Why Housing.com’s ‘Parr Se Perfect’ campaign has the power to push category not just brand

The recently released four-film campaign by Housing.com, ‘Parr…Se Perfect’ is being lauded by ad-watchers for its relatable and quirky content. The campaign, created by McCann Erickson is aimed at simplifying the home-buying, renting and selling process. It acknowledges the fact that home buyers, renters or homeowners could end up not making a final decision to rent, buy or sell for reasons that could be idiosyncratic or personal.

Great insight, great execution

Lauding the creativity, Brand-Nomics MD Viren Razdan said: “Without a doubt, a very entertaining, watchable campaign; bang on the brief. How a sliver of doubt can ruin the peace of mind is brilliantly packaged. And buying, renting or renting out are very precious decisions. Well-crafted, cast and executed. The campaign is spot on - insight and the proposition.”

Comparing the latest ad with the older communications extended by the brand, Youlry.com CEO Nishit Nanda added, “With Housing.com’s former campaigns if you notice, there was a sense of star power that attracted the eyeballs and that worked well for them to deliver their brand message and also position themselves in the real estate market as a force to reckon with. This campaign is on the lighter side and will definitely make a lot of people dealing with the anxiety of house hunting, which is no small feat, relate considerably. Humour always gets the message across, and the campaign is well on its way to picking up a steady number of views.”

Does more for the category than the brand

While everyone is loving the campaign for its slice-of-life approach, the films are looking generic to the ad-watchers, which can push the category but are doing less to highlight Housing.com.

Brand Strategist & Coach Ambi Parameswaran said, “I loved the TVCs; the casting, the ditty, the direction. Some of them (Sonali) are better than others. But it is selling a very basic promise of ‘more choice’. Will that motivate home hunters to come to Housing.com? There is so much that can be done in housing search. I thought Housing.com was wanting to become the Zillow of India. If that is the desire then they need to offer more than just choice to home hunters. That said, the ads are very enjoyable. They may help the category and brands like 99acres and Magicbricks will also benefit.”

Razdan agreed, “It's been a few years with Housing.com being around, app-based agility-on-tap service shook the category up a bit, which had some category heavyweight squatters. Chapters of Kiara Advani, Vicky Kaushal, Rajkummar Rao and now this repeat edition of a generic category promise. Choice has been at the core of house-hunting and promotes the category; nothing Housing.com about it.”

Nanda too felt that the ads needed more focus on app and service functionality, “I would like to say kudos to the teams who have worked on this. All of us know that it takes a lot to create a campaign with a lot of time, effort and money heavily invested. The only thing I would say would make the campaign even better would be showing more of the app and service’s functionality.”