September 8th - 2008

New ad campaign promotes commercial sector

It worked so well for residential REALTORS®, why not give commercial REALTORS® their own ad campaign?

It worked so well for residential REALTORS®, why not give commercial REALTORS® their own ad campaign? CREA and OREA are teaming up once again to build awareness and raise the perceived value of commercial REALTORS® following the overwhelmingly positive response to the how REALTORS® help campaign.
 
Like residential REALTORS®, commercial REALTORS® face the issue of losing business by being cut out of the transaction process altogether. This is largely due to the mistaken belief that NOT using a REALTOR® will be a money saver (when in actual fact one is even more likely to save money by using a REALTOR®). Typically business is lost to lawyers and accountants, even banks, who bill themselves as experts in real estate. Or, business is lost when companies deal directly with large property management firms or utilize their own ‘in-house’ real estate group. The new commercial advertising campaign aims to build awareness of commercial REALTORS®, their services and their level of expertise. Research shows that consumers think more highly of real estate practitioners when they know more about the real estate process and the extent of the education REALTORS® and brokers require.
 
The campaign, launched this month, will target buyers and sellers involved in commercial transactions including small and medium business owners, commercial landlords and tenants. Since potential clients in the commercial sector tend to prefer the Internet in their research process, a website has been developed containing information about the commercial real estate process, what steps are involved, what they can expect, and what “unexpected” situations might arise. The extensive use of search engines will help drive traffic to the new site. For example, if someone types in “rent office space,” “office space for sale,” “real estate investment,” “own commercial property,” or a myriad of other combinations of those phrases in their browser’s search window, the commercial REALTORS® web site listing will appear in both the sponsored ads and the organic listings on the results page.
 
Advertising in several major daily newspapers including The Globe and Mail, National Post and Les Affaires as well as targeted magazines will also help to position commercial REALTORS® in the Canadian market and promote the website. Statistics show that 29 per cent of consumers use daily newspapers and 37 per cent use business publications when looking for commercial REALTORS®.
 
Feedback for the two-year old residential consumer campaign from both consumers and OREA members has been extremely positive and encouraging. “All REALTORS®, whether residential or commercial, need their associations working for them to promote their value in the marketplace,” says Gerry Weir, OREA president. “We see these advertising campaigns as an important component of fulfilling that goal.”

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For more information contact

Ontario Real Estate Association

Jean-Adrien Delicano

Senior Manager, Media Relations

JeanAdrienD@orea.com

416-445-9910 ext. 246

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