NAR launches "Buy Now/Sell Now" Campaign. No Joke
I thought it was bad enough when NAR launched their print ad telling people to “Buy or Sell”. Talk about it here: Can you trust your Realtor? New NAR ad reviewed. Now they just launch a TV campaign to “Buy Now/Sell Now”.
Dear Ms. Combs (NAR Pres), can I suggest a new focus for NAR? It will help everyone in the long run and help the deteriorating Realtor image.
Have a campaign around: “Is Buying Right for You, Right Now?”
Here is the email sent to Realtors today:
| Dear REALTOR®,
I am pleased to announce the launch of the 2007 Public Awareness Campaign. This will be an exciting year, highlighted by the integration of the “Buy Now/Sell Now” messaging into the already successful Public Awareness Campaign, and an expansion of the campaign, keeping REALTORS® top-of-mind with consumers through radio and television placements from January through November. I hope you’ll be pleased with the results. I wanted to give all of our members a special preview of the 2007 campaign materials. This e-mail includes links to the recently redesigned Public Awareness Campaign Web site, where you can view and download the new campaign materials, see the 2007 media buy schedule, and learn about the 2006 research results. This year the campaign aims to drive business directly to REALTORS® with a new call-to-action, “Every market’s different, call a REALTOR® today.” The campaign speaks directly to today’s home buyers and sellers to convince them that REALTORS®‘ expertise and experience are invaluable in the current real estate environment of increased inventories, stabilizing prices, and historically low interest rates. The campaign will begin airing nationally January 15 on network television. Radio will follow three weeks later. To view this year’s new materials click here. The campaign includes Web banners, presentation materials, and other resources that you can use to enhance your business activities, so please visit the Web site, and share the campaign with your clients and colleagues. |
The link goes to a page showing a family and reasons for it being a “Good Time to Buy” and another ad saying “Know How to Sell”.
First note that the email says “Buy Now, Sell Now” but the ad does not say it is a good time to sell. Instead they focus on what you need to know to sell. It would have been just absolutely nuts if they really had a TV spot on why you should buy, while another spot says you should sell now.
I think NAR needs to change their mission statement. Instead of selling the “American dream” and convincing people to buy without disclosing all the bankruptcies, potential net worth liquidation, they instead should have a campaign of:
“Is Buying Right for You, Right Now?”
And continue to go over the PROS and CONS of buying. Not just perpetuating the PROS and ignoring the risks, or mumbling them under your breathe. I take a different approach with my clients. I play devil’s advocate. I try and talk/scare them OUT of buying or at least fully digest the risks. If they survive that and still want to buy, great, I’ll help them.
Will this new ad finally convince those on the fence to buy? Discuss…
– Written by Frank Borges LL0SA- Broker/Owner FranklyRealty.com
703-827-4OO6
- 10
- January
- 2007
It must be working a little bit.
Our current NAR President told consumers to call a REALTOR® if you’re considering a home purchase and apparently a lot of buyers have been listening.
“The percentage of consumers surveyed who are more likely to hire a Realtor® than a real estate agent who is not a Realtor® has risen from 51 percent in 1999 (the first year of the survey) to 64 percent in 2006.”
“2007 marks the most extensive outreach effort since the Public Awareness Campaign began. Ads will be broadcast nationwide from January through November and will air more than 8,750 times on national TV and radio outlets and more than 25,000 times on local radio stations through a national buy. Print, billboard, bus shelter, and poster ads are available to local and state associations to use in their own outreach efforts, and Realtors can download Web banners for their own Web sites. To view the materials and learn more about the national Public Awareness Campaign, visit http://www.realtor.org/awarenesscampaign.”
Worked at what? Tricking people?
People don’t know the difference between a Realtor and a Real Estate Agent.
Frank
You know, I don’t think that the general public knows (cares?) if their agent is a member of NAR or not. I think that most consumers think all agents are members of NAR.
Frank – I like your idea of….“Is Buying Right for You, Right Now?” That seems much more cunsumer freindly to me, more like consult with a “Realtor” for informed advice to determine if buying right now (or not, or later) is in their best interests. Much better focus, thanks for the post!