A growing media genre

The property market is top of mind at present, particularly amongst the middle-class black person who is grasping the opportunity to move from the townships and reside in the traditional urban middle to upmarket suburbs. It should be noted, however, that not all black people are moving out of the township. A township like greater Soweto has within it upmarket suburbs and many wealthy black people have chosen to live there, simply because that is where their friends live.

The heightened interest in property has stimulated the growth of stand alone publications, which profile the better properties that come on to the market. Also benefiting from this boom are the property sections of the urban newspapers which, to take the Saturday Star for example, have grown to multi-page supplements.

Traditionally, the property magazines are focused on displaying the properties for sale, with supportive copy describing the location and the functional elements including the number of rooms, garages and size of land. These magazines have, however, discovered that they have a captive audience and have switched the editorial emphasis to lifestyle. The content now includes articles on decor, gardening, gracious living, art, etc. As property magazines are distributed for free, mainly through home delivery, their owners are seeking to build an image for their titles by turning it into a good read. Home delivery gives them an advantage as suburbs can be graded by LSM classification. People, who live in Constantia in the Cape, and Bryanston in Johannesburg, are definitely more affluent.

By offering lifestyle content, these magazines are also creating an opportunity for marketers of ancillary home products to advertise their wares. Apart from the print boom, property websites have expanded exponentially. Prospective home owners now have the luxury of being able to trawl websites for homes that match their needs and are within range of their wallets from the comfort of their lounge. These sites, incidentally attract a large audience, and could offer ideal opportunities for builders, home loan financial institutions and decor to promote their products. The astute property agents are also using cell phone technology to keep in touch with prospects.

October 30, 2007 | Filed Under The Property Mag, Media | 1 Comment

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