Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC kicked off its 2015 Generation Blue Experience event in Chicago recently with two exciting announcements establishing the brand as a real estate leader in home technology. Coldwell Banker chief marketing officer Sean Blankenship revealed the brand will be one of two official sponsors of the Smart Home Marketplace at CES 2016 in Las Vegas from Jan. 6-9, 2016.
CES is the world’s gathering place for all who thrive on the business of consumer technologies and has been showcasing innovation and breakthrough technologies for more than 45 years. The Smart Home Marketplace has nearly doubled in size since 2015, when the Coldwell Banker® brand began its campaign to be the smart home leader in real estate. With attendance expected to reach 150,000 people, the event provides the global stage where next-generation innovations are introduced to the marketplace.
“The connected home is here, and its influence on everything from home pricing to curb appeal to how we move through our daily lives is transforming right before our eyes,” says Blankenship. “There is no one in real estate better suited to be the conduit between the technology industry and the connected home than Coldwell Banker affiliated agents. By being at the forefront of this shift, we are ensuring the Coldwell Banker network has a competitive advantage in the marketplace. Sales associates affiliated with the Coldwell Banker network work with hundreds of thousands of home buyers and sellers every year. The brand’s position in the smart home space ensures they are equipped to help their buyers and sellers understand the current trends and benefits of smart home technology, including time and money savings as well as security.”
According to CEA’s U.S. Consumer Electronics Sales and Forecasts, the booming connected home technology industry is expected to reach $967 million in revenue in 2015, jumping 32 percent over last year.
During CES, Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC will lead and produce an educational session on smart homes and real estate. Along with the Smart Home Marketplace, the brand will sponsor various events throughout the week including VIP tours.
In addition, Blankenship announced the brand is joining the CEA TechHome Division as the organization’s first real estate brand. This division helps consumers make the best decisions as they select systems for today’s digital home, representing the entire channel for home control, entertainment and networking products.
“As the first real estate brand to ever sponsor CES or join CEA, it is clear that the Coldwell Banker organization is serious about leading the real estate industry in smart home adoption,” says Gary Shapiro, president and CEO, CEA. “Working together with the Coldwell Banker network will help deepen our understanding of what technology consumers are demanding when buying or selling a home.”
Coldwell Banker Real Estate is also announcing a major, multi-faceted sponsorship with CNET, the world’s largest and most trusted online source of consumer technology news and reviews. The brand will be the first real estate company to have dedicated branded content on CNET.com, which attracts more than 32 million consumers in the U.S. each month. Branded content will feature ways by which smart technology can make a home more connected, comfortable, convenient and cost efficient, and will begin rolling out in Q4 2015. In addition, Coldwell Banker Real Estate will be the official and exclusive real estate sponsor of the CNET Smart Home in Louisville, Ky., a “living laboratory” where the CNET editorial team will explore how smart home products behave, interact and test in everyday environments. The brand will also co-sponsor the smart home section on CNET.com and the website’s Tech West updates during CES 2016.
In August, Coldwell Banker produced a joint consumer survey with CNET, which found that 81 percent of people with smart home products would be more likely to buy a home if smart technology was already installed. With more than one in four Americans owning a smart home device and nearly half of millennials already adopting the technology, Coldwell Banker is seeing firsthand how the trend is changing the way people live in their homes.
The annual Generation Blue Experience event draws major speakers both inside and outside the real estate industry. This year’s event fully kicks off today at Chicago’s AMC Theaters, featuring panel discussions on the role technology is playing in our homes with some of the biggest names in smart home innovation including Alarm.com, August, CNET, LG, Lutron and Nest. Coldwell Banker Real Estate plans to expand its relationship with these brands, through pilot programs and promotions, while continuing to grow its network-education initiatives covering smart home technology. Last week, the brand also unveiled a smart home section on coldwellbanker.com with room-by-room advice on smart home products to consider when staging a home.
For more information, visit www.coldwellbanker.com.
