Inman

Shorewest Realtors promotes new website on TV

Brookfield, Wis.-based Shorewest Realtors is promoting its recently redesigned website with a TV ad campaign that references "the Yodeler," a character that helped Shorewest change its name from Wauwatosa Realty 15 years ago. 

"We knew we wanted to launch the website in a big way and decided it was time to be back on TV," said Joseph Horning, president of Shorewest, in a statement. 

Shorewest went back to Tom Dixon, the creative director behind the original Yodeler commercial, to produce the new ads.

Sean Sweeney as "the Yodeler" in the original ad campaign.

"The Yodeler," Sean Sweeney, and his demonstrative face, is back in the new campaign, but there’s no yodeling this time.

The commercials feature Sweeney having difficulty obtaining service at an airport ticket counter and a doctor’s office, because the people who are supposed to help him are too busy hunting for homes on the Internet.

A 30-second spot from Shorewest Realtors’ new TV ad campaign.

The new campaign features three separate commercials with two 30-second spots and a 15-second segment. The 30-second commercials began airing on Sunday and will run through December on Fox, CBS, NBC, ABC and Shorewest’s own TV channel.

"The third spot is a 15-second execution that we all agree is hilarious, but Shorewest is concerned it might be a little too edgy," Dixon said. "So they’re running it on Shorewest’s Facebook page to seek the public’s opinions. I think that’s a brilliant way to handle it while demonstrating sensitivity."

Shorewest Realtors claims to be Wisconsin’s largest home seller, with more than 1,000 associates and 23 offices in the state. The brokerage was ranked No. 33 by closed transaction sides in 2011 on a list of top U.S. brokerages compiled by real estate consulting firm Real Trends.