Mah Sing on transformation mode

Star developer: Artist

Property developer adapts to change to keep up with the times

HAVING ended 2016 on a consolidative note, property developer Mah Sing Group Bhd looks set to begin 2017 on a transformation mode.

Having started the transformation process back in 2014 when he took Mah Sing on a branding process, group managing director and chief executive Tan Sri Leong Hoy Kum plans to have a firmer grip on branding as he plans for the next 20 years.

While that 20-year vision includes legacy planning and broadening his business into other countries, he is quick to add that the company will be run by professionals.

“Succession planning is important as nobody can last forever,” he tells StarBizWeek.

Leong will be unveiling his vision and new logo later this month – at the company’s annual dinner – a moment he believes will mark the start of a new era for the property company.

“Just like how I changed Mah Sing’s logo when I took the lead from my father, my children are currently working towards transforming the company with a new logo that will be unveiled on Feb 25.”

For now, Leong is keeping mum about the look and design of the logo, promising only that it would better represent the property developer’s goals and image.

“I am glad that my children also understand the importance of change because they are working to transform Mah Sing into a newer version that would be more suited for the coming generation,” Leong says.

And justifiably too, seeing as more than half of the company’s sales are generated from first-time buyers.

“About 56% of our sales are from the Gen-Y. This year will be very exciting for Mah Sing and we are all geared up for a bigger and brighter future as Malaysia’s premier lifestyle developer,” says Leong.

To cater to this target-group of buyers, a rebranding is essential, if not timely, he adds.

“Our transformation begun in 2014 when we engaged a branding agency and conducted a health check on the company via a survey agency.”

Public perception

The aim of the survey, Leong explains, was to understand how the public perceived the Mah Sing brand as well as the perception of its staff towards the company.

“This process took more than half a year to complete because we wanted to be thorough with the findings. In fact, we were able to adopt some of the feedback and suggestions immediately.”

Following the survey, the company embarked on both a business and cultural transformation.

“Our next step began in 2015 where we engaged Deloitte to conduct a business process improvement to further enhance our work processes.

“Our previous work processes have always helped us to achieve our goals in producing quality results. But as we want to further improve ourselves, we engaged Deloitte who are the experts. Sometimes, we need an external eye to help us see areas for improvement,” says Leong.

He says once the possible areas of improvements had been identified, the company then embarked on developing new work processes that could enhance the speed and efficiency of its business operations.

“Selected new processes were implemented in various areas which included sales and marketing, contracts, customer service, project and procurement.”

Leong adds that Deloitte then conducted workshops to “drill the new processes” into the company’s staff.

As for the company’s cultural transformation, Leong says the company strives to achieve service excellence, targeted financial results, accelerated learning and robust processes.

“Our brand transformation started with having a new vision, namely to invent future living that enhances the quality of life.”

Leong notes that the group will also be embarking on a visual transformation. One of its biggest tasks is to renovate and transform the look and feel of its headquarters, Wisma Mah Sing at Jalan Sungei Besi.

“We are transforming the facade and interior of the company as well as improving our working culture. The entire renovation work will be completed by mid-2017.

“A revamped office will help improve the mindset and working culture within the workplace,” he says.

While Leong believes that the local property sector is challenging this year, he is however optimistic on the medium-to-long term outlook for the company.

“The long-term demand for property in Malaysia will continue, and this is supported by the resilient economy with continued gross domestic product growth, young population minimal speculative activities and shortage of homes for the past five years.”

He points out that there was an average supply of 80,000 new completed homes per annum compared to the average 166,000 new households demand per annum.

“The improvement in the local public transportation system, such as the LRT extensions MRT and High Speed Rail will also benefit the overall property market.

“Property is still one of the best hedges against inflation and is one of the most preferred asset classes for wealth preservation in Malaysia. Long-term demand will continue to be strong for property buyers who are buying to own or buying to invest for long-term rental income.”

In light of the challenging property outlook for 2017, Leong says the company will be ramping up its sales and marketing strategies for the year.

“In conjunction with the Chinese New Year (CNY) celebrations, Mah Sing introduced the CNY Bonanza special bonuses, where home owners will enjoy rebates from RM888 up to RM18,888 upon the purchase of selected Mah Sing properties until Feb 28.

“This campaign will help to ease the burden of buyers in their initial outlay.”

To reach out to its younger target customers, comprising mostly first-time buyers, Leong says the company is also focusing on digital marketing and innovative events and campaigns.

“In fact, 70% of our buyers are 39 years old and below. We utilise our social media and create unique content such as festive videos, online contests and more to garner leads and increase brand awareness,” he says, adding that a host of roadshows and events have also been planned to appeal to a younger market.

“One of our key highlighted events this year was ‘Fire in The Sky,’ a collaboration with Spotify and Firestation.fit.”

The event, Leong says, was a one-day fitness party in M City, Jalan Ampang, whereby 800 participants took part in exercise classes and got to enjoy M City’s pool facilities.

“This is one of the innovative platforms Mah Sing uses to approach a younger audience and showcase our products,” he says.