Marketing of Real Estate in the Middle East - Essay Example

Marketing of Real E in Middle – East Table of Contents Introduction 3 Overview 4 Analysis and Interpretations 6 PESTLE Analysis 6 Porter’s Five Forces Factor 10 BCG Matrix 13 Product Life Cycle 15 Market Segmentation and Positioning Strategies 18 SWOT Analysis 19 Summary and Conclusions 21 References 22 Bibliography 26 Appendices 28 Introduction The countries with in the periphery of south-western Asia, north-eastern Africa and the south-eastern Europe are often known as Near East or popularly as Middle East. The countries in the region of middle-east include that of Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and United Arab Emirates among others. The middle-eastern economy primarily depended upon its huge oil producing capabilities. As the landscape is mostly covered with the deserts, there are no such possibilities to have agriculture or other sources of earning to support its population. In the recent past, the countries especially that of United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Yemen have come up as the major real-estate hubs of the world. There were many reasons for such development. The locations of the middle-eastern countries proved to be very vital for such development as they could be reached from Europe, Africa and Asia with in few hours of flight. The government of these nations was also very supportive to the real estate projects as they became source of foreign exchange for the economies. But with the economic recession and liquidity crunch taking toll over the world economy, the housing bubble of the middle-east got the beating. As more of the global companies of repute and leading multinational companies bankrupted and laid off their employees, the industry of real estate in the near east region which was basically redundant for the global citizens faced the severe music. Overview Since the end of last decade the boom of real estate has been evident in the cities of Middle East like Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah. The huge boom in the real estate market was primarily because of the increasing life style of the citizens of the world. Having an apartment in the posh location of the above mentioned cities has been like of a status symbol. The various amendments of regulations by the governments of Middle Eastern nations also supported the cause. Compared with the demand of having apartment for residence or office space, the supply always fell short. Therefore, the prices went on increasing. Numerous projects are coming up with large number of units mostly as the satellite townships near the big cities. It was estimated by the reputed market research agency, Colliers International that in 2007 more than 14,000 villas and 18,000 apartments were under construction only near to the mega city of Abu Dhabi. The market research report forecasted the figure to reach approximately around 205,000 by 2015. According to the international agency, projects like Al Raha Beach or Al Reem Island had 41,400 and 77,000 units. The over all occupancy rates at Abu Dhabi across most segments have been near to 97% to 98% (Colliers International, 2007). All these facts help to analyse the booming real estate scenario in those parts of the world. But with the housing bubble in United States and falling oil prices the industry is presumed to be hit. The recent reports suggest that though there is no major danger for the real estate in the Middle East as still the relationship between the supply and demand is positive and would remain so in the near future but the financial meltdown had invariably made the developers cautious (Colliers International, 2009). Also it can be said that the because of the credit crunch and recession in almost all the major economies around the globe, the foreign direct investments (the key to financing of such major real estate projects) has also been slowed down. As it is evident that the journey of the real estate industry in the Middle East is no longer that smooth as it was, even couple of years back, so the onus lies on the developers and the developing companies to market their projects. The marketing of the projects should be such that it appeals to the target customers. To have a proper marketing plan in place, at the outset a marketing audit is an absolute necessity. Marketing audit can be defined as, “Comprehensive, systematic, independent, and periodic examination of the total environment, objectives, strategies, activities, and resources to determine problem areas and opportunities and to recommend a plan of action” (Mengel, 2003). In order to do so, the entire scenario can be analysed with the assistance of various models and theories like PESTEL (Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental and Legal), Porter’s Five Forces Factor, the matrix prescribed by Boston Consultancy Group, the product and the industry life cycle model, analysis of SWOT (Strength, Weakness, Opportunity and Threat) and many others. Analysis and Interpretations To decide upon the effective and the efficient marketing plan, at the outset, the environment, both external as well as internal is to be analysed. The recent changes in the trading mechanism of the real estate products in the Middle East have been with in the external environment. Therefore the emphasis would be on the external periphery. PESTLE Analysis PESTLE analysis has been referred as a fairly simple model to understand the external environment of any company or industry as the case may be (Shepherd, n.d.). It includes Political – Political factors include the stability of the government on the land of the business, the policies undertaken by such governments, the rules and regulations as well as the grants and privileges provided by the ruling forces. In case of real estate marketing in the Middle East nations, the political factor is not fully fine with many of the citizens of the foreign countries. Mostly the residents of western nations hold views that the region is not totally safe because of terrorism and other fundamentalist forces. But the governments are very supportive to the industry and have laid whole hearted support to the industry. Economic – The economic factor in PESTLE analysis is very crucial as it deals with the overall economic factors and includes general trends of economy, interest and exchange rates, taxation rules and others. The major aid for the real estate sector in the Middle East has been the increasing oil prices. Higher the oil prices, more stable are the stock market (Knowledge @ Wharton, 2005). The par capita gross domestic product of Abu Dhabi for the last few years which is largely based on real estate can be understood with the following chart: Chart 1 – Abu Dhabi GDP Per Capita (Colliers International, 2008). But the recent slowdown has decreased the demand of oil globally. Consequently, prices have also experienced fall which has in turn affected the developers. The construction companies should look into under stable sources of finance and can try to use difference in interest rate and exchange rates of various stock exchanges. Social – The social factors include the trend of the life style and the demography, the consumer attitude and buying patterns. Analysing the buying patterns of the consumers of real estate in the Middle Eastern region, it is found that the major chunk of the demand is with the high income group customers. The following chart (on the market of Abu Dhabi on aggregated apartment rents in US $) helps to understand the fact. Chart 2 – Aggregated apartment rents in US $ (Colliers International, 2008). Having an apartment or villa in the region has been a sort of lifestyle statement. Therefore still there is ample opportunity to tap the middle income group consumers, who are majority in any economy by promoting the projects with their utilities and the state of the art infrastructures to the prospective buyers around the world. Technological – Technology has been the deciding factor in modern ways of marketing. With boom in communication channels, it’s the technology that plays the crucial role in making a project hit. The projects undertaken must have the best possible technological facilities. Having the Wi-Fi system and inter-communication channels are must. Also, the real estate developers should initiate proper methods to let the people of every part of the world know about the projects. In this case, internet can be the most beneficial methodology. Legal – The legal factors in PESTLE analysis refers to the various rules of the land which by a way or the other are related with the industry or the business. These are also important factors because it guides and maintains the framework with in which the company or the industry can ultimately function. In case of real estate sector of Middle East, the legal factors are presumed to be supporting the industry as it is often found that the governments are amending various regulations to encourage the industry like foreign freehold ownership (Amberlamb, 2005). The success of the company or the industry lies if it can take the legal factors with in its side in the long run. This would also help to attract more customers as there would be no fear of legal hassles whatsoever. Environmental – In the recent times, environmental factors are also been very important to the concerned projects. As the world is experiencing the ill-effects of global warming, the project developers are ordered to adhere to the various environmental norms from time to time so that the balance is maintained. In case of Middle East nations this factor is very crucial as it is surrounded by arid lands all around. Most of the estate projects are being developed on the artificial landscapes. Providing for the environmental factors also means safety to the residents against the natural calamities like earth-quakes and cyclones. Apart from PESTLE analysis, to prepare the strategic and tactical marketing methodologies of the real estate in the Middle East, Porter’s Five Factor can also be utilized. Porter’s Five Forces Factor The five factors that has been discussed by Porter for any company includes 1) Risk of threat of new entrants 2) Risk of threat of substitute products 3) Bargaining power of buyers 4) Bargaining power of suppliers 5) Rivalry among established firms (Research Directory, n.d.). Risk of threat of new entrants – In absence of governmental monopolies, today’s private companies deal with in the periphery of perfect competition. As in perfect competition, the market is the business maker and companies are price takers. With the increasing profitability, it is evident that more of the new companies would try to enter the industry. To effectively overcome the hazard, the company should try to lay firm control over the various factors of production like land, labour, equipments and human capital. The customers should be tapped in such a way that they do not switch their real estate provider. Adequate amount of advance payment can be taken from their so that if they change the company, the amount would get forfeited. With higher switching cost, company can expect to ensure stability. Risk of threat of substitute products – Substitute products can be categorized as those products which are promoted by the competing firms. Also, in terms of product lines there are generally three types of products in the real estate industry in the Middle East namely apartment for residence, villa for residence and office space. To nullify the threat of the substitute products, company should venture in all the three segments. It should also cater to the market of both the owned property as well as the rented property. Bargaining power of buyers – The power of buyers or the customers depend upon many factors. It has been observed by Porter that if the number of customers is concentrated and less or if certain buyers have high market share, such buyers would have high bargaining powers. The company on the other hand would try to reduce the bargaining power so that the customers can not dictate over it. To do so, they would try to have scattered range of buyers. In case of real estate industry, it is not a threat as the consumers are widely scattered and dispersed. The company should take required steps to keep it in the way they are. Bargaining power of suppliers – According to the model of five competitive forces, bargaining power of suppliers is also crucial for a company to exist in the business scenario. The suppliers of the company (which includes the raw materials provider, the staff provider or the financers among others) would try to dictate terms over the company. It is more intense if the suppliers are less in number or are more powerful. The company, in order to reduce the bargaining power of the suppliers, should try to purchase the necessary items from various smaller suppliers instead of a few large. Rivalry among established firms - The above four factors of the five forces model contribute to the last and final factor. It is the rivalry and competition among the established firms. It has been observed that if the firms are of similar size, the rivalry is more intense. And with the internal rivalry with in the industry, the resources are to be misused. So, the onus of the firms should be to reduce the rivalry and construct economies of scale as with it the firms can mutually benefit and ultimately be successful. The industry of the real estate and the situation of the company can be further analysed with the model prescribed by the Boston Consultancy Group. BCG Matrix Established in 1963, Boston Consulting Group soon became a reputed consultancy provider in management related services (About BCG, n.d.). The group prescribed a matrix which consist factors like market growth and the relative market share. The model or the matrix refers to four conditions namely the star, the question mark, the cash cow and the dog (Stone, n.d.). The details of the matrix relevant to the scenario are as follows: Star – The star products are those that have high growth rate and high market share. These products are the prime source of generating cash for the companies. The real estate products of the related companies have been star in the recent past as it has enough growth potential as well as high market share. Question Mark – The products of the company that have high growth rate but low market share are clubbed under the group of question mark. The real estate products in the Middle East have very high growth rate and also high market share, so it can not be related with the question mark. Cash Cow – The products, referred as the cash cows, are those that have high market share but relatively lesser potential for growth. These products play crucial role in cash inflow of the companies. Real estates in the Arabian Gulf have high market share as well as high growth, so the reference with cash cows also does not hold good (Chhehouri, 2009). Dog – These products have low market share and relatively low potential growth. It is wise for the company to divest from the products that have turned out to be dogs. This least sough stage of the product is not at all the case for the products of the real estate industry. Product Life Cycle The product life cycle helps to interpret the status of the product and is an important marketing tool. It assists to analyse the present and take the required steps for the future. Product life cycle generally consist of four stages namely introduction, growth, maturity and decline (Rodrigue, n.d.). Chart 3 - Product Life Cycle Curve (STC Technology Faculty, n.d.) The stages can be understood as follows: Introduction – The real estate industry has long passed the introductory phase. The boom in the real estate market in the Middle East has commenced since the 1980s. However, the company should take measures on continuous basis to initiate innovative projects so that the market attraction is kept intact. Growth Stage - The real estate market in Dubai was more in to the growth stage still the recent past. More and more citizens from all over the world are getting interested with the projects and therefore the demand is always on the rise. The supply is yet not adequate and apart from demand in residential area, demand is also set to increase in office spaces. The following chart depicts it. Chart 4 – Cumulative Office Supply (Sq m) in Net Lease Area (Colliers International, 2008). Maturity – Though the market is still basically in the growth stage, the experts recently holds the view that the boom of the real estate might have reached maturity and slowed down a bit. The reasons behind such estimations are the global credit crunch, falling oil prices and other external factors (Hardy, 2007). If the market is in maturity stage, it is the onus of the companies to divest in to some new projects. If the residential apartments are having matured markets, the emphasis should be on the other products like office space or rentals. Decline – The declining stage of the any product is least sought stage as in this stage over all demand of the product has deter-rioted most likely as the product has become obsolete. There is no likely chance of arrival of such stage for the real estate market in the Middle East in the near future. Market Segmentation and Positioning Strategies It is often observed that the customers or the prospective customers are having different needs for the similar type of products. It is therefore beneficial to the company proving the good or the service if it can differentiate the various customer groups into segments (Brown, n.d.). Positioning strategies are the steps under taken by the company so that the good can be offered to the target group of customers in such a way which would lead to sale of the product. The market segmentation and the positioning strategies of any company depend upon the several factors (Smith & Swinyard, 1999). Some of them might be as follows: Size of the market – The size of the real estate market of the Middle East is ever increasing. People from all over the world are interested. Stage in the product life cycle – The market can be said to be with in the growth and maturity stage of the product life cycle. Competition – The competition has become very intense as more and more construction companies are investing in to the sector in search of profit. Customer Response – The customer response has also been very affirmative for the real estate developers as the demand is always on the higher side. Apart from the above factors, the real estate company can also think of segmenting the market according to the income groups of the people like higher income group and the middle income group. So, more dimensions can be added into pricing strategies. The company should be able to position its product in a way which would cater to the varied needs of the customers. One might look for one bed room flat, other for three bed room flat. All the needs should be ideally met. The proto models of the products could be made available online through the internet, so that it is available to all the interested buyers all over the world. SWOT Analysis SWOT (Strength, Weakness, Opportunity and Threat) analysis is another model to interpret the internal and the external environment of the company and the industry as a whole (Boje, n.d.). Strengths – The strengths of the company are compared with its competitors. The company must develop a justified communication channel to tap foreign buyers. Also the product range should be wide. The location of the projects should be convenient and the campus should have all the basic amnesties of life available with in it. Weaknesses – The pricing of the products can be at times weakness for the company. Generalisation of the products should be avoided as it might not fulfil the wish of the customers. Opportunities – There are wide opportunities for the real estate industry in the Middle East. The amendments of the laws (i.e. the support of the government) like free ownership of the property can be viewed as the opportunity. The strategic geographical location is also an opportunity. The world class apartments with the best possible infrastructural facilities also increase the scope of the industry. The increasing supply of residential apartments in Abu Dhabi can be depicted with the following chart: Chart 5 – Estimated cumulative residential supply (in units) at Abu Dhabi (Colliers International, 2008). Threats – Threats of the real estate industry includes the ongoing financial slowdown, the increasing act of terrorism and religious fundamentalism in the region and the recent falling oil prices. Summary and Conclusions The real estate market in the Middle East is booming for a few years now. The major reasons for such booms have been the strategic location of the region as it can be easily reached from Asia, Africa and Europe. The real estate market has been catering to the needs of people from all over the world. The needs of the customer include residential apartments (permanent as well as rental) and also office spaces. The company should take appropriate measures to market the projects that it has been initiating. The marketing strategies should rely on the market segmentation and the positioning strategies which are important to tap the target customers. The various models of marketing and strategic analysis can be used to interpret the external as well as the internal environment. The need of the customers varies even with in a particular segment like residential apartments. Some might look for one bed room flat, other double bed room flats. Some other again might opt for villas. The company should have proper strategies to reach to the right client with the right product. The company also should invest in all types of real estate projects like apartments and villas for residence as well as malls and office space for commercial purposes. The company can also venture into the rental schemes of the apartments. The basic strategy for marketing of the products should be through inter-net. Advertisements and other sales promotion techniques should also be used. The promotional techniques should not be limited to the geographical area but should be able to reach the entire world. The company can also think of getting tied-up with financial institutions to provide easy loans to the buyers. With the recent liquidity crunch and recession, the market has got a beating and slowed down a bit. As the affects of the meltdown are over, it is expected that the real estate in Middle East would get back to its boom phase. References About BCG, No Date. BCG History: 1963. 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