"Real estate advertising has been standard and templatised": Karan Kumar, DLF

We interview the marketer about the key shifts in the gears as he moves. He reveals unique traits of the categories he has touched upon.

Karan Kumar, former chief brand and marketing officer of fashion retailer Fabindia, recently joined the real estate sector in India. Kumar joined DLF as senior vice president, marketing and chief marketing officer. Prior to Fabindia, he had spent over 15 years at ITC, leading many of the company's FMCG brands. While marketing executives moving across categories is general industry fare, what caught our attention was this: Kumar's venturing into real estate – a sector, which by our own confession, has been covered scantily on afaqs! This, mainly because of limited marketing and advertising initiative, and templatised style of communication across brands in the category – the age-old sq. ft.–BHK–INR–building shots-possession story – in print dailies and on billboards.

The only addition to the list in recent times is probably the 'RERA certification'. It is possible that the work, works in this sector and is something that is needed. But, isn't all marcom conversation incomplete sans the part about stretching boundaries?

Also, with heaps of undelivered promises across cities, the real estate sector has earned itself a bad name, being in the news for all the wrong reasons. We take Kumar's joining one of the leading real estate companies in the country as an opportunity to peek into what's right, wrong and needed in the sector when it comes to communication. We ask this seasoned CMO about the tricks he's about to try.

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