BRAND BUZZ

Kings Town by Al Kabir Developers: A kingdom of luxury?

The easiest road to make money goes through money. If you have it, you can multiply it. The right way would be to invest in real estate. There has been a mushroom growth of housing scheme in the last couple of years. As a result, real estate has become a mainstay for electronic media industry. While most of FMCG brands, during COVID, were revisiting their marketing budgets real estate industry was gearing up to spend more. Kings Town by Al Kabir Developers is another project on the block. The campaign is currently on air on local and national TV channels.

There was a common perception that property gets cheaper as you move away from the busy city center. The same may hold true today but the gap has decreased significantly. Located at Raiwind Road, once considered a road outside Lahore, Kings Town is selling dear. Plots as small as three Marla costs 2.4 million and that too without possession. Maybe it is because of the uncertain political economy of the country driving people crazy to make assets, the only way to save money from the effects of inflation and currency devaluation.

The communication of Al Kabir Developers aims to be unique while falling prey to the pattern recently created by Al Jalil Developers. It is more of a formula than a pattern to attract the potential market. The formula goes like this; a female celebrity, poetic narration, and beauty shots of a luxurious lifestyle. Luxury has always been something allusive. A highly refined experience only to be had by the few. Luxury that is supposed to be exclusive has become common and mundane. It does not matter what’s on the ground, the communication is always designed to take the product to a much higher ground.

Kings Town is a project of Al Kabir Developers.

The TVC featuring Iqra Aziz, driving a Rolls Royce, aspire to portray the Town as something beyond the ordinary. No doubt Al Kabir has lived up to the expectations so far by delivering well-developed projects. However, can they claim to be a brand offering luxury? The answer to this question depends on how we define the idea of luxury. We live in a country where it is getting extremely difficult for a common person to meet both ends meet while having no security for health and wellbeing of his family. In such a dismal state of affair, having a piece of land of your own in a well-developed housing scheme can be seen as an equivalent to luxury.

The narration of the TVC is nicely constructed as it starts in English. It suddenly loses its feel and momentum when the voice over switches to Urdu. English is often used as a device to establish elegance and luxury. It is unfortunate that the people who speak Urdu undermine its power as a language. Urdu has the power to express the deepest of thoughts in most beautiful words. Al Jalil Developers has done it right for their ads for West Marina and Al Noor Orchard. Kings Town is getting good feedback. Based on the previous work by Al Kabir this Town is also fated to be successful. The question remains, can we call it a place to live a luxurious lifestyle. Well, it is debatable!