The Customer Appreciation Night was more than an evening of networking over food and drinks, attendees received valuable consumer and industry insights and had a blast participating in games too.
Former Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, a champion for communication and collaboration once decreed that “Some of the best decisions and insights come from hallway and cafeteria discussions, meeting new people, and impromptu team meetings”.
It is in that same vein why iProperty.com.my hosts its bi-annual, client appreciation event for property developers throughout Malaysia. All businesses recognise the importance of continuous engagement with their customers and similarly, iProperty.com.my is always looking for ways to work better with our customers, including stimulating conversations which will help us innovate the way we market properties to consumers.
Also, what better way is there for us to share the latest property market trends and insights as well as updates on iProperty.com.my’s latest products with our customers than in a fun and casual setting?
And our customers approve of such a method, the latest instalment which was held on 21st June 2018 saw an incredible turnout – Despite the heavy rain and resulting massive traffic jam, more than 150 guests representing 50 Malaysian developers showed up at Roofino Skydining and Bar located in the heart of Kuala Lumpur.
The event kicked off with a welcoming speech by David Mawer, General Manager-Malaysia, iProperty.com.my (pictured below) who shared the company’s vision moving forward as part of REA Group-Asia as well as our plans in building stronger ties with our partners as well as customers.
This was followed by four comprehensive presentations which provided our developer customers with a chockful of valuable information. The highlights from each presentation is as below:
1) Let’s Hear From the Consumers by Wong Siew Lai, General Manager – Marketing, iProperty.com.my. This was a sharing session on the key findings of the iProperty.com.my 2018 Consumer Sentiment Survey Results, which provides detailed insights into consumers’ property preference and purchasing behaviour.
The info proves extremely valuable for developers as they can utilize them to develop the right products and marketing campaigns for specific purchaser groups moving forwards.
One of the exciting kernels of information shared was: More than half (56%) of the surveyed respondents have budgets below RM500,000 to purchase a property today and 59% of the respondents would consider purchasing a property within the next 6 – 12 months.
2) New Technology in the Broadcast Industry by Fahmi Rosli, Assistant Vice President, B2B Business Development, Customer Division, Astro Malaysia. Astro Malaysia who was the event sponsor is one of the leading content providers in the broadcast industry with various products offerings, with cutting-edge features. The latest one being Astro’s shift in video display standards from HD to 4K UHD.
Fahmi divulged on how Astro with its strong Digital, TV, Radio and Commerce presence have been collaborating with property developers to effectively market their new developments.
This collaboration will see developers producing Astro Ready Homes in the future, where world-class quality entertainment is made available together with their new homes. In return for manufacturing Astro Ready Homes, property developers will enjoy advertising and marketing benefits from Astro; ranging from print, radio and TV commercials including celebrity led property launches.
3) New Opportunities by Sean Liew, General Manager – Developer Business, iProperty.com.my. Sean revealed new website features which translate to higher consumer engagement. Yay!
Previously mobile users were not able to access the iProperty.com.my “New Launches” landing page directly and have to access it via a separate URL but this setback is now ancient history, thus providing mobile users with a seamless property search experience and a higher return on investment for advertising developers. The website has been given a revamp too and it now looks better than ever with a visually-enhanced layout and more quality content.
The upgrade is timely indeed: According to the latest Google Analytics figures (January-March 2018), 70% of iProperty.com.my’s online traffic is from mobile platforms. We are expecting a 50% increase in site traffic by September 2018, which will be bolstered by higher consumer enquiries and quality leads.
Sean also introduced the upcoming prestigious iProperty Development Excellence Awards (iDEA) 2018, the second instalment of its name. Highly anticipated by industry giants, the event honours the best developments that thousands of people in Malaysia call home and provides a platform to recognize and celebrate ideas and innovation within the property industry.
To kick start the call for award submissions, the guests were invited to nominate their choice developments and the award categories the developments could contest in iDEA 2018. and a lucky draw would ensue. An astounding 19 nominations were received from the gung-ho crowd and the winner was selected via a lucky draw.
Jane Tang of Gamuda Land was the lucky gal who got her nomination selected – she walked away with a bottle of champagne. Congrats Jane!
Stay tuned for latest announcements on iDEA as you would not want to miss the chance to vote for the most deserving developer of your choice in the People’s Choice Award category.
4) Property Market Sentiment as of June 2018 & iPropertyiQ (iPiQ) Latest Features by Khow Tenn Sui, Data Services Analyst, iProperty.com.my. Presenting the latest figures from our big data solution, iPiQ, Tenn Sui shared with the audience the following snippets:
- Searches for properties on iProperty.com.my show that consumers are interested in more affordable residential areas namely Cheras, Old Klang Road, Cyberjaya, Rawang and Bangi.
- Guests were informed on some latest features in iPiQ such as Buyer Profile, New Sale Data and Area Analysis via Map Select, all which provides developers with a clear picture of consumers’ current residential demands.
We took numerous other pictures to capture some of the best moments of the night. Scroll through them and see if you can spot yourself in one of them:
For those who missed the event, check out the video below to get a taste of some of the action that went down that night:
We thank those who attended for their support and feedback. All in all, it was a great experience and we look forward to creating more fond memories in the next edition!