Cendant Corp.‘s Real Estate Services Division and Spot Runner, an Internet-based ad agency, today announced an agreement for Spot Runner to provide preferred pricing on its premium television advertising production, planning and media-buying services to Cendant’s approximately 260,000 affiliated sales associates and 9,000 U.S.-based affiliated real estate brokerage offices.
The agreement provides affiliates of Cendant’s real estate brands – Century 21, Coldwell Banker, Coldwell Banker Commercial, ERA and Sotheby’s International Realty – and real estate brokerage operations owned by its subsidiary NRT Inc. with preferred pricing on television commercial development costs and offers a selection of several hundred branded television commercials customized for Cendant’s brands by Spot Runner, the companies announced today.
Spot Runner will showcase its platform at the Cendant brands’ international business conferences and conventions in mid-February and early March. The program will be rolled out to Cendant-affiliated brokers and sales associates during the next several months.
“This national alliance with Spot Runner is another example of our strategy to equip our real estate brand affiliates and our company-owned brokerage operations with the latest in technology and marketing tools that help set them apart from the competition,” said Richard A. Smith, chairman and CEO, Cendant Real Estate Services Division. “We believe Spot Runner is a technology innovator that delivers cost-effective television commercial production and advertising services, and we are pleased to be able to give our Cendant-affiliated brokers and sales associates an edge in their local markets all across the country.”
Co-founded by veteran Internet entrepreneurs Nick Grouf and David Waxman, Spot Runner allows local businesses to manage their commercial production, media planning and media buying through a “self-serve” online platform. Creating a commercial using Spot Runner can take several days and cost less than traditional commercial production, “putting the cost of television advertising on par with Internet, newspaper and Yellow Pages directory advertising,” according to the announcement. A local advertising campaign, including commercial and airtime, can cost $500.
“This relationship with Cendant is a tremendous opportunity for Spot Runner to put the power of television advertising into the hands of hundreds of thousands of real estate brokers and sales associates,” said Grouf, the chairman and CEO of Spot Runner. “This is an important step towards furthering our mission to break down the barriers that have previously prevented local businesses from using television as part of their marketing arsenal.”
Spot Runner has populated Cendant’s ad library with hundreds of commercials that are designed to maximize the use of photos and digital images for real estate professionals, the announcement states. Spot Runner personalizes the ads with the agents’ or brokers’ own information, including their names, headshots, logos and their own digital images.
Based on information provided by the clients, Spot Runner’s proprietary media planning engine will recommend personalized media plans that include major local broadcast and cable channels such as Fox News, Bravo, Lifetime, A&E and HGTV.
Clients are able to selectively choose the networks that most appeal to their target audience and the time slots in which their commercials run. They are also able to focus on specific neighborhood areas. After the ad has run, Spot Runner’s service will also help Cendant-affiliated real estate professionals track their ads and analyze potential viewer and demographic information, the companies announced.
“Nothing powers real estate more than relationships,” said Smith. “Our agreement with Spot Runner opens up new avenues for our franchisees and owned brokerage operations to build upon the relationships with their own customers through the compelling medium of television.”
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