A rally to protect the Realtor brand
“Owning a home also provides many social benefits. Homeowners are healthier and happier. They are more involved in their communities, volunteer more and vote more often. Their children stay in school longer, get better grades and get better jobs after school.”
-Scott Louser, 2012 V.P. & Liaison to Government Affairs, National Association of REALTORS®
This statement appeared in a “Rally To Save The American Dream” blog post this past spring. A variation on the claims contained within it surfaced recently in this television spot:
Gross
For my own edification, I searched for documentation to support NAR’s findings. Instead I found a report from the Wharton School of Business supporting a contrary viewpoint.
Oh well.
My goal is not to refute NAR’s findings. As a brand guy, I am more concerned with why NAR chose (by simple deduction) to profile renters as having lower self-esteem, leading unhealthy and unhappy lives, being civically apathetic and bearing children who don’t perform well on the SAT.
I’m not overreacting.
Prior to writing this, I played the commercial for my wife and asked to give me her first impression. I pressed play. She was quick to respond.
“Gross,” she said when it concluded. “Better test scores? Please.” Our discussion about it concluded with “I would hate for people to think this is something Ryan (our Realtor son) believes in.”
Typical mom.
I’m worried more by the reaction of the wider audience and their impressions of the Realtors branded by the implications of NAR’s message here. I think of the altar upon which scores of Realtor and broker lambs will place themselves if they use this line in their own marketing.
Slaughter.
It’s kind of a market recovery buzz-kill.
Welcome to NAR’s marketing centrifuge
Right now, buyers are buying. Sellers are selling. Lenders are lending. Even the media is bullish on housing.
The weeding out of sub-professional agents, now just beginning, is moving the industry toward a point where the Realtor brand could possibly be elevated from the lower depths of consumer regard.
It’s a great moment for our industry.
Since I don’t know the first thing about NAR’s advertising process, I can only comment on the results. And for me, this ad, and this message, raises ire rather than goose bumps.
A step in the wrong direction.
Fresh in my mind is the “Now is the right time to buy” mantra repeated right until the crash that drove millions of homeowners into the rental market.
This new ad feels like salt on the wound. NAR should be embracing renters, not insulting them.
Charging through America’s china shop
Americans aspire to own homes.
Brands that successfully sell around aspirations do so with finesse and sensitivity.
Watch this commercial from Zales. You will get goose bumps. Some of you will shudder. A few of you might have to reach for a Kleenex.
It made me want to get engaged all over again.
Zales sells marriage. NAR sells home ownership. But Zales sells softly. With a gentle, emotional caress. Without insulting people who prefer to do something else.
NAR sells with bull-like clumsiness. Charging through America’s china shop. Leaving Realtors to pick up the shattered pieces of an otherwise wonderful story.
#fail.
Rallying to protect the Realtor brand
Imagine a commercial spot that speaks to a homeowner’s aspiration. A soft approach that makes everyone tingle at the thought of crossing the threshold.
It wouldn’t matter if the dreamer is a renter or a past owner. The rush of homeownership knows no boundaries. It belongs to everyone.
The Realtor brand is special. NAR knows this. They stumble trying to articulate it. This current ad, playing across America, interrupts my nightly reruns of King of Queens and paints a portrait of Realtors from which many recoil.
While some may not catch the implications within the copy, a good brand guardian would. And that guardian would do everything in their power to prevent the brand from inserting foot in mouth. After all, managing the way Realtors are perceived should be a dream realized as well.
This is a bungled ad. It speaks only to be heard.
A smart brand whispers.
And knows when it’s time to speak not a word.
This is one of those times.
Tags: homeownership, NAR, Realtor brand
Spot on. The best way to build a brand is to focus on the positive that attracts the consumer. We are the trade organization of choice. We uphold a code of ethics. We champion equal housing.
The irony here is that Realtors often work with renters as well.
You can put defending home ownership as a compelling virtue of the organization without making any judgement at all about our rental clientele.
I can’t imagine Zales running a piece about how married men have lower rates of prostate cancer or longer life expectancy without causing a ruinous uproar.
Two thoughts:
1 – I was talking to a local realtor a couple years ago who said, “if you don’t believe in homeownership, you shouldn’t be a Realtor!” Umm … what about the leasing agents? They’re realtors, too, right?
2 – Advertising like the above is one of the reasons that I have disassociated from the realtor brand over the past few years; on the smaller level, they seem to “get” it, but when it comes to national advertising and messaging, all too often I’m faced with countering their (our?) message … and that sucks.
I loved that you made the comparison between the NAR and Zales commercials. Both marriage and home ownership are considered life’s most important events – and they are very emotional. Zales nailed it (I was one of the people that needed a tissue) and NAR made me think that is so 20 years ago and emotional was the last thing I felt after watching that spot.
Zales told a story (without words) and NAR spouted out apparent facts that left me with some negative connotations.
Seems to me that NAR needs to rethink their message of what it means to own a home. And what it FEELS like to live in one. Maybe a new ad agency with a fresher approach would be a good idea too. After watching the Zales video I can think of so many ways to portray this…
As a Realtor I am honored to help people transition to the next step of their life journey. It’s a powerful feeling and I am grateful every day (well, most days) for what I get to do.
The tone deafness of the commercials produced by the National Association of Realtors never cease to amaze me. The “It’s A Great Time to Buy” cluster fluck made us all look like liars. Their new “you’re a loser if you don’t own your own home” commercial makes us all look like judgmental creeps.
And we, as Realtors, get to PAY for this privilege of being torn down by the very industry group which is supposed to represent us, and what we do, to the public.
It’s no wonder people think we’re all weasels.
To say I’m disgusted doesn’t even begin to cover it.
GREAT POST, Marc.
Check out all the comments in support of it at https://www.facebook.com/groups/RaiseTheBar/permalink/333904476702454/.
Keep speaking and writing the truth, brother!
Thanks, Marc. I am sure your position is shared by many Realtors who take some time to research what the public thinks about our business. I have often been critical of NAR’s advertising, which always seems to leave that “gross” impression. A more genuine message might be, “We are Realtors, and we want to SELL you real estate.”
My favorite NAR ad example: while the market was tanking in the mid 2000s – “Now’s a great time to buy!”
White folks have a house.
Emerging markets?
Not so much. Are emerging markets *all* seen as illegal aliens?
And while home ownership is helpful for stabilization of neighborhoods (read as: people stay in their homes for at least 5 years, maybe more) the country is rapidly changing in the age demographic, with older folks moving on to child-free but grandchild friendly homes in large numbers.
Also with the decimation of home ownership due to foreclosures (for whatever reason) increasing numbers of former homeowners are renting.
Now, I need to ask – are rental homes not “home ownership?”
Even if non owner-occupied, gaining wealth via owning rental property is a standard practice for some and a new venture for others. People in rental neighborhoods, with the right environment, can still have kids who have high self esteem and attractive, well-kept homes in which to raise those kids.
Point?
This ad is a narrow attempt to attract a particular demographic to the point of making me sigh.
NAR seems to have forgotten a pretty large segment of the population by not making a few, vs one, vignettes of a happy family. The ad is clumsy at best and, to echo an opinion above, insulting at worst.
(Disclosure: Landis is a Realtor who helps home buyers and sellers with their real estate needs, as well as a partner in a venture to provide rental homes to applicants. Landis is also a long-time fair housing advocate).
I was on a flight a couple weeks ago and sat next to 2 young 30 something young professionals. They both said the biggest financial mistake they have made is buying a home.
This is the current that the industry is running against. The next generation has been burned, is deeply in debt with housing and school loans, has a significant segment of the age group see’s no value in home ownership.
That is tough sledding friends. Especially when you have tens of thousands of agents chasing hundreds of sales.
Somehow NAR missed that fact, or, I guess, they simply imply that the ones who got “burned” simply had low SATs and should’ve studied harder.
Marc,
Homeownership is in decline after NAR abetted an epic boom turned bust. By knocking renters – implicitly including millions who lost the home a Realtor had sold them to financial hardship – NAR comes across as a trade organization in existential crisis.
The more established the brand, the harder to recover from a misstep. This is a very big misstep by a very established brand.
There is a recipe for fixing a screw-up though: start with a public apology. Can you imagine NAR running an ad saying we are sorry for anyone who feels tat at some point a Realtor did not do right by them, or even an apology to anyone for whom home ownership did not turn out anything like they expected? I can’t either.
But if someone did that they would be remembered 30 years later for instigating the watershed moment that saved the association.
Advertisements like that definitely cheapen the profession. We need standardize what we perceive to be the norm in terms of ethics as well as best practices. It makes us cringe when we what some of the realtor campaigns encompass. The saddest part is that there is a significant portion of the population that perceive these cheap laughs are the norm of our profession.
Groperty supports realtors who promote a high level of professionalism…lets weed out the muck of our industry in order to have a better landscaped foundation.
Marc – Seeing this commercial on national TV almost every night, I’m more sickened than when I first commented about the video.
Honestly, NAR’s horrible PR and advertising machine are why I have started referring to myself as a Real Estate Broker or Broker Associate, rather than a Realtor or Real Estate Agent.
It’s a small change, but it sounds more professional and hopefully disconnects me in the public’s eyes from NAR and their “It’s always a good time to buy” and “Every statistic is a positive sign” messages.
“This new ad feels like salt on the wound. NAR should be embracing renters, not insulting them.”
Well said. That echos my sentiments exactly.
As a renter myself, I was shocked that such an organization is publishing a marketing piece that completely affronts me. It does absolutely nothing other than alienate me from their brand and the very idea they’re pitching.
Attempting to convince me to purchase a home by making me feel ashamed of myself isn’t a smart strategy.
Hey there. I stumbled on this blog because a friend of a friend (a realtor) sent me the link. Thought you might find my perspective interesting.
I’m a professional in the ITverse – originally worked for a large operating electric utility, now a serial entrepreneur on my fourth startup. I used to be a homeowner, lost my house due to bankruptcy when .com implosion took down my company #2. I’ve been renting the house my family lives in since 2002.
I would not even consider buying a house today, no matter what my financial situation was. I like it here – landlord (who lives several thousand miles away) has always been great. My (13 year old) son is in a *GREAT* school system. I have about and acre and a half, which I’m responsible for maintaining. We’ve put in several really nice gardens, done some improvements (new rugs, replaced some of the light fixtures we thought were ugly with nicer ones, added a small deck, that sort of stuff.) I don’t have to worry about major repairs – furnace needs a new burner? Pay the guy, take it off the rent. Well pump goes? Pay the guy, take it off the rent. Want a new dishwasher? Take out the landlord’s and put it in the garage, put in mine, if I leave someday take mine with me, put their’s back.
During that time, the value of this house has dropped by at least 35% (know what they paid by checking at Town Hall, know what property around here is going for now.) If I’d financed this place at 95% with a 30 year mortgage 10 years ago, I’d be so far underwater I couldn’t see the surface. The rent I pay is about what a mortgage payment would have been (maybe even less), and all I would have been doing for the past 10 years is paying interest while my house continued to drop in value, and any major repairs would have been on me instead of the landlord.
Yes, I know I’ve paid for improvements that are not “mine”, but *I* live here, and I’m benefiting from the enjoyment of those things we’ve done here. The fact that I don’t “own” the house is immaterial – we live here, and it’s our HOME even if it’s not our HOUSE.
I think trying to create the perception that HOUSE ownership is somehow required for happy families and productive lives is not only not going to work, it’s almost laughable. While things might change if the market somehow does a sharp turnaround, right now for me and friends of mine I talk to, we count our lucky stars that someone else is stuck with a depreciating, hugely expensive asset, and I get to live here and make this my home.
Just thought you’d find my thoughts worth reading…
Better late than never but I wanted to thank you for contributing to the discussion. You have provided something very valuable to everyone who is listening especially since you are not in the real estate business. You contribution means a lot.
marc
Thanks everyone for your comments thus far. The questions I have are:
1. Where’s the data to support those claims?
2. Supposing there is supporting data, why alienate a entire category of people to push home ownership?
3. Who was ad targeted toward? Seems to me, the obvious answer would be renters, the people who don’t own home. What am I missing here?
4. Isn’t home ownership just a fancy way of describing someone renting property from a bank?
5. Should NAR be using your dues to advertise nationally?
I got my career start writing ad copy on Madison Ave so I have a particular point of reference for why I think this ad is obnoxious. Start by understanding the audience. End with something compelling to provoke a positive response.
What confuses me is I have no idea who this ad speaks too. It doesn’t speak to owners. Or non owners. It clearly doesn’t even speak to agents.
I have my own ideas for what an better campaign might have been as I am sure you all do. Seems almost pointless to bother positing it.
As NAR’s Senior Vice President of Communications, I just wanted to jump in here to explain the intent of the latest set of Public Advocacy Campaign ads.
In an election year, with tax reform on the horizon and the possibility that Congress may reduce or eliminate federal incentives to homeownership, and with secondary mortgage market reform coming, the ads are designed to remind people that home ownership matters…to people, to communities, to America. For hundreds of years, home ownership has been part of the social fabric of our country. And the country and its citizens have been rewarded in any number of ways – many of them pointed out in the commercial — for supporting home ownership.
The ad isn’t designed to say it’s bad to be a renter. But it is designed to counter those who have suggested that America as a country would be better off as “a nation of renters.”
About the research referenced in the ad, it wasn’t conducted by NAR. But it was highlighted in a white paper by NAR’s Research Department entitled The Social Benefits of Home Ownership. The white paper is at http://www.realtor.org, but for your convenience, here’s a link to it: http://www.realtor.org/reports/social-benefits-of-homeownership-and-stable-housing
The direction for the campaign is set in part by NAR’s Communications Committee, and I’ll take back to them the feedback you all have offered here on the current campaign.
Thanks!
Pamela
Thx for the links. I love statistics and “studies” – you can make them say whatever you want.
I read through the one you posted and my view was that it was more of a study of low income versus high income, or minority versus majority, rather than home owner versus renter.
Home ownership has NOT been a staple of the USA for hundreds of years. It really didn’t start taking off until the early 20th century, and then only when this magical device called a mortgage came along.
And all of the attributes that were described as the results of home ownership could easily have been explained by people being able to afford a home (higher income) were people more mature, more financially stable, etc., who if they were renting would have all the positive traits ascribed to home ownership.
I hope everyone reads this white paper and sees it for what it is worth.
And, even if it were all true, the way the ad presented it was totally off base and insulting to a majority of people, even home owners. NAR could take a lesson from Coldwell Banker and the way they are promoting home ownership without insulting anyone.
Russ:
Exactly because of what you stated MRED would be my “board of choice”
Pamela,
I appreciate your reaching out and providing insight on the intent. Surely, it comes from a good place. I am certain everyone knows that. Sadly though, the execution missed the mark.
If the message was intended to be a PSA about how housing matters, might have been more beneficial to couch the ad with that copy rather than thickly veil it behind some those disconcerting facts about lifestyle aired it to tens of millions of Americans while in bed watching a blue collar rerun.
Just thinking out loud here.
Housing matters. And thank god there are millions of them available for rent for people who either can’t afford to buy, lost one due to an international housing crisis or who made a conscious decision to make payments to a landlord rather than a bank and stem the loss of their personal wealth.
Personally, there’s nothing more debilitating to a family than watching everything you worked for your entire life disappear down the real estate rabbit hole.
I appreciate the time you took to read and respond and for messengering the feedback by myself and more importantly, the members who comment here and across the social media airwaves.
I certainly hope this isn’t the first time the communications committee is hearing this though. There are many people out here who are really quite outraged.
I just finished reading Boomerang: Travels in the New Third World. One quote that really resonated with me was this:
“It’s a problem of people taking what they can, just because they can, without regard to the larger social consequences.”
The same applies to housing in my mind. Just because someone CAN buy a house — doesn’t mean they should. That’s exactly what led to the housing crash we’re still trying to get out of.
The ad isn’t just a misfire, it’s a mistake. I don’t believe that NAR should be marketing at all. NAR is a trade organization trying to play a role in creating and implementing social policy while simultaneously helping its members make money. and then there’s the self-proclaimed “protect the public” role, which has many, many facets and not all of them are good.
After 8 years of being a Realtor with a large independent broker, I simply can’t imagine how branding a functional role (selling a home) helps anyone. When I call someone to put in a new concrete driveway, I ask for references, price schedule, if they’re properly licensed and bonded. I might go look at other concrete driveways they’ve installed. But I would never ask if they are a Teamster and make that part of my decision-making process.
Organizations with too many hats just end end up looking foolish, and waste money, to boot.
Marc,
Thanks for writing about this. As you know, I rent. I purchased a home when I was 18. Another when I was 21. A couple years later, I made the choice to rent. I wasn’t kicked out, nor did I have financial burdens. I made the choice to spend my free time with my son, and furthering my own education rather than replacing the sprinklers, patching the roof, etc. I’m proud to say my son is on the Dean’s List and we have a fairly decent amount of self-esteem.
This choice to rent has afforded me the freedom to easily move around the country, opening our horizons to new opportunities. This choice makes my life flexible and enjoyable.
In my line of work, I’ve met quite a few Realtors. Heck, I’ve even used Realtors to help me find my rentals as I move about the country. I even have a few friends who are Realtors (shhhhh). None of them have this superiority complex about home ownership.
Who was this written to? I feel targeted by this ad, and not in a good way. Does it make me want to buy a house? No. Who was it written by? Not any Realtor that I’ve ever met in the real world.
tw
Trish, I was asking myself the same question – “Who was it written by?” Only one thought comes to mind at this time – Alec Baldwin. There is quite epic monologue by A.B. on real estate available on YouTube.
Why can’t we just say that the right time to buy is when it’s right for the consumer albiet for whatever reason is imporant to them: to start a family, raise a pet, entertain friends, hold a house warming, plant a garden, to build wealth. . . I didn’t get the warm and fuzzy feeling after watching the above commercial, but I do believe in homeownership!
In a way, we need some level of reform because what we have now isn’t working. The subprime market distorted the America Dream. NAR should be an advocate of responsible homeownership.
Thanks for that. I personally know so many people who absolutely can’t handle the responsibility of home ownership. The Idea that everyone should aspire to that and, somehow, we’re failing as a society if everyone doesn’t own has long rankled me.
In addition, this reinforces some bizarre public perception that renters are substandard which consistently has the effect, at least in our small towns, of limiting the amount of rental stock that can be created. We desperately needed stable long term rental options in our area and it is consistently turned down because of zoning restrictions and neighbors unwillingness to act in favor of zoning variances.
A good agent will always be able to help a buyer make the right decision and affordability is only one of the variables in that equation.
I agree with Leslie, NAR should not be in the advertising business!
Pamela, as if the ad wasn’t insulting enough, you have insulted me more. I am furious that NAR ran the ad in the first place.
You have crossed a line that I don’t know if you can ever come back from. You have made us all look incredibly ignorant like Archie Bunker. The ad is insulting, it borders on bigoted.
I cannot believe that NAR ran this ad, that NAR would dare publish any type of nonsense like this.
I would hope that NAR would pull the ad, apologize to those that don’t own homes, and learn from there mistakes. But I am sure that won’t happen.
Someone at NAR should lose their job over this, actually more than one person.
I have been involved in public policy for 12 years with my local association serving as Chair 3 times as well as serving as a committee member at the state for many years..
Included in the agenda over the years has been advocating for renters as issues arose.
Is this ad campaign saying “oops, that was a mistake”?
Most of you are over reacting, over sensitive. If owning a home gives us self confidence, it can certainly create better results in many area without even spelling them out.
Home owners live in the home longer, will motivate to make good to their neighborhood and make friends with others. But that does not say Renters do not.
With all do resect, I don’t think it’s fair for one individual to tell dozens of individuals that they are over reacting. In fact, based on the numbers, you could be guilty of under reacting. But if the ad doesn’t bug you, that’s cool. But it’s not cool to dimiss what seems to be real outrage by people who are directly affected given that fact that it’s their money and in their name the ad was made.
Marc – I have told you before I all but worship the insights and ground you walk on…but I disagree with the call to end this NAR campaign. Your approach and reason are – as always – heartfelt and persuasive, they just are not on the target – to preserve & enhance homeownership and homeownership opportunities. There will always be a place for renters and renting. If anyone takes the research cited personally, I would feel they would want to remember that they are not a statstic, nor are thier children, but I also know that many people will act out fear of avoiding pain -some of which this campaign brings to light – and making a move to get a gain. This NAR campaign does point out just a few of the higher-than-normal negatives of being a long-term or even life-long renter.
But we believe homeownership is a core basic right for most everyone who wants it. When we have renters who give their notice to move and it is because they are buying their own home I and we are TRULY happy for them! The fact is we know renters have lower incomes & net worths (on average) compared to those that do own their home in most of our modern history, and that the largest amount of household net worth is in the home, understanding there has been a major hiccup in that in the last several years. But that not need be a new long-term trend. In recent years there has been real hurt, because in my opinion of poor underwriting standards that by far and away mostly driven by Wall Street greed- I wish they would have never, never gotten away from solid qualifications. If so, we would not have been in this horrible place for far too many people, for as many found if they got in wrong, many homeowners ARE effectively renting…their home from their lender.
I don’t agree with the cry woe-is-me as a renter, nor do I believe that the NAR campaign should be stopped. There have many, many similar ads from industry over the years.
Some background on my biases: I am a second generation Realtor. My dad got his real estate license the year I was born. Real estate was my dad’s business gateway to great financial success. And he did it by the “American way”; through hard work & always with a sterling reputation of honest and fair dealings, remembering that reputation is what people think you are, while character is who you really are. His is a classic came-from-meager-means and use the opportunity of real estate to build a mini empire. And he would have never done it as a renter, nor would I have what I have if I was a life-long renter. To rent in my family is all but sacrilege.
Don’t get me wrong; we need renters…in this case, because, in my own family at least, we rent to them.
Point: if you aren’t in the 32.2 of Americans who own their home free and clear, do you really “own” it?! Short answer: No. But if you are a life-long renter you NEVER will. And people can fool themselves that they would just make, earn, get & then save more money ion other investments, but many never will. And in the end, pay it off and have in your retirement years a place to live that you do owe very little on, or truly do own F & C! I think in this country we take it for granted…the privilege of being able to own your own home. What is the saying “The streets in the USA ARE paved with gold; it’s just that most of the native-born people already here don’t recognize it.” The truth is that in many parts of the world, owning one’s own home is just that – a dream – a dream that is all but impossible to realize.
Given a choice would most prefer thier adult children own their own home or rent one from someone else? This is a very individualized answer that, but I am pretty sure I know my answer and what I want for my children. I believe homeownership is a key part of the American Dream…so much so for some that it becomes its own stand-alone version of what the American Dream is for some people.
I have a file that has research in it from other sources that does support what the NAR rep says. But like most everything in life, it’s the battle of the studies and whose “facts” are you going to buy into. I do believe we should be an ownership and not a renter society. I want homeownership rates to go back up to and surpass what they were at the peak. The problem wasn’t “too many people were buying homes that never should have.” It was HOW we went about it!
Now this doesn’t mean that we have to completely marginalize renters and treat renters as second-class citizens. Most of us have been renters at one time and there is a lot to be said for doing so -for ones’ entire life or at least certain points of it.
I support what the multi-housing and real estate investor’s groups do not – government action/policy to enhance and favor homeownership over renting, in part for the very reasons the NAR mentions. I am sorry if that hurts some feelings along the way. If someone is looking to be lifted out of the poorer classes, homeownership can be (and IS) the best, or certainly one of the best, ways to do that!
I find so much I disagree with in your comment, Jim, but let me just address the very last bit. You said: “I am sorry if that hurts some feelings along the way. If someone is looking to be lifted out of the poorer classes, homeownership can be (and IS) the best, or certainly one of the best, ways to do that!”
I live in Palm Coast – a small-ish city in Florida that had the fortune I guess of being the fastest growing city in the country for a few years running. There was a mad rush to purchase property here, and it was not uncommon to see a “value” of the home or a lot of land double over the course of a 24 hour period of time. All of it recorded on the property appraiser’s site. All of the new nifty every increasing values documented, so the buyers paid what they honestly thought the property was worth. The lenders and realtors made a ton of money. And after the four years of this mad rush, properties went back to what they were supposed to be worth in the first place; or rather, because 30 percent of the properties are in some state of foreclosure, the values now are below what they should be.
Problem is, Jim – by and large people who bought these homes here were told that they were making the best investment of their lives. That they would have equity. That they were, indeed, getting out of the “poorer classes” and solidly into middle class. We now know it was all bullshit.
So now those people, tens of thousands of them, with kids who spent the few years in the homes that their families owned instead of rented, where they painted the walls just the right color, put up their pictures, planted a garden, built a pool or a tree house – you know, all the things families do, now those same families are paying through the roof to rent a property close enough to schools their kids are used to going to. They will not be able to buy anything for 7 years. Their dreams (at least those that depend on credit) are shot.
And the NAR comes out with this excruciatingly insulting commercial to remind all these people that somehow, somewhere they must have screwed up. And you defend that?
Lastly, I really do take issue with the our society needs renters too so we can rent to them. You might want to rethink how you voice certain things. That just makes you sound like a slave-driver. Weird.
Jim,
Your POV is well stated and respected.
The only thing I can say to maintain my position is that, NAR has no right IMO as an association to put forth a message with these facts in the name of REALTORS who support them without their consent.
I have it on good word, although I have yet to see all the documentation, that the findings of the report are factual. But to build a campaign around those findings required a profound insensitivity to others.
While it might be easy for some to say “there’s no reason to be offended, the stats are true and we didn’t mean to harm anyone by it” doesn’t really do much to ease the insult.
Hurt is hurt. Suggesting there is no reason to feel hurt isn’t much of a pain killer.
I write copy for a living. I’ve done it my entire career which began on Madison Ave writing for products. I consider it a privilege and a step up from where I began to be writing copy, doing brand work and overseeing campaigns for the real estate industry. So as a career professional I’m positive NAR could have prepared a far more powerful message without having to insinuate anything about any particular demographic.
In an industry where an agent isn’t even allowed to suggest that a neighborhood is kid friendly, or that a block is quiet for fear of transgressing a fair housing law, I find it almost criminal that NAR can publicly suggest the things they did about home ownership and about people.
I respect the fact that you believe home ownership is part of YOUR American dream. But that doesn’t make it mine or anyone else’s. The truth is, it’s just rhetoric – a sales pitch to get people to buy homes. It’s no different Phillip Morris using the Marlboro Man sell us on smoking.
I would be willing video tape 1000 people and ask them what their American dream is. I’d be surprised if half saying owning a home. Not today. Not in 2012.
What makes America great is the fact that we are free to subscribe to our own dreams and not feel bad if they differ from someone else’s. The NAR ad copy is a thinly veiled attempt at coercing the public to buy into their dream. It’s a great marketing spin – I’ll give them that. It’s just insensitive and lacks so much creativity.
I can think of a half a dozen ways to sell homeownership without resorting to the use of profiling people based on a study that hasn’t been made public and where none of us know what segment of the population was polled to get those stats.
You asked “Given a choice would most prefer their adult children own their own home or rent one from someone else? This is a very individualized answer that, but I am pretty sure I know my answer and what I want for my children”.
I completely respect your answer but it’s not mine. While I buy more homes per year than most people (I invest heavily in foreclosures, fix them up and resell at below market prices creating the dream for some people), I have no interest in ever owning a home myself and know many people who feel the same way. My dream, their dream, is to live free of mortgage debt, free of being chained to repair bills month after month, and free to take our hard earned income and invest it in other things that serve the needs of the American economy.
Despite our diferences, I hope to remain in good standing with you as you are with me. And perhaps in the spirit of always aspiring to do better, we can both convince NAR to take another shot, at another campaign by reaching for a higher, more creative ground.
I think everyone regardless of what side they are on, would agree with that.
Peace.
If NAR created that ad off that white paper then they need to get new people in their marketing department. It is a gross misinterpretation of the data to say that home ownership causes anything. In fact, the opposite is true. Having an advanced degree causes home ownership. Having a stable job causes home ownership. Having good budgeting skills causes home ownership. Home ownership is not the causation. It is the outcome.
If they want to increase homeownership, I suggest they get on the bandwagon about the serious problem we have in the American school system, because that one thing alone will derail homeownership in the future. You can’t buy a $200,000 home if you don’t know how to put together a coherent sentence without using texting acronyms. I think it would be more beneficial to the public if the NAR sponsored reading tutors for inner city children and then did an ad about creating the future home buyers of America, by trying to help some of these kids get to college. We do know that, generally speaking, if you go to college you make more money which means you can buy a house.
Now, that rant aside…mobility is much more common and is the next wave. With so much instability in the work force, and the massive school debt faced by Gen Y, and many people going to independent contractor status, I think renting is going to be around for a while.
I get that NAR is a lobbying organization and the ad was meant to get citizens to contact their reps, but the fact is they won’t. The ad isn’t powerful enough or entice any type of call to action. I highly doubt any congressman will watch it and then say “oh, of course! If we get rid of the mortgage interest deduction, kids test scores will go down.”
The fact is the ad sounds like real estate spin. Consumers are tired of it, and I think many REALTORS® are tired of it. Home buyers are more savvy than ever before as they have access to all sorts of data and information at their fingertips. They aren’t going to be swayed by the ad, as it lacked emotional pull. I wasn’t offended by the ad, since I’m not a REALTOR®, but I just think it is ineffective and as such a waste of member money.
I guess I sit back and think about how much money was spent on that ad and what a better use of that money would have been for the American public. Had the NAR done something genuine for the public, the outcome would have been positive PR for the members of the NAR.
To me the ad in question–and the tunnel vision it exemplifies–are symptomatic of the increasingly irrelevant concept represented by NAR: that the real estate business is all about home ownership. Increasingly, the real estate industry includes many players–property managers, investors, developers, finance professionals, appraisers. Not all have sales/brokers licenses, but all are of equal importance to the health of the industry. It is imperative that the NAR expand its ‘family’ (and its vision) if it is to successfully represent an industry which is expanding its field of service and segmenting into specialties.
I just lived it this weekend helping my daughter and her family move into the home of their dreams. I almost cried when she sent a photo via text of her great grandmas dishes proudly displayed in her built in china cabinet. Those dishes are almost 80 years old and are not in boxes in a basement any more.
Years ago I was speaking to a consultant to General Motors, often just called GM. He said he’d been advising them for a long time to rebrand as General Mobility, thereby transcending the idea of JUST being a car company. Their response was that they built cars. Period.
The NAR mucky-mucks, and my local association, are so focused on “homeownership” that they’ve essentially given away the rental market to entities like Trulia, Zillow (Rent Juice), and Craigslist. It is such a shame.
Outside of commercial transactions, we should be seen as being in the housing businesses according to its broadest sense and thereby capture ALL levels of it.
No one I’ve ever talked to knows the difference between a realtor and real estate agent, and less than half can even pronounce it correctly. Might be better to spend some money on fixing that rather insulting renters
Just posted links to some of the research used in the ad:
http://www.kcmblog.com/2012/08/23/nars-latest-ad-campaign-the-actual-research/
Great article. I saw this spot and had a similar reaction. Time for NAR to revisit how they deliver the brand. The music is cheesy and the content of this particular ad is the wrong approach.
I will say this about the Zales ad…a. my wife is such a light sleeper I would have never been able to tie that around her finger…not to mention our two dogs being quite while I threw a ball of string. b. be it a $1,000 ring or a $25,000 ring I’m just not gonna trust the string to transport it the way he did it.
All kidding aside I think Zales accomplished what they set out to do with flying colors. I would love to say the same about NAR and I think they have the ability to do it. Make me want to buy a house after watching an NAR commercial….not take a shower.
Marc, great points. Funny that the NAR, with all its wisdom and brainpower, didn’t think to consider the emotional side of this message. After all, buying or selling your home, is 99% about emotion. Without question, Zales nailed it…NAR didn’t (not even close). Their message dropped the ball and displayed a serious lack of focus…consumer focus. More importantly, delivering this negative message after years of financial and legislative upheaval and unrest and during a political landscape of negativity does not help your message; in fact, it does the complete opposite. Did they want to be lumped together with the likes of politicians? No? Well, without truly thinking, they just did. Great and memorable ads focus on the positive side of things and leave the negative side to their once competitors. NAR, you know what they say about crossing the street…look twice. I think maybe, you should have lost twice before alienating your clients (both skeptical, nervous consumers and hard working, diligent, due paying Realtors).
It never ceases to amaze me how low NAR can go. I rent to two engineers and a retired judge. I’m sure if they saw this commercial and read the latest homeownership matters propaganda that NAR has published they too would be disgusted with this out of touch organization. Shame on you NAR for needing to insult one CLASS of contributors in society to get your point across. All the coolaid drinkers got back from NAR mid year with a new slogan chanting : “No one grows up saying I want to be a renter when I grow up”. How lame can one get.
The big spotlight for marketing real estate should be more local, home grown market “guy and gal wearing the R” on the street type approach. It is real, warm, and the professionals in the trenches have way way more credibility than the paid talking head actor where the commercial sounds like an ad. Rather than the American way of live… to work hard, buy and maintain a home to raise a family in, be part of the community as a tax payer.