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Matthew Vella
At the Duplex offices in San Gwann, director Keith Pillow talks about his move into the exciting world of real estate and how Duplex has taken the business to new heights, with the innovative business model of branding a real estate project.
“During my time at Logix Communications, there was always a sense that I would return to real estate, which is where I first started,” Pillow says. It was there, at the heart of a marketing and communications company, that the embryonic prospect of marrying public relations and branding to real estate started becoming a feasible enterprise. Today Duplex is already setting its aims high, targeting a growth that will make them leaders in the local market within the next five years, having worked with leading developers in Malta, Cyprus, Spain, and the UK and hopefully soon signing work from Montenegro, Hawaii, and Turkey.
Included in their goals is a plan to sign a full contract with a large-scale developer from the Middle East and another in the USA, franchise the Duplex brand’s business model in other countries, and “learn more internationally and bring back with us more knowledge and techniques for the benefit of local developers,” Pillow says.
Duplex Real Estate Branding was set up in 2004 by Alfred Camilleri, Ryan Mallia, Pierre Mizzi, and Keith Pillow – experienced marketers, designers, and real estate consultants that came together to provide a unique combination of services to property owners and developers on an international scale. The company provides a complete array of services to create real estate branding from naming a project, to creating a logo, corporate identity and collateral material including CD-ROM, Web and DVD. Duplex also provides management services using a variety of international media. Moreover the company can set up a sales team and meet agents and clients to start sales that get the project off the ground. All services are done in-house except for the services of facility management and agency sales. In all Duplex Real Estate Branding conducts market research, real estate project branding, corporate brochures, 3D walkthroughs and time-lapse filming and photography, animated visualisation for planning permission applications, media and PR management as well as event organisation, and also interior design. Additionally they offer site office sales management and estate agents briefing and training.
“These specialised services came about through the niche we manage to carve from the experience of the company’s founders, and our passion for real estate. We want to stand out in anything we do, and that’s the story with Duplex. We go deeper in finding solutions towards branding a building, marketing it, and creating a concept for living,” Pillow says.
Locally, the only development that had been previously branded had been Portomaso, where hype and a lifestyle concept instantly defined the development itself. Duplex seek to recreate this unique marketing vehicle for developments from their initial stages of creation. The philosophy behind branding is the promise, Pillow says. “We create a brand, a lifestyle that can be marketed as a brand. It’s not just the name, but the entire package behind it. Developers come to us before actually going to the planning authority to discuss what can be created for a site. It can be semi-detached villas with a communal pool, to tower buildings. What we do is create the foundation for the branding through market research, identifying what people are looking for and what is important for branding a property. It’s an A-Z process from devising the brand and lifestyle behind the property to marketing, selling and organising events. Branding is important because chances are that, given two identical products, the branded product would be the more popular choice over the unbranded one.”
Duplex has already been instrumental in branding locally the Kempinski Residences San Lawrence, Marsalforn’s Sea Breeze Mansions, and Salina Mansions among others. The Duplex business model focuses on two developments every year, whether in Malta or abroad, offering a dedicated service all year round. With Duplex, recruitment is a specialised process tuned to each development, offering a boutique service to sell the brand. “The sales office of a particular development focuses exclusively on their development. In fact we get them to ‘learn’ the development, if you will, knowing the ins and outs of the brand we are marketing, again to offer a dedicated service. We help clients brand their properties in order to command a higher price, so we set up a professional sales infrastructure. It includes setting up the professional sales office, training, designing the sales packs, representation in international fairs, exhibitions and conventions, and a complete takeover in a setting up of a show apartment including interior design and supply of furniture.” |
