Century 21 brand executives understand better than anyone the continuing deep doldrums being experienced by the American real estate market. And they realize that neither the gloomy mood — nor the depressing underlying realities — can be zapped away by any Super Bowl commercial, no matter how effective or entertaining.
Yet even in the midst of one of the worst home-sales slumps in American history, Century 21 CMO Bev Thorne says there will still be about 4.5 million home-sale transactions taking place in the United States this year. Considering both sides of each transaction, that means there will be about 9 million households affected by home-sale transactions this year.
"We're speaking to those consuemrs who will be involved in those transactions," Thorne told brandchannel about the brand's upcoming Super Bowl debut, during the third quarter. "We're not using our Super Bowl ad to say, 'Have you thought about buying a new house? Maybe you should think about it tomorrow.' This is not some day-to-day purchase where you can really influence someone to do it anyway, unlike in other businesses."
"Those personal factors that influence where you are in life — no one is going to impact those with any type of commercial."
But for the legions of Americans who still will be participating in the residential real-estate market in 2012, Century 21 wants to be their first choice of realtors. That's the thinking behind the brand's "Smarter. Bolder. Faster" marketing campaign that it launched last year and that will culminate in its TV spot during the third quarter of the Big Game.
"We want this spot to be the culmination of our 40th anniversary and a springboard into the spring selling season," Thorne explained.
So far, Century 21 has only teased the ad, which will be featuring Donald Trump (think the "Smarter" attribute), NFL Hall of Famer Deion Sanders ("Bolder") and speedskater Apolo Anton Ohno ("Faster"). Thorne says she plans to reveal the spot in full on Friday, with behind-the-scenes clips and teasers such as this advice from real estate mogul Trump:
Why not just keep teasing right up until game time instead of joining the many, many Super Bowl advertising brands that have shown entire spots already? Isn't there some impact to be gained if the ad isn't available to be seen in all its glory until it's actually aired during the game?
For one thing, Century 21 will keep on teasing the actual ad, with 16 spots during programming on Sunday before the game. And moreover, Thorne sides with the balance of her marketing colleagues who have decided to bare all with their Super Bowl ads on social channels ahead of Game Day.
"The purpose is for the ad to be in front of and influence as many viewers as possible," she said. "You want to create a frenzy of interest around the ad so more people will see it in advance of the game. Then the impact from the game only adds to it."
It's not just fans who are excited, by the way — check out these Century 21 employees on the brand's Super Bowl debut:
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