The Irish Times Property Advertising Awards 2007:Property professionals who can most successfully engage customers with their brand will prosper in difficult times, the fifth Irish Times Property Advertising Awards was told. Fiona Tyrrellreports

Creativity and innovation in property marketing and advertising will determine who the winners are in a tougher climate, according to Tom Trainor, chief executive of the Marketing Institute, who presided at last Friday's Irish Times Property Advertising Awards.

About 350 estate agents, advertising professionals and developers attended the event, now in its fifth year, at the Four Seasons Hotel in Ballsbridge.

At the lunchtime event, awards were presented for outstanding advertisements in the national print.

This year the panel judged entries in seven print categories as well as a new online category.

Demand has outstripped supply for a number of years in the property market, making for a "less stressful environment for those working in the sector", according to Trainor.

He stated that the sector is in need of more creative marketing and advertising, and reported that the judging panel had found that advertising was "weaker than in other sectors". It was for this reason the panel decided not to give an award in one category, he added.

He said it "will be interesting to note the marketing response of the property sector to more adverse trading conditions".

In a tougher climate it will be "those who can most successfully engage the customer with their brand that will prosper" he said.

The solution to the marketing challenge lies within the sector, within the individual companies and within your leadership and management teams.

"If you believe your brand is good, and if you want the customer to attach a value to it, then you must be seen to invest in communicating it."

Former minister for state and incoming director general of the Construction Industry Federation Tom Parlon addressed the gathering.

The event was his first official function in his new position. In his keynote address Mr Parlon spoke about the challenges facing the property industry in the future.

The €36 billion construction industry is crucial to the country's economy, he said.

The many spin-off industries include the €155 million advertising sector, which is significantly ahead of sectors such as food, entertainment, motor, banking and recruitment, he said.

Other spin-offs of the industry are the €250 million conveyance sector and the €60 million training industry.

Output next year could fall as low as 45,000 units, according to Mr Parlon. "We in the CIF hope to be wrong with these figures, but at present market conditions, that is what the output will be according to our members on the ground.

"It doesn't have to be, of course. If confidence and common sense can be restored to the market, output next year will be substantially higher."

He warned that the "new realities of the market make effective marketing campaigns all the more important".

He called for more common sense in discussions of the market and said stability in housing is in everybody's best interests.

This included first-time buyers trying to get on the property ladder, existing homeowners whose life savings are tied up in their homes, the 280,000 people who depend on construction for their livelihood and the Irish economy, which has probably been the real winner from Ireland's housing boom.

Those attending the event included Maeve Donovan, managing director of The Irish Times, Liam Kavanagh, Irish Times finance director and advertising sales manager Liam Holland, who introduced the speakers.

The master of ceremonies was Gift Grub's Mario Rosenstock, whose impersonations of Keith Duffy, Eddie O'Sullivan, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, George Bush and Roy Keane provided great post-lunch entertainment. Many then adjourned to the Four Seasons' Ice Bar for some industry chat and gossip.

The award for best website went to MyHome.ie; the agent was Lisney and design was by Ward Solutions