Personalisation at the core of PropertyGuru's brand refresh

Ten years after disrupting the traditional classified property ads market, PropertyGuru (PG) has unveiled a new look and feel as part of its brand refresh.

The makeover is intended to reflect PG’s evolution over the decade and includes a new logo, website and apps. Under the surface, explains Bjorn Sprengers, CMO of PropertyGuru Group, the refresh also sought to determine the purpose of PG for its stakeholders, the types of relationships the company is striving to build and the identity that will help the company achieve that. 

"The role we play in people’s lives these days is so much bigger today than what it was when
we started 10 years ago," says Sprengers. His company leverages property market data to create and share advice on whether or not it's a good time to buy, while deploying advanced technologies such as machine learning to make the property search experience hyper-personal.

PG has also increased its industry profit pool by enabling online credit checks and mortgage applications to increase people’s ability to secure finance for new residences.

"Our revamped websites and mobile apps bring personalisation to the forefront of property
seekers' search experience," says Sprengers. "We leverage artificial intelligence to make every property search a highly personalised and intuitive experience."

Brand redesign

PG's new brand positioning statement is ‘Look forward to Home’, reflecting its reputation for helping people find a place they can call home.

"Our new logo is made up of two distinct and interconnected roofs," explains Sprengers. "The red line symbolises people’s life journeys. The two roofs signify the different stages people go through in their lifetime and the importance of home at each stage. The interconnection between the two
roofs represents how PropertyGuru supports property seekers every step of the way."

The four peaks within the logo are also a subtle nod to PG's four primary markets in Asia:
Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia.

In examining user behaviour after the rollout of the brand redesign across digital properties, Sprengers says that the before and after benchmarks reflect a positive reception from the target audience of listers and searchers.

"In developing our new identity, we were able to confirm that user satisfaction increases substantially with our new website and mobile apps," says Sprengers. "We will continue to measure these scores as we roll out new features and benefits in coming months."

Deploying artificial intelligence

According to Sprengers, PG's new websites and mobile apps take personalisation to the heart of the user experience, with the platform evolving displayed content in accordance with a user's site usage and inquiries.

"The experience for every user will become unique as we learn more about what you seek," says Sprengers. "For instance, the experience on the homepage toggles between one for people looking to rent and one for those looking to buy their home."

"We also have information for those who are starting the process and are still browsing, and distinguish this from the information sought by focused seekers who are looking to buy a home in the near term," says Sprengers.

Leveraging TensorFlow, a market leading platform powered by machine learning, PG offers its visitors customised recommendations that improve with every use.

"Powered by AI and machine learning algorithms, the sites make every property search a highly personalised and intuitive experience by recognising behavioural cues to determine the kind of properties a user is looking for and the content they are likely to be interested in," said Sprengers. 

For visitors that the site determines may be casually browsing, for example, PG will provide market trends, expert commentaries and guides. A new location widget will also allow visitors to pinpoint homes, filtering the available options by proximity to schools, malls, parks, cinema's, gyms, and MRT's.