Century 21 Real Estate is continuing its 2014 ad blitz with a “takeover” of YouTube’s homepage that features a “puppy cam” banner ad that links to the franchisor’s homepage.
Century 21 chose to place the ad, featuring a selection of eight puppy videos on YouTube because, according to Google, more online real estate searches occurred on March 27, 2013, than any other day last year.
Century 21 expects the YouTube ad will generate 27 million views. The firm will also post stills, GIFS and videos of puppies to r/Aww, a subpage on Reddit, enticing users to visit the puppy cam ad on YouTube.
Users can cycle through views of eight different puppies snuggling, running, playing and other cute actions in the ad, which ties into the franchisor’s 2014 “Based on a True Feeling” marketing campaign.
Century 21 TV spot that ran during the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.
The ad evokes one of the brand’s puppy-graced TV spots that ran during the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games.
“Today’s YouTube takeover allows us to put our Century 21-affiliated sales professionals in front of approximately 27 million consumers and drive them to century21.com on the day that we traditionally ‘kick-off’ the spring home buying and selling season,” said Bev Thorne, chief marketing officer of Century 21, in a statement.
Earlier this month, Century 21 announced that it will return as an advertiser in the Super Bowl next year after advertising in 2012 and 2013’s big game and taking this year off.
In February Century 21 continued a real-time marketing strategy it launched last year with a series of short online videos relating to Valentine’s Day.
Other franchisors have released marketing campaigns this year as well, with a heavy emphasis on TV.
On Monday, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices launched its first-ever marketing campaign featuring 15- and 30-second TV ads.
Re/Max launched its “Dream With Your Eyes Open” national campaign last week with a TV spot that airs nationally on cable and network channels.
Coldwell Banker Real Estate launched its “Your Home” national marketing campaign with a TV ad that aired during the Grammy Awards. It aired another spot during the Academy Awards.
