Located within the central business district, the Palm Springs International Apartments development will capitalise on its proximity to Chao Yang Park to highlight a city lifestyle approach, according to its newly-appointed agency, J. Walter Thompson Hong Kong. JWT, which has the marketing and communications brief, will be moving away from the category's dependence on television-led campaigns that focus on price and facilities.
"The real estate marketing is changing from a situation where local families were the main real estate buyers to one where Hong Kong expatriates are becoming another important market segment, said Edgar Yang, JWT's general manager for Southern China.
In place of a television-led initiative,Yang said the communications plan would be driven by print, public relations activities as well as event marketing. "People in Beijing read newspapers so newspaper readership is huge, which makes PR a very important part of the communications mix, Yang added.
Later this month, a launch party will be organised to allow the 120 buyers who have paid a 10 per cent deposit to select units ahead of the official launch. Units will be priced at about 1.2 million Rmb (US$145,000). Flagging off the launch will be a New York-style marathon to play up the city living approach the project is using to differentiate itself from an estimated 30 other rival developments, Yang added.
The second phase of the campaign, breaking after September, will target the Hong Kong market as more locals move to China for job opportunities.
