MAM
CommonFloor.com breaks new ground in marketing
MUMBAI: Everything one ever desires can now be obtained with the click of a button and one such thing on the never-ending list, is real estate. Whether one wants to buy, sell or rent property without resorting to dusty travels and dingy meetings with shady brokers and real estate agents, now there are portals galore to fulfil our needs. Taking a cue from the boom in the online real estate segment is CommonFloor.com.
CommonFloor.com, a one stop shop real estate destination, which brings builders, buyers owners etc together under one roof, is now riding high on innovative marketing strategies to rise above the clutter.
One such marketing strategy was the portal’s association with the recently released film Katti Batti starring Imran Khan and Kangana Ranaut. CommonFloor was integrated in the script of the film, wherein the protagonists choose their dream house with the help of the portal.
Speaking to Indiantelevision.com, Commonfloor.com co-founder Vikas Malpani said, “It’s a wonderful link up to the film, which appeals to mass audience. Basically what we have been doing is experimenting with all possible new age media, which connects to young brands. We were the first ones to tie up with The Viral Fever and one of their series Permanent Roommates, which was quite a global success.”
According to Malpani, movie integration and activation helps connect with audience on ground as well as reinforce the brand.
With the ever increasing cometition between existing and emerging real estate portals from Magicbricks.com to Housing.com, it is always a daunting task to manage to get the required hits and enhance interaction.
“At the end of the day, a solid product and right perception really helps you to get the brand going. Moreover, in the online real estate space, replicating or competing with existing formats is not easy as a larger vision and skill set is required to take competition heads on,” asserts Malpani.
Malpani is of the opinion that the brand’s differentiating factors are based on the product, the level of interaction as well as consumer’s experience with the brand.
As far as marketing strategy goes, CommonFloor has a radical and a rather confidant approach to it. Having a product worthy enough to keep themselves ahead is their marketing mantra.
Not in the least bit daunted by the competition in the space, Malpani says, “We believe that we have the entire ecosystem upfront and there are no competitors who have the strategy or vision for future of real estate in country like we do. So in that sense, we are not worried about our competitors. What we are trying to do in our marketing strategy is to connect with our audience, who can understand and make decisions. We at CommonFloor are there to empower them with information so that they can make their decision.”
Throwing light on the company’s growth, he says, “As of now 10 per cent of residential viewers take to the online medium for the real estate space. We believe that in next five years that number will touch 50 per cent, which is 50 per cent of close to about the $180 billion online real estate market. So there is a golden opportunity and we are on the right track.”
For the promotions and activation around Katti Batti, while the brand name was integrated in the movie, online activation in the form of contests was also carried out wherein string association could be established.
“Our social media is more about putting out the right information, keeping the audience engaged to our pages and put out relevant real estate trend information, which can be consumed over social media. We also interact with people on Facebook and Twitter, who are looking for a house and connect them with relevant options,” informs Malpani.
While CommonFloor.com earmarks about 70 – 80 per cent of its marketing spends on television and print, the rest is dedicated to social media activation.
As online real estate companies are briskly climbing stairs two steps at a time, the next phase of growth in the space as well as players’ strategy for maximum brand reach will be interesting to watch out for.
Brands
Workday unveils Sana, a new AI tool for businesses
New conversational interface, 300+ skills and deep integrations aim to turn AI from sidekick to operator
CALIFORNIA: Workday has fired a fresh salvo in the enterprise AI race, rolling out “Sana”, a system it touts as “superintelligence for work”, designed not merely to assist, but to act. The pitch is blunt: stop dabbling with disconnected copilots and start letting AI run the plumbing of business.
Unveiled globally on March 20, Sana arrives as a three-part stack, Sana for Workday, a conversational interface; a self-service agent with more than 300 skills; and Sana Enterprise, which plugs into tools from Gmail and Outlook to Salesforce and Slack. The aim is to collapse the sprawl of enterprise software into a single AI-led workflow engine.
At its core, Sana promises four things: find, act, build and automate. Employees can query internal data, execute tasks such as updating records or contracts, generate dashboards, and trigger multi-step workflows, all within the same interface. The twist is where it sits, inside Workday’s existing systems, inheriting their permissions, compliance rules and audit trails.
“AI only works in the enterprise when it’s connected to trusted, deterministic systems,” said Aneel Bhusri, co-founder and chief executive. “Sana is what brings it all together… a powerful way for people to search, reason and orchestrate work across the enterprise.”
The critique of current AI deployments is familiar, flashy pilots, little real impact. Workday’s answer is to embed intelligence where decisions are made and actions executed. Gerrit Kazmaier, president, product and technology, framed it as a shift from suggestion to execution: “AI agents take action using trusted context, not just provide suggestions… a single experience where AI is embedded directly in the flow of work.”
Early adopters suggest traction. Berner claims 90 per cent adoption within 40 days, scrapping 400 ChatGPT licences. Cheffelo calls Sana its “AI backbone”, while Telavox says the conversation has shifted from automating tasks to reimagining entire processes.
Analysts, too, see a broader play. Josh Bersin described the integration as “a major milestone”, arguing it could reshape both customer and employee experience by making AI-native workflows the default.
Sana is being bundled via Workday’s Flex Credits, no separate licence, no added paywall, a move that lowers friction and speeds adoption. Meanwhile, Sana Enterprise extends the system beyond Workday, allowing users to search documents, schedule meetings or track project tickets across multiple platforms in one conversation.
The bet is clear: whoever controls the workflow, controls the future of enterprise software. With Sana, Workday is trying to move AI from a helpful assistant to an invisible operator. If it works, the software menus may vanish, and with them, the way work itself is done.
