Realtor.com® revealed their 2017 ad campaign today—which will include TV spots, interactive digital video experiences, and social integrations—featuring Elizabeth Banks. The Emmy-nominated actress, producer, and director is returning as the brand’s spokesperson for a third year.
The TV ads feature home buyers who are being tailed by their “not-yous”: doppelgangers who have similar tastes in properties but who are “non-users” of realtor.com®. The scripts capitalize on Banks’ cheeky, chummy humor; new homeowners happily share with her their success in the real estate transaction as the not-yous express their jealousy and frustration in humorous ways.
The campaign comes in response to conditions of low inventory in much of the country. “The idea for the not-yous came out of an insight that, particularly in a seller’s market, you really have to have an advantage over everyone else who is ultimately looking for something very similar to you,” says Andrew Strickman, head of brand and chief creative for realtor.com®.
The intent of the campaign is both to increase brand awareness and capitalize on recent traffic gains; realtor.com® attracts an average of 50 million unique users every month. “We want to increase top-level awareness, but then we want to entice someone to take an action,” says Ryan O’Hara, CEO of Move Inc. and realtor.com®, noting that each spot ends with a clear call-to-action to use the site. “Both the brand and the product are really integral to making the consumer experience better.”
Though the ad campaign is targeted tightly on the consumer experience, O’Hara says the company is continually focused on the impact their success has on NAR members looking to stand out in a crowded field. “A strong REALTOR® brand is really important for realtor.com®, and a strong realtor.com® brand is really important for the REALTOR®. It’s a symbiotic relationship,” he says. “We both do better if we grow together and support each other.”
The TV campaign launches today on CBS and HGTV and will run across major broadcast networks and cable channels. The social media integrations will begin to roll out next month and the digital video series featuring Banks will be online in July. Later in the summer, the brand will roll out humorous gifs that real estate pros can use to congratulate clients upon closing, as well as online-exclusive video segments where Banks helps the not-yous move on after defeat.
The campaign is part of a larger strategy, which includes technological improvements to the user experience at realtor.com®. One such upgrade, announced last Thursday, brings Matterport 3D virtual home tours to listings on the realtor.com® iOS app.
“We’ve grown in a major way in usage in the last two years… Part of that is the branding campaign and part of it is the improvements to the technology,” O’Hara says. “If we’re able to continue that amount of investment, it makes the REALTOR® brand stronger.”
—Meg White, REALTOR® Magazine
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