KnokKnok began with an idea for a video property search platform.
I could see how much time people spent discovering places, people and ideas through social media. Property search still felt strangely separate from that world. There was an opportunity to make finding a home more engaging, more personal and more connected to how people actually spend their time.
That was the starting point.
Then we learned something important. People wanted the whole picture.
Film could make someone stop and look. They still needed photographs, floor plans, clear information, sensible pricing and someone they trusted to answer the phone. Sellers wanted the creativity, but they also wanted their home on the established portals and an agent who could negotiate and get a sale through.
So we changed the plan.
I am very happy to say that. Listening is a fairly useful skill when you are building a business.
Putting the idea to work
We brought that thinking into an agency.
KnokKnok would combine cinematic marketing, social media, technology and AI with the practical work of selling homes. Traditional portals would remain part of the mix. So would personal relationships, local knowledge and picking up the phone.
That gave us somewhere to put our ideas into practice and see what genuinely helped.
A good property film needs a purpose. Better information should help someone make a decision. A new tool should save time, improve communication or uncover something useful. The test is what it does for the person buying or selling.
That matters because a property transaction can be exciting, frustrating and deeply personal, sometimes within the same afternoon. You can automate a task. You still need to understand the person waiting for it to be done.
A room in King’s Cross
At our event in King’s Cross, we brought together people from across the industry to discuss where property was heading.
There were people from Stow Brothers and Nested, Tanya Baker, and brokers from newer businesses finding their own way of doing things.
What I enjoyed was the willingness to have the conversation. Personal brands, content, technology, different ways of building an agency. People asking questions and sharing ideas rather than assuming the existing model had all the answers.
Looking back at the photographs, that is the part I remember most. A room full of people who cared about the work and were prepared to rethink how it could be done.
I think some of the businesses shaping the next chapter of agency will come from that kind of thinking.
The standard should keep moving
I find it difficult to understand how a business can ask to market someone’s biggest asset while presenting itself through a website that looks as though nobody has considered it for years.
Presentation matters. So does making information easy to find. So does responding properly when someone shows an interest.
Those are choices an agency makes.
AI makes the question more urgent. My view is that we are entering a period of change comparable, in some respects, to the early internet. There will be overpromising, poor products and ideas that go nowhere. There will also be tools that change what clients expect from a service.
Calling the whole thing a bubble is an easy way to avoid trying any of it.
For us, the useful possibilities are practical: organising information, making research easier, helping match requirements to homes and giving clients a clearer view of what is happening. The output still needs checking. Advice still needs judgement. Someone still has to take responsibility.
I want technology to give us more time for that work.
Who should benefit from the content?
There is another idea I still believe in.
Agents put considerable time and money into creating property content. They organise the access, commission the photography, make the films and bring the local knowledge. That work gives people a reason to visit property platforms.
I would like to see a model where agents can share in the value their content creates.
We already understand that principle in the wider creator economy. I believe property should explore it too.
I saw OnTheMarket as an opportunity to change the relationship between agents and portals. My ambition goes further: a platform owned by agents, alongside our agency, with a model that can pay agents for the content they create.
That is a direction we want to build towards. There is work to do on the economics, the technology and how it would be governed. It deserves to be worked through properly.
I want agents to have more choice, more influence and a meaningful stake in what they help build.
Still getting started
The first year of KnokKnok was a huge ride. We tested ideas, changed direction and learned more from doing the work than we could have learned from polishing a business plan.
I am proud of the pivot. It brought us closer to what people actually wanted and gave the original ideas a more useful home.
We will keep developing the technology. We will keep improving the marketing. And we will keep paying attention to the conversations that tell us where we need to do better.
There is plenty ahead.
More tech. Better agency. More fun.
