How Purplebricks brought Commisery to the UK's estate agents

Online estate agents had failed to disrupt the property market despite trading for almost a decade. To drive consideration and increase instructions to sell homes, the online-based Purplebricks needed to engage the mass market with its key differentiator - unlike most estate agents, it does not charge sellers commissions. It invested in TV-led advertising empathising with people’s ‘commisery’ – an imagined despondency you might feel if you thought you had needlessly paid out thousands in commission. Following the campaign, consideration rose from 23% to 38%. Market share almost doubled and revenue grew by £35.1m (218%) in 2016-17. The change helped the company swing from a £4.4m loss to a £3.7m profit in one financial year.