The Influence of Women Leaders in Real Estate Marketing

By: Sarina Menezes, Head & Vice President, Oberoi Realty

With over 30 years in Brand Marketing and Communications, Sarina has collaborated with India's top Hospitality and Prime Luxury Real Estate brands, adept in catering to HNI and UHNI clientele. As a Corporate Brand Custodian, she crafts and executes robust Branding and Communication strategies across all channels, including Digital and social media, ensuring their efficacy.

In a recent conversation with Women Entrepreneurs Review magazine, Sarina shared her leadership style as a woman shapes breakthrough marketing, fostering team unity, and connecting with diverse audiences for impactful brand experiences in the dynamic digital marketing realm.

You've had an impressive career spanning over 30 years in marketing excellence. How has your leadership style as a woman influenced the way you drive breakthrough marketing strategies and unite teams for brand building and demand generation?

Throughout the extensive career in marketing, sales and communications, my leadership approach has been focused on driving innovative marketing strategies and fostering team cohesion. By championing the organization's vision through relatable team leaders, each member feels empowered to contribute to our collective success.

Creative environments where innovation aligns seamlessly with the brand's strategic objectives have helped me harmonize brand building and demand generation efforts. Women leaders bring with them a unique blend of intuition, aesthetic sensibility, and effective communication to luxury brand marketing, which has helped me to enhance brand allure and resonance.

In addition, inclusive collaboration within diverse teams is essential. When you are working alongside a diverse team in terms of experience, age, and gender, it is important to maintain balance, discipline, and have an unbiased approach. This involves focusing on listening to innovative ideas that can come from any team member and then, being able to experiment and build on pathbreaking marketing communication pieces.

Building strong, skilled, and talented teams is essential for organizational success. As a woman leader, how do you ensure that your team members, regardless of gender, feel empowered to contribute their ideas and talents to achieve the organization's business objectives?

Nurturing empowered and inclusive teams is a cornerstone of my leadership philosophy. I often reflect on Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's timeless wisdom: “If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people to gather wood, divide the work, and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless immensity of the sea." This ethos underscores my approach to leadership.

No single individual has all the answers and thus prioritizing collaboration and collective problem-solving is essential. When faced with challenges, I assemble a smart group of individuals with varied skill sets and perspectives. Together, we delve into the issue, leveraging our collective intelligence to uncover innovative solutions. This collaborative process not only yields better outcomes but also empowers team members to take ownership of their ideas and initiatives.

Also, cultivating a culture of vulnerability can be a strength for a leaderby openly sharing both triumphs and setbacks, thereby creating an environment where team members feel valued and understood.

Your passion for storytelling and creating memorable customer experiences is evident in your work. How do you leverage your unique perspective as a woman leader to connect with diverse audiences and create brand experiences that resonate with them?

Storytelling in branding and marketing is a powerful tool for engaging customers and building brand loyalty. By sharing brand and customer experiences, we not only connect with our audience but also create brand ambassadors who advocate for our brand.

Drawing from my background in hospitality, I've learned the importance of connecting with diverse audiences. This experience has taught me empathy and emotional intelligence, allowing an understanding of our customers' evolving needs and how our products and services can meet them.

I strongly believe in the value of diversity in the workplace. In my opinion, more women need to work alongside men to complement strengths rather than compete. Men and Women were made to work as teams and that is where diversity contributes strongly to Board Rooms and when making Business decisions.

Men and women bring unique strengths to the table, and when we work together as a team, we can achieve greater success. Collaboration, rather than competition, is key to driving innovation and making informed business decisions.

With the emergence of digital marketing, you emphasize the importance of developing strong brand marketing strategies for digital and social media platforms. How do you encourage innovation and creativity within your team to adapt to the evolving landscape of digital marketing?

Digital and social media platforms have revolutionized communication, offering unparalleled reach and effectiveness for brand building and performance marketing. As we navigate this landscape, it is crucial to leverage these tools ethically while staying attuned to emerging technologies like AI, which further enhance their impact.

To stand out in a crowded digital space, innovation and creativity are paramount. By crafting pioneering communication messages and compelling content, we can capture the attention of our audience and differentiate our brand from the competition.

Agility and adaptability are crucial in digital marketing. Staying ahead of evolving trends, technologies, and measurement tools to ensure our efforts remain strategic and effective. A culture of innovation within the teamcan continually push boundaries and drive meaningful engagement with audiences.

Employer branding has become increasingly important in attracting and retaining top talent. How do you leverage your role to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion within your organization, particularly in the real estate sector?

Real Estate is largely a male dominated industry however, at Oberoi Realty we have been able to attract talented, smart and skilled women in our workforce in almost all areas of function be it Legal, Architecture, Engineering, Human Resources or Sales and Marketing. And that number ison the increasewith the right opportunity and skill set to match.

With a DEI expert partner on board, facilitating return to work programs for women, extending special support to women, inclusive hiring policies, we are progressing on our journey to attracting and retaining diverse talents across the organization. Having said that, there is still much to be achieved in order to make our workspaces truly equitable.

The real estate sector has historically been male dominated. How did you overcome any challenges or bias as a woman leader in this industry and what key take will you give to other women striving for leadership posts in real estate marketing?

Throughout my career, I can say that no two years have been the same and no two brands or businesses have been the same. Innovation has to be at the heart of Marketing, constantly evolving, changing and staying relevant especially in a dynamic market like India.

My career has allowed me to flourish and develop as a leader in the hospitality and real estate industries. I am grateful for the opportunities and challenges that came my way but more so that my leaders trusted me with their brands and entrusted me with such a great responsibility; allowing me the freedom to build their brands, innovate and work as a Brand Custodian. It is a man’s world, and there is no doubt that women still need to work 10 times harder to prove themselves and create an impact. Stepping into leadership roles often comes with self-doubt and the pressure to prove oneself. It is my desire to see more women speak up for themselves, use their talents and abilities, and not be afraid to ask for opportunities that will facilitate them to develop their potential as future leaders and entrepreneurs.