Indian Real Estate - What’s In A Project Name? Everything, Say Developers
by Mr. Ashutosh
Limaye, JLL India
It is natural to wonder
why certain Indian real estate projects, like ‘Worli 1973’, ‘W54’ or ‘Three Sixty West’,
are so named.
Or why some developers / promoters come up with esoteric names ranging from
Greek gods to foreign flora for their projects.
In fact, the naming of realty
projects is an important exercise carried out by marketing and strategy teams.
Contrary to common
perception, naming projects is a well-researched and executed exercise.
Most
leading developers invest a great deal of psychology and marketing thought in
this process. The aim usually is to best convey the value proposition and
market positioning of the project in one (or a few) words.
At other times, the
goal may be to stir up a certain aspiration in the minds of target clientele or
associate the project to uber-luxury or select global locations.
For example, continental
names intend to conjure images of exotic European locales and life there.
Generally, it is the theme-based or luxury projects and gated townships that
get named in such a fashion. The developer tries to evoke a sense of ‘arrival’
in the buyers’ minds apart from representing the global ambience and
exclusiveness such a project would offer.
Two upcoming projects in
Mumbai have been named after ‘Paris’ - featuring French-styled apartments – and
‘Miami’ – as the project gives a great view of the Mahim bay.
In Bengaluru,
Prestige named two projects after London’s Kensington Gardens and Wellington
Park, as they have a lot of open spaces, greenery and recreational facilities.
In Noida, a mixed-use
development under development is called ‘Twin Towers’ – perhaps with the
intention of making an impression as an edifice. There are names associated to
architectural styles too.
For instance, a project inspired by Roman
architectural style is called ‘Romano’. Projects can get other names too.
‘Fable Castle’ in NCR is so called because it is based on fables by Walt
Disney.
Another project in NCR
is called ‘La Vida’, which means ‘live life’ in Spanish.
Developments around
the Buddha F1 racing circuit in NCR has buildings named ‘Speedway Avenue’,
‘Grand Stand’, ‘Grand Circuit’, etc. to evoke visions of the professional car
racing ethos In Bengaluru, a luxury offering flaunts its elitist tag
through the name ‘White Meadows’, which naturally conjures up images of
pastoral grasslands.
How it all began?
In Mumbai, this trend
was most probably kicked off by the Hiranandani Group at their flagship
township in Powai, where each building was named after a Greek God or a foreign
locale.
The developer continued with this practice, and because of its success,
this unique exercise was adopted by several other developers and further
innovations followed.
Different developers
follow different schemes. Godrej Developers often name their buildings after
foreign flora and precious stones.
Thane’s Vasant Vihar area has many buildings
named after Indian flora and trees, many of them having a special place in
Indian culture.
Foreign flora has
emerged as a common favourite of developers across India, with many residential
buildings, and entire townships, named after exotic flowers.
So we have DLF
Camellias – inspired by an evergreen shrub’s flowers said to symbolise desire,
passion and refinement – in NCR and Sobha Mayflower – inspired by what is
considered to be the tree of love – in Bengaluru.
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| Ashutosh Limaye, JLL India |
Now, developers are
getting more innovative and exclusive with very distinct proejct names with
greater recall value.
Omkar’s ‘Worli 1973’ project in this upscale precinct of
Mumbai stands out not only because cricketer Virat Kohli and an aspirational
gentry has bought sky villas there, but also due to the uniqueness of its name,
which is derived by merging the location’s latitude (19°) and longitude (73°).
This may very well be another first for Mumbai, though there are other projects
using numbers in their names.
Another developer has
used its initial 'W' to name projects. One of its projects is named
‘W54’, clearly derived from this initial followed by the number of units it was
initially supposed to have. ‘Three Sixty West’ presumably gets its name because
its height is 360 meters and all apartments face the western direction.
‘Avenue54’ probably gets its name because select roads are called avenues in
Santacruz and the area’s pin code ends with 54.
So intense is the competition
of using unique tags that most developers maintain a shroud of secrecy around
their projects’ names until they have actually kicked off their marketing
campaigns.
This is done to reduce the possibility of losing names to
competition, as a robust copyright mechanism is still not existent.
Affinity to European
names
Call it a post-colonial
legacy or the universal human psychology of finding foreign-sounding names more
attractive, but there is no denying that Indian customer’s psyche equates such
names to better value propositions, international concepts, design and amenities.
Not only NRIs but local buyers too are impressed by the idea of world-class
designs and amenities associated with foreign names.
Increasing globalisation
has exposed Indians to international locations, and the global appeal of such
names attract the jet-setting, niche set of buyers. Also, such names are seen
as neutral and cosmopolitan.
Given the tangible results of using such names in
recent years, it is a trend which is here to stay - and developers are bound to
get more and more innovative with the science behind naming their projects.
About the author
Mr. Ashutosh Limaye is National Director - Research at JLL India
For media contact.
Arun Chitnis
Head – Corporate
Communications & Media Relations
JLL India
Pune 411001.
Tel: (020) 30930441 Fax:
(020) 40196101
Mobile: +91 9657129999
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