The goal of an ad campaign is to leave a lasting impression. Impress something so profoundly the viewer can do all but forget your message when prompted by something as simple as “Cool shirt. Where’d you get it?”
California Association of Realtors’ new ad campaign aims for this with its new commercials.
And in doing so leaves out any suggestion of a mobile phone.
“You really need a Realtor and that kind of personal relationship to help you navigate,” said Steve Red, president and chief creative officer at Red Tettemer O’Connell and Partners.
In 2015, CAR tapped Red Tettemer O’Connell and Partners (RTO+P) to develop a series of commercials and media spots. RTO+P delivered an idea revolving around the ripple effect: Fast-cut commercials explaining how a CAR real estate agent is the catalyst to the great many things we achieve in life.
“The idea behind it was to demonstrate the positive effects that come out of the great actions of realtors,” Red said. “To show off the fact that it’s not just about the transaction itself, not just about the buying and selling of a home, but all of the good things that come out of that sale.”
The commercials are geared for first-time homebuyers and those of an older generation who are upsizing or downsizing. Each follows a simple format: A stranger engages the narrator with an inquiry (“Cool shirt. Where’d you get it?”) who launches into the story of how the shirt was acquired starting with “I met this Realtor…”
Each storyline is different but emphasizes the impact Realtors have on local businesses and the community.
Red said the commercials are about taking all of those positive impacts Realtors have on people and turning them into short long-story commercials. The idea to not include phones as emphasis on human interaction was just happy surprise.
C.A.R. will be advertising the campaign across multiple platforms. It has purchased 1,200 TV spots on NBC, HGTV and Bravo during the industry’s peak season; More than 1,600 radio spots and 26,000,000 online impressions over 14 weeks; expert Realtor and HGTV star Egypt Sherrod will be featured in at least 310 spots through seven weeks.
There is also a new CARmoji app being released at the end of April with industry-specific emojis. We’ll share more on that as it nears the release date.
