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Joy has been a difficult emotion to muster this year, as multiple macroeconomic headwinds dashed the hopes for a market rebound. Despite the year’s challenges, Century 21 is focusing on the bright side with its latest ad campaign, The Joy of Home.
Victoria Keichinger | Credit: LinkedIn
“The journey of homeownership is a deeply emotional experience, and the spirit of this campaign reflects that,” said Tori Keichinger, C21 vice president and head of marketing, in a prepared statement. “The heartwarming creative blends nostalgia with fresh, modern imagery that connects the brand’s past and present, while showcasing its enduring commitment to delivering the joy of home.”
The campaign includes a one-minute commercial, five print and digital ad variations, and two Times Square billboard placements, which will go live on Nov. 25. The brand’s 800 companies will also receive customizable ad kits, where they can add individual logos to the commercial or edit the visuals and taglines to reflect their specific market.
In an interview with Inman, Keichinger said the campaign is an opportunity to not only highlight Century 21 affiliates’ roles in helping homebuyers and homesellers achieve their real estate goals, but the resilience of consumers in one of the toughest markets in recent history.
“Our fabulous [public relations] and communications team spearheaded a research project that kicked off a lot of this messaging,” she said. “One of the core findings was that despite what the headlines have looked like over the past several months, 56 percent of people still feel overwhelmingly optimistic about the idea of homeownership. They feel excitement, they feel joy [and] they feel more connected to their community after purchasing a home.”
“Even amidst the ups and downs of the real estate market over the last months, the consumer still does want that ultimate dream of homeownership,” she added. “So we’re just reflecting that back in the messaging of this campaign.”
Keichinger said launching the ad campaign in Times Square ahead of the holiday season was perfect timing, as the area will attract more visitors than Disney World, the Great Wall of China and the Eiffel Tower combined over the next six weeks. Although sales are typically slow in November and December, the brand hopes the ads will spark the momentum needed for a strong spring homebuying season.
“This is the moment when conversations are happening around the dinner table with family,” she said. “They’re planning for next year; they’re talking about their hopes and their dreams. They’re making resolutions, so it’s critical to be connecting with consumers at this point to prime the pump for that traditional spring selling season.”
“We know industry experts are signifying that there is pent-up demand, so getting ahead of that traditional spring selling season is the aim,” she added.
The campaign will continue into 2025, with Century 21 planning to release several more iterations of the commercial and ads.
“We already have so many different variations of the campaign. There’s a 15-second ad focused all around food and all the moments that we have around the dinner table, and there’s another that focuses on pets and the joy they bring to our homes,” she said. “There’s just so many different ways that we can lean into that messaging at different moments throughout 2025.”
“This is an example of the power of branding. We unveiled the campaign to our network late last week and overwhelmingly the reaction is one of excitement,” she added. “It’s about being associated with something bigger than yourself. And there’s a great pride for our network being connected to a campaign that articulates what a noble profession they’re in and the ability to make people’s dreams come true and give them room to create memories of joy.”
