Webinar on digital marketing in real estate industry

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused significant changes in the way businesses operate. Going digital seems to be a promising strategy for businesses to survive during the pandemic. Among others, marketing-related activities have switched from their previous physical dominant to the digital platform. The Faculty of Accountancy and Management (FAM) Building and Property Management Department, and Centre for Entrepreneurial Sustainability (CENTS) jointly organised a webinar entitled “Digital Marketing: A Plausible Solution in the Era of Pandemic or Future Direction for Real Estate Marketing?” on 10 December 2020 with the aim to  explore digital marketing as the new normal during the pandemic and the adoption of digital marketing as a future marketing strategy in the real estate industry.

Tan Sri Datuk Eddy Chen Lok Loi

Invited to deliver the talk at the webinar was MKH Berhad Group Managing Director Tan Sri Datuk Eddy Chen Lok Loi while moderating the webinar was FAM Head of Programme for MBA (Building Management)/Master of Real Estate Development Dr Chin Hon Choong.

Tan Sri Datuk Eddy Chen sharing his insights during the webinar

Tan Sri Datuk Eddy Chen started the webinar by introducing the concept of digital marketing and traditional marketing to the participants. He emphasized that while traditional marketing is still effective, digital marketing offers limitless connection between a business and its audience. On top of that, by referring to the Internet World Statistic, Tan Sri Datuk Eddy Chen highlighted that Malaysia is one of the top 5 fastest-growing e-commerce countries. The country's internet penetration rate is 83 percent, with 81 percent active social media users. This fact further strengthens the need for digital marketing in helping the business to connect to its audience.

Tan Sri Datuk Eddy Chen continued his talk by providing insights on how digital marketing is transforming the real estate industry by providing examples of digital marketing platforms and strategies relating to his company's current practices. Tan Sri Datuk Eddy Chen acknowledged that traditional real estate marketing campaigns have several shortages and drawbacks, such as space limitations, interaction, and measuring the usefulness of campaigns while explaining that these shortcomings can be addressed through digital marketing. Lastly, he shared his insights on the application of virtual reality as a promising tool for real estate marketing campaign. The webinar was followed by a fruitful and insightful Q&A session.

Tan Sri Datuk Eddy Chen has 37 years of experience in property development and construction-related businesses. He has long played a leading role in advocating the industry's growth and advancement and is well-recognised as one of the influential key opinion leaders. He is prominently involved in the redevelopment of Kajang, and effectively steered the housing industry through the Asian Financial Crisis by the implementation of homeownership campaigns during his tenure as President of Real Estate and Housing Developers Association (REHDA) from 1998-2002. He is also an active committee member in various government and private sector organisations that formulate policies governing the housing and real estate industry. He holds positions as the Advisory Council Member of Construction Labour Exchange Centre Berhad, committee member of CIDB’s Pemandu Pembangunan Pelan Induk Industri Pembinaan II during his term from 2016 – 2020, and member of PEMUDAH Special Task Force on Kuala Lumpur City Hall. His contribution has been recognised and he received awards such as the Edge Malaysia Outstanding Property CEO Award 2018, The REHDA Personality Award 2013 and The CIDB’s Malaysian Construction Industry Excellence Awards (MCIEA) CEO of the Year Award 2015.