Land & Houses revamps image to stay no 1

By Somluck Srimalee
The Nation
Published on September 5, 2008

"When you are the numberone brand in the market, it becomes difficult to maintain that position because there are numerous competitors that are trying to replace you," Land & Houses vice president corporate communications Suparat Veerakul said.

Land & Houses revamps image to stay no 1

Land & Houses vice president corporate communications Suparat Veerakul.

Suparat, 45, has been handling marketing and communication for LH since 1995.

"I graduated with a bachelor's degree in law from Chulalongkorn University. But, when I worked with Far East Advertising, before moving on to LH, I fell in love with marketing," she said.

She said the challenge in this field lies in effectively communicating with customers in order to establish a presence in their minds. Although LH has already established its posi¬tion among homebuyers through its vast experience, the company has to constantly reinvent its image at a time when homebuyers' behaviour is in flux because of environmental changes and the country's fluctuating economy.

Suparat said LH has survived two crises, in 1988 and 1997, and is currently facing high competition from newcomers.

"We have accepted that when we are number one, companies who rank below us will try to replace us. That has not been a major problem because we know how to handle that. The challenge lies in keeping up to date with what customers want. We faced a problem three years ago when most homebuyers began to feel that with the company being one of the oldest in the market, our designs were also outdated and expensive," she said.

Suparat said the first sign that it was time for us to change came when the number of visitors to our property projects dropped about 30 per cent in 2006. Concerned about its business, the company appointed a research company to figure out what had gone wrong with the LH brand.

The research showed that the brand was still popular with homebuyers, but most of them felt LH designs were old, outdated and expensive, she said.

Armed with the research data, LH changed its marketing strategy and launched a campaign Ask Your Neighbour, in 2006, the first time that it used television advertising after the economic crisis in 1997.

The company also opted for rebranding and created a new logo that was simpler and more modern than the previous one. The names of new property projects also took on new identities, such as The Bangkok, The Room, Baan Mai and The Terrace, as compared to older projects, which were named Siwalee, Manthana and Bussalin.

Suparat said its original marketing concept worked well for the mar¬ket 10 years ago, but since then, homebuyers' lifestyles have changed and the company's marketing needed to change accordingly.

'The changes were not limited to our logo or brand. We also changed our work processes. To go with the new image, we began offering aftersales service to respond within 24 hours to any complaint ," she said.

It took three years and a market¬ing budget of about Bt300 million a year to revamp the LH brand, change customer opinion, and expand its customer base, Suparat said. The company has also established that its residences are unique and are customised to each client's taste.

"Although our rebranding campaign was successful, we need to con¬tinue to maintain our image and dif¬ferentiate ourselves from our competitors. When you are number one, you have to stay ahead of the competition at all times," she said.

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Land & Houses revamps image to stay no 1

"When you are the numberone brand in the market, it becomes difficult to maintain that position because there are numerous competitors that are trying to replace you," Land & Houses vice president corporate communications Suparat Veerakul said.

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