About Housing• Housing.com is a Mumbai-based real estate search portal which allows

customers to search for housing based on gephy, number of rooms, and various other filters. The company has 6,000 brokers and serves 40 cities in India.

• They received a fourth round of funding in December 2014 by Softbank of about $90 million (570 crores) and were valued at about $250 million

Understanding the campaign

Look Up

What is communicated?

Why is it communicated?

How is it communicated?

What is communicated?• Messages such as ‘start your new life today’, ‘we are together in this

journey’ and ‘make room for more happiness’ have a warm appeal and showcase stages that young couples go through while thinking about their future together.

• All the visuals across channels include the Housing logo representing ‘positivity and optimism’.

• Pratik Seal, Chief Marketing Officer, Housing.com, "When a consumer decides to buy, sell, rent or invest; facts, figures, product and logic play an important part. But the real story is an emotional one. Finding a home not just impact consumer's life but also lives of those around him; this isn't boring stuff, this is the stuff of life. Housing wants to make its consumer's journey a memorable, enjoyable and an unforgettable experience. 'Look up' is the essence of our optimistic Vision."

As per the Chief Marketing Officer of Housing, Pratik Seal, the campaign was structured as follows:

• Phase 1 of 8 weeks where only the brand, logo and keyword would be launched everywhere. This has since been extended beyond 8 weeks

• Phase 2 where the specific roles that Housing can play in a consumer’s life would be explained. Presumably, this would entail going into specific services offered by the company

• Phase 3 and 4, whose objectives have not yet been made public. These were initially also to include television advertisements as part of the media outlay

• While ‘look up’ contributes to positivity and optimism value of the campaign, it is also the subtle and clever reminder of the word ‘search in common lingo.

• The logo too is other than a simple caret symbolizing a forward looking brand, represents, a roof as well as the edges of a room when measured.

The logo looks like an upward arrow, with sharp outer edges that direct towards the future, while the softer edges symbolize a nurturing shelter.

Why is it communicated ?• Rebranding • Introduce the new brand, including the logo, brand recall and awareness• An associated keyword #LookUp, which was supposed to imply a

positivity, as well as subliminally associate the brand with the phrase that is used interchangeably with ‘search’ in common lingo

How is it Communicated The campaign utilized the following media:• Print: National & Regional newspapers• Out of home: Billboards & Hoardings in 7 cities across India• Digital: Social media such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter

The TV ad that never happened• Creative execution of the campaign done in-house struck a chord because

it told a likeable story of the life journey of a young couple via a static medium (print and billboards) rather than through the audio-visual medium.

• The campaign features a young couple sharing a pizza, with unopened cartons in the background. In the next ad, they are seen looking for a house. A third shows an expectant mother. A fourth shows a young child playing in her own room. On billboards, the ad changed every seven days as the story moved forward, although 25% of the billboards retained the older ad to retain continuity

Impact, ROI and Competition• 500% jump in its traffic since the launch of the campaign. “On key

campaign days, we saw a 15-20 times jump in the usual traffic,” said Seal.• Housing’s current ad campaign has been equally divided between print,

outdoor and digital media. “We initially thought print would be the lead medium with 50% of the overall budget dedicated for it. But within the first week of the campaign, we did a correction as we could see a huge correlation between out-of-home and web traffic,” added Seal.

What worked and what didn’t

• Distinct brand image • Unaided brand recall• Positioned as a more advanced leader as

against competitors• Eye catching and high aesthetic appeal• Trust in the 3 year old company• 500% increase in traffic and 31% growth rate

• Failure of implementation of a phased out campaign

• But what does housing do ?• Cost• Rebranding and unveiling logo for 8 weeks• Tier 2 cities ?• Look Up and yet not search based

They succeeded as advertisers, but failed as marketers