Purplebricks has appointed public relations firm Hound as it looks to place greater emphasis on digital PR and improve its overall image.
Hound will be responsible for delivering large-scale brand activations and digital PR, working alongside Purplebricks’ other agencies, Universal McCann and Snap LDN.
Hound was founded in November 2020 by David Cotgreave, former group managing director at 4media. The company works with a number of a high-profile clients, including Vodafone, Ryvita, Burns Pet Nutrition, Nous, and Well Pharmacy.
Matt Peach, marketing director at Purplebricks, said: “We’re excited to have Hound on board to help us optimise our digital marketing performance and amplify our value proposition.
“This gives us a fresh approach to PR, driving talkability around our brand and helping cement our position as the largest estate agency in the UK.”
Cotgreave added: “As the cost-of-living crisis starts to take a grip on the property market, Purplebricks’ no-commission model is perfectly placed to help people save money. It’s a brand that isn’t afraid to shake up the industry and is championing homeowners to put them in the best position to sell their property.”
The appointment of Hound follows the recent relaunch of the online estate agency’s controversial and highly unpopular ‘commisery’ campaign that caused industry anger six years ago.
Having pledged in more recent years not to return to the original campaign created, as the company tried to improve its image, the online estate agency has now relaunched its infamous ‘save yourself from commisery’ moments as part of its new advertising initiative.
The existing adverts call for vendors to instruct Purplebricks rather than a traditional high-street estate agency that only charges sellers commission if they successful complete on a property deal.
The national TV and Radio spots parody the traditional estate agent pitch, showing how the joy felt on completion can suddenly turn to commisery for spending more than Purplebricks would charge.
This claim made by the online agency comes despite a decision in July to increase its pricing and scrap its money back guarantee.
Purplebricks’ chief executive officer, Helena Marston, described the price increase as “a necessary step, not just to strengthen our revenues, but also as a result of the additional costs our business has had to absorb over the past few years”.
Purplebricks share price ended yesterday at just 11.55p, down 20% month-on-month, and a very long way from the heady days of 2017 when it reached an all-time high of 525p.
Recent regulatory failings have had a negative impact on the business and pushed its share price to new lows.
It’s not PR and column inches that is required, but someone that understands how to craft and deliver a crystal-clear message.
Spinning the truth into something palatable is a waste of time and money. Fix the problems.
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Well said but not even Lazarus could bring this turkey back to life…
Best to just get it ready for the Christmas table!
The fundamental business model just does not work. It never has and never will. Every estate agent in the UK knows, it apart from the ones unlucky enough to work with PB for now.
With the dramatic downturn in the number of instructions available anyway, their tiny market share has shrunk way further than can possibly support their business. It didn’t work in the last few years where there have been (relatively) plenty of instruction so how can it ever work now, and in the next year or so, until the economy settles down?
They don’t care about, or need to, sell properties don’t forget; just list them. When there are less listings they have less customers and there’s not a thing that a new PR company can do about it.
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I’d have thought Matt Hancock Limited would have been more appropriate for this shower
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The phrase “you cannot polish a t**d” springs to mind!
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