In 2010, CENTURY 21® launched a bold plan to shift the conversation from what was one of the deepest downturns in housing to instead focus on the positive attributes of its global network of more than 100,000 sales professionals.
To begin, Century 21 refreshed its core marketing message in order to focus on the CENTURY 21 agents, adding the SMARTER. BOLDER. FASTER.® tagline on all of its ads.
“Our sales professionals are the very heart of our business, so it was important for us to highlight a marketing message that celebrates their capabilities,” says Bev Thorne, Chief Marketing Officer, Century 21 Real Estate LLC. “Showcasing their expertise in front of as many people as possible was our next charge.”
And charge they did, as the only national real estate franchise company to advertise during the 2012 and 2013 Super Bowls, the most watched programs in American television history.
CENTURY 21 followed this success by advertising in the 2012 London Summer Olympics, which drew 219.4 million total viewers. To provide some context, the U.S. Census Bureau lists the population of the United States at 311.6 million people, meaning that approximately two-thirds of all Americans watched at least part of the games. CENTURY 21 also received noteworthy visibility from its status as “The Official Real Estate Company of U.S. Soccer,” as the U.S. Women’s Team won the gold medal.
Sprinting to the finish line in 2012, CENTURY 21 hit the perfecta by advertising in two of the three legs of the 2012 Triple Crown. The annual races were the focus of the national media as I’ll Have Another won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness in dramatic fashion, which drove intense interest in the Belmont, the third and final leg of the Triple Crown. “Advertising during the Triple Crown races was a bold move, but interest in the event was incredible, and it really generated a lot of exposure for our company,” says Mike Litzner, broker/owner, CENTURY 21 American Homes.
