The National Association of Realtors’ Floundering Media Efforts

I totally agree… The only real value I find today with the Realtors is the Code of Ethics.. I pretty much don’t bother with anything else and of course don’t bother to recommend anyone to go to Realtor.com.. not with their “model”…

Spot on, Greg – and I sit here thinking they must have outsourced this – gotten some media firms to compete, and this is what won? I’d rather see the Delta airlines girl tell me there’s no smoking allowed.

Perhaps something more robust about what NAR actually DOES for Buyers and Sellers – or a snippet of its philanthropic ventures – a “we’re in this with you” approach instead of the gobbledygook we’re now getting for our dues.

Navy Chief, Navy Pride

There are SO MANY things NAR could be doing to promote itself and it’s membership that are being utterly ignored. When I was driving and heard the NAR radio spot, it was the last commercial in a set and the rock station I had on went immediatly from that commercial to a short station ID into Green Day’s ‘Do You Know Your Enemy.’ More than a little ironic given NAR’s postioning on a number of issues. They don’t even seem to understand that despite being the ‘mother ship’ they too can be marginalized. Not all at once…but bit by bit just slowly eroded until they’re no longer relevant. Ken M, you have nailed the issue of why NAR no longer has the luxury of being average or worse. Because the Zillows of the world ARE eating our lunch. Ken B I could not agree more on the car dealer comparison. Would the NADA urge people that ‘now is a great time to buy a car?’ Joe I think it’s a spectacular idea to show Realtors in philanthropic ventures in our community. The NFL does an incredible job with that…..and it almost humanizes multi million dollar athletes. Surely that would do wonders for us as well.

Greg – NAR’s campaigns are often a source of contention with me and I love the idea that your clients wanted to know if NAR would tell them when not to buy. I sent you a link on Twitter to a post I wrote about exactly this kind of thinking. Every time is a great time to buy according to NAR and the various campaigns.

I wonder if the movie tie in and your thoughts about the tax credit being used as the plug would have any legal ramifications – I think it would have to be carefully worded. It’s not NAR’s tax credit, but the governments. Would the government mind NAR spending money on the advertising? Probably not, but I wonder about how it would have to be phrased (ie, the tax credit isn’t sponsoring the movie, NAR is). I’m being a little picky here (based on what you said in the video), but it’s just one of those thoughts that occurred to me when I heard it.

I’m not sure where I sit with NAR advertising and how they could improve and focus it. I definitely think there’s room for improvement, I’m just not sure what direction I would go.

PS How many other agents out there do you think there are that record videos with gold records behind them? We should form a club.

Matt,

Appreciate the comments and the link! I was simply throwing out potential examples of how the sposorship could have been better used. They could have said contact your local RE professional to find out if you qualify for thousands in HB credit, etc. I promise there’s a far better way than what they did….which was about the most inefficient possible tag they could have used. There are plenty of NAR attorneys who could have run this by the FTC people before they got too far in the weeds.

Benn….that’s a first I’ve heard on HL. It’s a really nice tool….but until now I’ve zero in the public realm. I’m not down on them for that at this point…..they’ll blast that out as the time is right.

Greg,

Really enjoying your vids! Good content and great style.

From the point-of-view of a Realtor in the trenches, I don’t think any marketing the NAR does will help my bottom line. I would rather see the money spent on tools that help my job become easier and more relevant. I think it is a hard for any massively large organization to see things from the individual’s perspective so it would be quite a leap.

I must admit NAR has lost so much credibility over the years they have little left. I think you are right. It is silly for them to be saying now is a great time to buy- given your record NAR, noone with any sense would pay any attention to your prediction. Now advertising about the value of buying your own home… are sensible. I guess NAR is just run by people with the same extremely short term mentality that leads to so many bubbles but they really need to replace there marketing strategy with one that builds trust instead of one that is just extremely short sighted and self serving.

Ken hits it out of the park today friends. That is CLASSIC Ken….holy crap, NAR sponsors a movie about con men and theivery! That is the perfect exclamaion point on this discussion!!!

I’m glad it works for you Russell but I can’t imagine NAR would ever use such a slogan because it doesn’t mention NAR. They are hell bent on taking credit for everything they do regardless of whether or not it’s good for the consumer.

Ken’s comment is hilarious…and sad. All at the same time.

I don’t know if I see the point in NAR sponsoring movies – if I went to see Ocean’s Thirteen and got a NAR ad with it, I can’t imagine I’d say “Honey, let’s got get us a house!” I see their attempt at broad appeal, but I’m not sure it’s the right place for them.

Greg – I realize you were just “speaking off the cuff” there and trying to say that there’s got to be a better way. I like your suggestion of “America’s Realtors®” – I wonder if there is a name association with NAR and a consumer’s local agent (in the consumer’s mind). I know many people who don’t know the difference between a Realtor® and a real estate agent, so how do we expect a consumer to know that we (the NAR member population) are one and the same, especially when they see so many who don’t have faith or trust in their own Association.

I really think NAR could benefit from turning inward, making its own membership more pro-NAR and then work their way outwards to the public. I think they’re trying this, but it just hasn’t happened yet and years of anger and mistrust have built up between the membership and NAR (who in turn often gets blamed for opening the chasm between the public and the membership).