Wondering Where Century 21 is on your TV?

Everynight as I watch the news..ok.. my husband watches the news.. I am usually beside him with my laptop.. blogging about new listings and price changes at that time.... I am assaulted by real estate commercials.

It has made me wonder if anyone out there wonders why they are not seeing any commercial from Century 21...

In a move some online marketing gurus suspect may be followed by many of the other big real estate brands in 2009, last month at Real Estate Connect in New York, Century 21 announced it was shifting its television advertising dollars to support its online marketing efforts.

You can see the announcement made by Tom Kunz, president and CEO of C21 in an interview done with Susie Hale of Frogpond TV. (The announcement comes at about 3:00 minutes in).

Over the last couple years the technology providers and pundits like Joel Burslem (The Future of Real Estate Marketing) have talked about the need for real estate industry to fully embrace the Internet as the channel of choice to connect with consumers. For me- it is a no brainer...
The web provides a platform for me to connect more meaningfully and, more importantly, more measurably, with the buyers and sellers who are now predominantly searching for real estate information online.

This wave has been cresting for a long time and while the some of us have been paddling towards it hoping to have ride the curl of this trend , this announcement sends a clear signal that the big brands are fully committing to this new world as well. I am really thrilled that C21 has been on the leading edge - and endorsing of new media. C21 plans to spend the bulk of their advertising investment in 2009 on display advertising, search engine marketing and enhanced listing partnerships with real estate web sites.

2009 may just be the year that the wave finally comes crashing down and we see the end of big real estate’s old media habits. Next - maybe we will stop killing trees for newspaper ads.. and thwart that initiative to print listings on toilet tissue....