In Episode 5 of The CMO Office podcast, I sit down with Alex De Leon, Group VP of Marketing at PropertyGuru, and Quark Henares, award-winning filmmaker and director of Home Run Singapore, to talk about one of the boldest brand moves we've seen.
🧠 Why it matters: In a region dominated by performance marketing, Alex took the road less travelled — pausing nearly all performance activity and going all in on brand. What started as a casual idea over drinks turned into Home Run, a reality show that:
Racked up 10 million organic views (latest figures!)
Increased brand preference and NPS +6 points
Increased emotional brand attributes +13%
Helped generate new revenue from agents, developers, and even fashion partnerships
Created earned media buzz — from Marketing Interactive to Grazia to Vogue — and inspired a cultural shift internally at PropertyGuru
🎬 Behind the scenes: Hear how Alex ran the pilot season in stealth mode, why there were no logos or hard-sell, and how casting real agents led to surprisingly emotional storytelling that resonated far beyond the brand.
💡 Key quote:
"We didn’t want our logo to be as big as possible. We wanted to tell a great story — and if the brand showed up organically, great. But if not, that was okay too." — Alex De Leon
🚀 Now what? With Season 2 underway (and yes, eliminations are coming), the show is evolving into a full-scale marketing and revenue-generating engine — proving that creative risk-taking can drive real business outcomes.
🔗 Listen now on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
💌 Subscribe for your monthly dose of marketing leadership: the-cmo-office.com
