Badvertising: Century 21

Have you seen the Century 21 ads where the real estate agent insists on showing only ranch houses, even though the client said “no ranches?”

We are then told about “Century 21 Pledge #13: You will only see houses you want to see.”

Oh, gee. That’s compelling. Is there really a problem with real estate agents showing you houses you don’t want to see?

This doesn’t pass the “so what?” test. Century 21 has focused on something people care about—seeing houses you want to see—at the expense of communicating a meaningful point of difference. In the spirit of “Delta Gets You There” they promise to deliver the most basic, low-level benefits, and haven’t told us anything unique about themselves.

Steve Yastrow posted this on August 23, 2004, in Marketing.
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