OTM increasing and the gap now small.
On a random search on OTM and Z for 6 of our branch areas, there was only one area where Z had more stock and that was just a few properties in a small city catchment area. In all the rest OTM was a very clear leader.
I agree whole heartedly that Onthemarket is a disruptor.... it just needs a time machine for Christmas and to go back 20 years to do it before someone else errrr did.
In 2019 can we have a bit more commentary on EAT from people who have actually been agents, for decent companies and know what they are talking about from real life agency exoerience?
That doesnt mean someone who has been a minor MD or got the award for most instructions on a Wednesday in qtr 2 wk 1 at Countrywide.
Michael Riley - I agree. Just find some news about Good, Independent Agents who are working hard, providing a good service, not ripping tenants off. We need more Media outlets to actively promote the trustworthy smaller agents who work hard and provide the customer with a great service. (And that's not necessarily those who enter awards)
OnTheMarket, a good percentage will be pay per click. Anytime I have mentioned the name to anyone, no one has had any idea who they are. Overall traffic, I expect is still extremely low too. Even a doubling of traffic by OTM standards, would be small compared to Rightmove and Zooplas traffic.
OTM has been brilliant for us. We get more leads on both sales and lettings from OTM than we do RM. I want it to succeed. We need it to succeed.
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