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[ERA IWD 2024] Joy Koh: Bringing star power and glitter to the ERA brand

Joy Koh
·4-min read


Joy Koh: The heart of our marketing strategy is to position ERA as the agency of choice for agents and consumers (Photo: Albert Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)

ERA Celebrates International Women's Day 2024

Joy Koh joined ERA Singapore in April 2022 as chief marketing officer (CMO), just when the company celebrated a significant milestone: its 40th birthday. Although ERA is already a household name in Singapore, Marcus Chu, CEO of ERA Singapore and its listed holding company APAC Realty, believed branding was a priority.

“Branding is the cornerstone of our identity,” Koh acknowledges. “The heart of our marketing strategy is to position ERA as the agency of choice for agents and consumers. Thus, the approach is multifaceted.”

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In June 2022, ERA engaged public relations company Edelman to survey consumers’ perceptions of real estate agents and agencies. The survey results showed that ERA was consistently rated as “a trusted brand” by consumers. Hence, Koh banked on it for the firm’s new tagline: “Trusted by Generations”.

Tie-ins

Koh focused on positioning ERA as a market leader that provides valuable market insights and tips that resonate with consumers. “We want to be a partner in our customers’ property journey and give them sound advice,” she says.

Before joining ERA, Koh was vice-president of marketing and part of the executive management team to transform Singapore Turf City into “an integrated recreational gateway in the north as part of URA masterplan”. She also spent four years as director of destination marketing at Marina Bay Sands. However, Koh’s longest tenure was with multinational toy and games company Hasbro, where she spent nine years as head of marketing and another year as its country manager. Hasbro is known for its toys and movie merchandise, such as Transformers, Marvel and My Little Pony.

In July 2023, ERA sponsored the 130-episode Mediacorp Chinese drama series “My One and Only” on Channel 8. It is based on the life of real estate agents in Singapore. According to Koh, ERA is also a consultant on the show, and Mediacorp is using the series to not only entertain but also educate consumers on scams and other issues in real estate. “It’s also a great branding opportunity,” notes Koh.

Innovation and technology

Still, the highly competitive real estate agency industry has unique challenges, especially in recruiting new agents and expanding the client base. The environment has also become more challenging. With 12 rounds of property cooling measures, investor appetite has been somewhat curtailed. Developers have also become more cautious about bidding for sites, and when it comes to new project launches, the trend is now to appoint the top three, if not the top five agencies.

As a leading agency with over 9,000 agents, ERA is assured of being among the joint marketing agencies for nearly all new residential project launches. However, to ensure that the agents stand out, ERA has invested in innovation and technology and created its own proprietary app, SALES+. The SALES+ app is aimed at helping agents do their job more effectively and efficiently.

It was also the first real estate agency to integrate Chat GPT into its proprietary SALES+ app. “We want to reduce agents’ time on administrative work so they can focus on sales and customer engagement and be more productive,” says Koh. “ We proactively seek out opportunities to leverage emerging technologies and industry trends to enhance our outreach efforts, client interactions, and overall service delivery in the ever-evolving real estate landscape”.

Broadening customer base

Broadening ERA’s customer base through social media and popular platforms like TikTok has also been vital in reaching out to Generation Z and Generation Alpha, those who have grown up in the age of remote learning, portable devices and streaming services and the homebuyers of the future. Some of the agents have also morphed into social media influencers.

Physical events such as ERA Property Megashow featuring celebrities like Elvin Ng and Yahui of Mediacorp on panel discussions about their real estate investments or homeownership journey are targeted at educating consumers, according to Koh.

ERA’s Millionaire Investor

Masterclass, a paid event, sees the likes of CEO Marcus Chu, deputy CEO Doris Ong, chief agency officer Kevin Lim and key executive officer Eugene Lim sharing their insights on investing in property. They shared the stage with Singapore actor Pierre Png in the last master class in November. “As we navigate the ever-evolving landscape, our multifaceted approach, driven by a commitment to excellence, cements ERA’s position as the agency choice for both agents and consumers”, says Koh.

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