How Purplebricks became ‘The Official Estate Agent of Team GB’

Purplebricks is a challenger brand within the estate agency category. The market is primarily made up of traditional agents that charge via a commission on the value of your property. Purplebricks has a more efficient operating model; it doesn’t have branches (which are expensive to rent) and so is able to pass on these savings by charging a flat fixed fee, which is fairer – and usually much lower – than commission.

For nearly three years, the brand enjoyed considerable success with an advertising campaign that focused on the ‘no commission’ element. Across many different TV executions, the ‘Commisery‘ campaign humorously told us about people who had ‘spent thousands on commission but got nothing more for their money’. The campaign proved popular and gave the brand a strong position as being a cheaper alternative to the high street model.

Despite quickly dominating the online/hybrid category, it was proving very hard to make inroads into the traditional market. Market share was stuck around 6% and the vast majority still chose a traditional agent. This is because, when it comes to selling their house, people are very risk averse.

The strategy

Purplebricks’ problem was that it was the outlier; the risky choice. When you look around and see that the majority are choosing traditional agents, it’s very tempting to play it safe, and very easy to justify it even if it costs more money. Nobody got fired for choosing IBM, and likewise, home-sellers felt they couldn’t go wrong with a high street agent. Furthermore, without branches, it was hard for people to feel that they ‘knew‘ the brand.

This is where sponsorship came in. Advertising is great at communicating messages, but sponsorship can help build long-term associations, which is what Purplebricks needed. We felt that the right partnership could help us in three ways:

• Scale and stature: show that we’re a brand to be taken seriously
• Mass-market appeal and accessibility: demonstrate that we’re a brand for everyone
• Personability: provide a human face and a real sense of ‘personal touch’

‘Team GB‘ delivered on all counts. It is a team going to the Olympics, the greatest show on earth, so it certainly has plenty of scale and stature. It is made up of a huge diverse mix of individuals, so we felt it really was a truly democratic brand for everyone. Finally, ‘Team GB‘ is not just about sport but is about the characters too – the Mo Farahs and Eddie the Eagles – so we felt it would give us a sense of personality and personability. Besides, the two brands felt naturally compatible: each celebrating national ‘teams’ driven by talented local individuals.

The campaign

The success of the sponsorship was driven by a significant investment in TV advertising. We recognised that our newly-acquired moniker of ‘The Official Estate Agent of Team GB’ might raise more than a few eyebrows. Our campaign knowingly embraces the apparent incongruity between team and sponsor, to deliver a powerful partnership with honesty and humour. The partnership itself would give us the scale and stature but the way we delivered would give us likability and a personal touch.

Our advertising features Alice, a friendly Purplebricks agent who knows (like everyone else) that there’s a deal on the table: Purplebricks give Team GB money in return for being able to spout on about our brand. She meets a whole host of Team GB athletes – from Laura Kenny to Dan Goodfellow – and is passionate about Purplebricks, always keen squeeze a product proof into the conversation, and always looking for parallels between herself and the Team GB athletes. She never quite gets it right but, critically, we like her and we like the brand – for being a brand that doesn’t take itself too seriously, and that’s prepared to have a laugh at its own expense.

When the Olympics were postponed and it threatened to derail our sponsorship altogether, we also used it as a chance to show that the brand was responsive. Just as the whole nation was turning to Zoom calls, Alice did the same – nosing her way into athletes’ homes and lives (and not getting the reaction she wanted).

The results

The sponsorship has been hugely successful. The first rule of any marketing activity is getting noticed in the first place, which we did. Because it was a high-profile partnership, it was picked up by newspapers, and gained the attention of TV viewers, achieving a campaign recognition rate of 48% by September 2020.

Customer responses from two rounds of tracking studies show that we’ve made the brand feel likeable, trusted and warm, with those aware of the sponsorship now having far greater impressions of the brand than those who aren’t. Key brand associations such as friendly, professional and trustworthy were all boosted by exposure to the campaign. This has translated to a sense of brand momentum, with 74% of people feeling that the brand is on the way up in September 2020, compared to 68% in March 2019.

The critical figure for the business is brand consideration – especially Top 2 Box – those people who say they would probably or definitely use Purplebricks next time. We’ve seen that figure increase by two percentage points during each phase of the sponsorship campaign. Our objective was to simply increase it by two percentage points overall, so we consider this a great success. Consideration is important because it’s the metric that gets Purplebricks onto people’s short lists for valuations, and which historically translates into instructions and financial success. Clearly in 2020 we haven’t been able to show that financial success because the whole property market was stalled by Covid, but we’re confident it puts us in a strong position going into 2021.

This project was a winner at The Drum Awards for Marketing 2021. Find out which competitions in The Drum Awards are currently open and don’t forget to visit our new interactive calendar.