Recently, this C21 Australia Real Estate brand marketing image made some waves on Facebook. Almost immediately on a post, the comparison to the iconic image of Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct was noted.

Credit: C21 Australia Real Estate Facebook

I confess to having a past career in marketing and branding. So, I decided to do a little, informal market research. I was truly curious to hear what some non-real estate agents had to say about the ad and the message it conveyed to them.

What thoughts came to mind? How did they feel about it? So, I posted it in a local Facebook group that I belong to, comprised mostly of savvy women from a variety of industries in and around New York City.

One woman said the visuals are striking, but she would not have known what they were selling had I not told her. I think that is fair, since the overall C21 brand has been getting a new look, and the general population has not quite caught up yet.

Eventually, someone brought up the Sharon Stone reference. Stating that if that was intentional, it was a very bad ad from a strategic point of view. Female serial killers are rare, so I suppose she is a ground-breaker in that regard. But still, she is a serial killer.

Rebrands are tough. Creating an ad campaign that causes a reaction, positive or negative, is really tough. This one has certainly started a conversation. I’ll be curious to see where it leads.

Tracy Freeman is the Young Professionals Network Chair for North Central Jersey Association of Realtors and a broker/sales associate with Coldwell Banker in Maplewood, New Jersey.

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