Exploring the reality of modern real estate marketing

I recently watched an interview with Umang Jindal of Homeland Group on SMTV, hosted by Simranjot Singh Makkar.

The conversation touched on several important subjects — Mohali land prices, the Tricity real estate market, developers, project execution, funding and the future risks facing the industry.

But one statement particularly caught my attention.

Umang Jindal spoke about developers who are aggressively marketing their projects and raised concerns about whether some projects may be using aggressive sales and marketing to generate bookings or funds while the bigger question remains:

Will these projects actually be delivered?

He also spoke about Homeland’s long-term vision, not being in a race with the biggest builders, and the importance of trust with investors and customers.

Then came the statement that made me pause:

“We don’t really do marketing and advertising. Most of our business comes through word of mouth.”

And that made me think:

What actually counts as marketing in today’s real estate industry?

Because perhaps we have been defining marketing too narrowly.

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01 → Marketing Is Not the Same as Advertising

When people hear the word marketing, they often think about:

→ Newspaper advertisements
→ Hoardings and billboards
→ Instagram ads
→ Google ads
→ Brochures
→ Radio commercials
→ Property exhibitions

But these are tools of marketing.

They are not marketing itself.

Marketing is much broader.

At its simplest:

Awareness → Perception → Trust → Interest → Demand → Action

If people know your company, understand your vision, trust your track record and talk about your projects, marketing is already happening.

POINT TO NOTE

Advertising is visible marketing.

But modern marketing also happens through content, conversations, reputation, relationships and experiences.

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02 → Traditional Marketing Still Has Its Place

Traditional marketing is easy to identify.

A developer can use:

→ Newspaper campaigns
→ Hoardings
→ Outdoor advertising
→ Radio
→ Print media
→ Paid digital campaigns
→ Social-media advertising
→ Property exhibitions
→ Promotional brochures

There is nothing wrong with this.

Traditional marketing can work extremely well.

But it is only one part of the overall marketing ecosystem.

And we shouldn’t automatically assume:

More advertising = weak project

That’s not necessarily true.

A strong developer can advertise aggressively.

A new developer can advertise aggressively.

A premium brand can advertise aggressively.

A company entering a new market can advertise aggressively.

So instead of asking:

“Why are they advertising so much?”

A better question is:

“What is the marketing trying to achieve?”

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03 → Modern Marketing Is About Creating Attention

Marketing has changed significantly.

Companies don’t only buy attention anymore.

They also create attention.

Think about:

→ Interviews
→ Podcasts
→ YouTube videos
→ Reels
→ Founder conversations
→ PR
→ Events
→ Influencer collaborations
→ Brand partnerships
→ Educational content
→ Storytelling
→ Community building

And this is where things become interesting.

A real estate founder can sit for an interview and talk about:

Mohali → Land prices → Infrastructure → Future development → Construction → Vision → Industry challenges

There may be no direct sales pitch.

But something valuable is happening.

People are listening.

People are learning.

People are forming an opinion.

People are remembering the person.

People are remembering the company.

That’s marketing.

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04 → An Interview Can Also Be Marketing

Let’s take the very interview that started this discussion.

The SMTV interview may primarily be a conversation about real estate and the industry.

But once that conversation is published, it can create multiple marketing outcomes.

One interview can become:

1 Long-form Interview

↓

Short Video Clips

↓

Reels & Shorts

↓

LinkedIn Content

↓

Quotes & Articles

↓

Media Discussions

↓

WhatsApp Shares

↓

Industry Conversations

↓

Brand Awareness

The person may never say:

“Buy our property.”

Yet the company and its leadership have gained:

→ Visibility
→ Attention
→ Familiarity
→ Authority
→ Brand association

POINT TO NOTE

An interview doesn’t have to be a sales advertisement to have a marketing effect.

The same applies to podcasts, founder conversations, media appearances and thought-leadership content.

Content can become a marketing asset.

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05 → Marketing Is Also About Creating Stories

Modern real estate marketing isn’t always about putting a project in front of someone and saying:

“Buy this.”

Sometimes it is about creating a story around the company or project.

For example:

LAND

Why was this location selected?

↓

INFRASTRUCTURE

What could this area become?

↓

VISION

What does the developer believe about the future?

↓

PROJECT

What is being created?

↓

EXPERIENCE

What makes people want to talk about it?

The project becomes more than a building.

It becomes a story.

And stories travel.

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06 → Then Comes Invisible Marketing

This may be the most powerful layer.

You won’t necessarily see it on a billboard.

But you can see its impact in people’s decisions.

Invisible marketing includes:

→ Reputation
→ Trust
→ Credibility
→ Word of mouth
→ Customer experience
→ Investor relationships
→ Track record
→ Social proof
→ Founder credibility

Imagine someone says:

“My friend already owns a property with them.”

Or:

“They delivered their previous project properly.”

Or:

“I’ve heard good things about this developer.”

There is no advertisement in these conversations.

But the potential buyer’s perception has changed.

That’s marketing too.

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07 → Word of Mouth Is Also Marketing

This is perhaps the most important distinction.

We often hear:

“We don’t market. We rely on word of mouth.”

But word of mouth is itself a form of marketing.

The difference is who carries the message.

PAID MARKETING

Company → Message → Audience

The company pays to distribute its message.

WORD-OF-MOUTH MARKETING

Customer → Recommendation → Potential Customer

The customer carries the message.

And in real estate, this can be incredibly powerful.

Why?

Because trust transfers.

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08 → When Your Past Starts Selling Your Future

Imagine a developer has spent years building a reputation.

A new project launches.

The company doesn’t necessarily start from zero.

Its previous work is already communicating something.

→ Previous projects
→ Existing customers
→ Investors
→ Founder
→ Reputation
→ Track record

All of these become signals.

The equation becomes:

Past Performance

↓

Reputation

↓

Trust

↓

Word of Mouth

↓

New Demand

Eventually:

Your previous work starts selling your next project.

That’s an extremely powerful form of marketing.

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09 → So, Is Umang Jindal Really “Not Marketing”?

This is where I think the conversation becomes more interesting.

Perhaps the statement shouldn’t be interpreted as:

“We don’t market.”

Perhaps it means:

“We don’t depend heavily on traditional paid advertising.”

Those are two very different things.

If a company depends on:

→ Reputation
→ Customer trust
→ Investor relationships
→ Word of mouth
→ Founder credibility
→ Media conversations
→ Content
→ Community

then it does have a marketing system.

It is simply a different kind of marketing system.

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10 → My Take: Marketing Is About Trust

I don’t see Umang Jindal’s statement as something to simply challenge.

I see it as something worth exploring.

Because perhaps there is a larger lesson here:

Marketing isn’t just about making noise. It’s about creating demand and reducing customer uncertainty.

And in real estate, uncertainty is huge.

A buyer wants to know:

→ Will they deliver?
→ Can I trust them?
→ Is the location right?
→ What is the developer’s track record?
→ What do existing customers say?

A billboard cannot answer all of these questions.

Reputation can.

Experience can.

Word of mouth can.

Credibility can.

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11 → Three Layers of Real Estate Marketing

A simple way to understand modern marketing is through three layers.

① TRADITIONAL MARKETING

Ads → Reach → Leads

You buy attention.

② MODERN MARKETING

Content → Attention → Conversation → Awareness

You create attention.

③ TRUST-BASED MARKETING

Reputation → Trust → Word of Mouth → Demand

You earn attention.

The strongest brands can understand and use all three.

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12 → What Should We Really Look At?

The next time you analyse a real estate developer, don’t just ask:

“How much are they advertising?”

Ask better questions:

→ Who is talking about them?

→ What are people saying about them?

→ Does the founder have credibility?

→ Do previous customers recommend them?

→ Are they generating media attention?

→ Are they creating useful content?

→ Are events and experiences creating visibility?

→ Does their reputation generate enquiries without paid advertising?

These questions can tell us much more about a company’s actual marketing strategy.

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13 → And Here’s the Interesting Part: This Article Is Marketing Too

There is a little irony here.

Even this article about marketing is, in a way, marketing.

It is being published on Property Pockets, a real estate media platform.

We’re not saying:

“Buy this property.”

We’re creating a conversation.

We’re exploring an industry idea.

We’re discussing a prominent real estate personality.

We’re helping people understand how marketing actually works.

And if someone discovers Property Pockets through this article, remembers the brand, follows the platform or starts another conversation because of it — something valuable has happened.

And that is modern marketing.

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14 → Interviews, Podcasts & Media Are Part of the Marketing Ecosystem

This is an important point worth making clearly.

An interview is not automatically an advertisement.

A podcast is not automatically an advertisement.

A news article is not automatically an advertisement.

But all of them can become marketing channels or marketing assets.

Why?

Because they can create:

Visibility → Awareness → Authority → Familiarity → Trust

A founder who regularly shares useful insights can become associated with expertise.

A company that consistently participates in meaningful conversations can become more visible.

A story that gets shared across platforms can create awareness without a traditional media buy.

And when those conversations continue over time, they contribute to brand building.

That’s the difference between simply advertising a project and building a brand around a company.

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15 → What Can We Learn From Homeland?

This is where I think Homeland becomes an interesting case study.

Trust-based marketing doesn’t happen overnight.

It takes:

→ Consistent delivery
→ Customer experience
→ Reputation
→ Credibility
→ Relationships
→ Visibility
→ Conversations
→ Track record
→ Years of showing up consistently

So perhaps we shouldn’t look at Homeland simply through the lens of:

“They don’t do traditional marketing.”

Instead, ask:

What has the brand built that makes traditional advertising less important?

Perhaps the answer lies in its presence, reputation and relationships.

The brand may not be trying to win every marketing race.

Perhaps it doesn’t need to.

It has built a strong presence in Punjab’s real estate industry, and that presence itself has become an asset.

POINT TO NOTE

A brand doesn’t always have to be the loudest to be remembered.

Sometimes it is more powerful to be trusted than to be loud.

And that’s something we can learn from Homeland:

Don’t just market your projects. Build a brand that gives people a reason to trust the projects.

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16 → Why Property Pockets Wants to Explore These Conversations

This is also why Property Pockets wants to explore these conversations.

Not simply to promote real estate.

But to understand:

What actually makes a real estate brand valuable?

What makes people trust a developer?

What makes a company memorable?

What makes a reputation strong enough to generate demand?

Because content itself can become part of the marketing ecosystem.

Content

↓

Conversation

↓

Awareness

↓

Trust

↓

Brand

And yes —

That is marketing too.

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FINAL TAKE

Maybe Umang Jindal is right.

Maybe Homeland genuinely doesn’t depend on traditional advertising the way many other developers do.

But that doesn’t necessarily mean:

“No marketing.”

It may simply mean:

Less advertising. More reputation.

Less paid attention. More earned attention.

Less direct selling. More trust-building.

Less “Buy Now.” More “Know Us, Trust Us, Then Choose Us.”

And perhaps that’s the real lesson from the SMTV interview.

Marketing has changed.

The most powerful marketing may not always look like an advertisement.

Sometimes it looks like an interview.

Sometimes it looks like a podcast.

Sometimes it looks like a news story.

Sometimes it looks like a social-media conversation.

Sometimes it looks like a customer recommendation.

Sometimes it looks like a brand’s track record.

And sometimes, the strongest marketing of all is simply:

A reputation that speaks before the sales team does.