In a bold but light-hearted move REA have launched their new website offering with an advertising campaign around feeding Aussies’ property obsession.
In a Press Releases issued today, “Created by Sydney-based digital agency, Amnesia Razorfish, the campaign plays on Australia’s national obsession with searching for property online. The roll-out includes a microsite packed with video content, traffic driving activity and a social media outreach program.
The microsite called househunters.realestate.com.au will showcase nine short video clips which have been created to poke fun at the extreme lengths that Aussies will go to in order to secure their dream property.
Feature characters in the video clips include a voyeuristic woman who spies on people living in her favourite neighbourhood to feed her property obsession and the average bloke who turns into a heavy metal maniac to get rid of the competition.
Promo Video for ‘Gallery View
Promo Video for ‘Compare’
Henry Ruiz, General Manager Consumer Marketing at realestate.com.au, said: “We know how competitive the property market is and realestate.com.au’s new features and benefits have been added to the site to give property seekers the upper hand.”
“This campaign is a great way to communicate the enhanced realestate.com.au site to our consumers and furthers our ongoing strategy to continue to innovate and provide a superior user experience,” concluded Henry.
The microsite and video content will be supported by a social media outreach program incorporating Facebook, Twitter and YouTube whereby consumers will be invited to share their own crazy stories about their obsession with property hunting.
A specially created game hosted on Facebook will also be launched in late April to further engage consumers with the realestate.com.au site who will have the chance to win $50,000 to put towards their dream home.”
Earlier today I spoke with Henry Ruiz, General Manager Consumer Marketing at realestate.com.au and discussed the fine line between creating an effective viral marketing campaign that is in-tune with consumers to generate lots of extra traffic and keeping their agent clients happy at the same time.
Interested to hear B2 readers thoughts about this campaign.
31 Comments
Robert Simeon
In a word pathetic! The first example states she is not even a buyer – relevance and boasts bugging homes with listening devices.
The second some bloke dressing up as a bikie (well they are really popular with consumers these days). Not!
I see it as an embarrassing attempt to take the mickey out of our industry however from my perspective they failed miserably. I kept looking at how long to go so that they would finish.
For mine their best advertisement: the guy with the afro who walks under the ceiling fan. I well remember that and prefer to delete these two from my memory bank as they fail the relevance test. They must have got them for free!
Glenn Batten
There are more than two in the series.. check out the rest here http://www.youtube.com/user/thereagroup#g/c/6EC9B24F1EB7CD11
Although don’t go expecting them to get any better. 🙂
Nick
Its a poor attempt at a viral video I think. Its not catchy at all and kinda creepy.
It needs to be catchy and funny.
Even then viral videos cant be ‘created’ by marketing droids.
Although you do get some gems like Intel’s attempt:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dt9maknsGJ0
Tradie
No good at all I’m afraid. The videos are way too long, 30 seconds to one minute should be the max, and these videos aren’t even funny!
I also fail to see the relevance, I live in Clayfield (one of Brisbane’s bluechip suburbs) and there are plenty of places around here which have been on the market for many many months, with a couple of them having come off the market, then back on with another agent, and still they sit for months on end.
Trevor
So REA want to increase UB’s by attracting people who are not even interested in real estate…..I don’t see the benefit.
PaulD
Garbage
Glenn Batten
LJ Hooker are associating themselves with the Househunters campaign competition.. I wonder if they got to preview the videos beforehand 🙂
Greg Vincent
I believe that the Househunter videos/campaign will have to be removed, the groundswell of complaints from agents & franchise groups is the only thing that I can see going viral with these videos.
Robert Simeon
Greg – I have not spoken with anyone that likes them. Here is some more feedback http://mumbrella.com.au/over-the-top-property-obsessives-at-the-centre-of-property-site-campaign-22840
Glenn Batten
Interesting… the kiwi’s think that the video’s have Aussie Charm…
http://unconditional.co.nz/blog/adding-a-dose-of-humour-to-real-estate-search/
Lara Scott
OK so this is what I thought of the videos yesterday in conversation:
@glenn_batten Could have been great brand stretch. All gained is lost with the asinine videos. Overstaged & undercompelling.
But today, to play devil’s advocate in this debate, I am thinking – are we missing the point. By making the videos SO bad is the challenge of the companion Facebook competition for househunters to make their own one and make it better? Because, hey, it would be hard to make it worse.
Are we going to see people streaking at live open homes or jumping out of cupboards or creating road chaos for real and recording it for posterity. Now that would be fun!
Or perhaps you have to spot the “Househunting Tacticians” at an auction – take their photo or your photo with them and post to the Facebook Page.
This campaign could shape into a myraid of things. I could be completely off the mark but maybe it will play out really well and we will all be caught slapping our foreheads in a collective D’oh!
Or is it all just iSnack2.0 – and we all have our conspiracy theories about that one.
Amnesia Razorfish have a global reputation for excellence in digital campaigns so I am holding off further comment until the HouseHunters 10 days to go clock has counted down. Maybe I will be the only one waiting…
Lara Scott
OK so this is what I thought of the videos yesterday in conversation:
@glenn_batten Could have been great brand stretch. All gained is lost with the asinine videos. Overstaged & undercompelling.
But today, to play devil’s advocate in this debate, I am thinking – are we missing the point. By making the videos SO bad is the challenge of the companion Facebook competition for househunters to make their own one and make it better? Because, hey, it would be hard to make it worse.
Are we going to see people streaking at live open homes or jumping out of cupboards or creating road chaos for real and recording it for posterity. Now that would be fun!
Or perhaps you have to spot the “Househunting Tacticians” at an auction – take their photo or your photo with them and post to the Facebook Page.
This campaign could shape into a myriad of things. I could be completely off the mark but maybe it will play out really well and we will all be caught slapping our foreheads in a collective D’oh!
Or is it all just iSnack2.0 – and we all have our conspiracy theories about that one.
Amnesia Razorfish have a global reputation for excellence in digital campaigns so I am holding off further comment until the HouseHunters 10 days to go clock has counted down. Maybe I will be the only one waiting…
Lara Scott
Sorry posted twice. Attribute that to head cold and pain medication for broken ankle.
In fact some may attribute my entire commentary to it.
Robert Simeon
Well this video is the only video that consumers are talking about presently.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XNlgwUNKjs
Glenn Batten
Marketing company’s are good at making professional looking viral videos.. such as The Big Ad and the Golden Boot.
But when they try to adopt a low budget home video style of video they rarely make it work.
Simon Baker
We are reporting on propertyportalwatch.com that the House Hunter marketing campaign on realestate.com.au has been pulled after only 1 day …
http://www1.propertyportalwatch.com/2010/04/realestate-com-au-marketing-campaign-pulled-after-only-1-day/
Glenn Batten
You have to wonder if they ever tested it with agents… but more importantly there must have been a lot of REA and Amnesia Razorfish staff who seen the videos and realised what was going to happen but said nothing or even worse.. went along with the patting each other on the back so they did not rock the boat.
I imagine LJ Hooker would have been livid with being associated even for just that one day with a campaign about unethical and illegal behaviour.
Craig Adams
Wow just flew in from Bris Vegas and in the space of 2 hours the site has been pulled.
G Ellis not happy. D Oertli as CIO 18 months of work with a big reputation a bit embarrassing and Henry Ruiz well all promise and all the delivery of a bad school project.
Agents hate it and the consumers I showed the site to today thought it was unprofessional and a bit juvenile for a site that is the leader.
Scramble required. Tough conversations required. Egos deflated maybe. Reality check delivered.
Nick
Glenn Batten: The what videos? Never heard of them.
Its like a Mastercard ad now:
– A new site design for the first time in a decade, $800,000
– A marketing campaign to promote the new site, $100,000
– Pulling the campaign after a day because it wasnt thought out very well? Priceless
Greg Vincent
As predicted, access to the videos has been removed…
Lara Scott
Well I was wrong. Clearly from the reaction by realestate.com.au there was no master plan. Disappointing.
Greg Vincent
Here’s the statement that I received last night about removal of the videos…
“realestate.com.au has today made the decision to remove the House Hunter videos from its micro-site and Youtube.
Henry Ruiz, General Manager Consumer Marketing said:
Robert Simeon
Just shows how much the new regime *don’t* know about our industry! The new site keeps crashing and they now have to withdraw (misguided) content.
They could have kept it given we have not had any enquiries from this portal in ages. I see that when you log in they have Mosman showing – which tells me that they too are aware of their atrocious performance in this suburb. Yet they say it ranked number 3 last month with searches? Bull%^&$!
PaulD
Those videos are a bit like Gail Kelly’s banana smoothie ad, or the Comm Bank ads with the exploding piggy bank. Great for the kids on Saturday mornings on TV, but for the rest of the poplulation, gimme a break !!
Chris
i cant believe a sane group of people watched those clips and somehow thought they were a good idea.
PaulD
I guess that the advertising execs have to aim for the lowest common denominator. The problem is the demographic they aimed for in this instance is probably at about a rugby league crowd lowest common denominator. They needed to set the sights to a bit more “cerebral” audience. In other words the ad execs aren’t really as smart as they think they are. Oh, and neither are the REA people who approved the ads.
Greg Vincent
With Amnesia Razorfish being the marketing company involved, will this episode go down in the marketing history books as “REA suffers from Amnesia”
Glenn Batten
Very funny!!!
Ally Comley
As a real estate agent, I find the new design site totally frustrating! No longer can we print photos directly from the site; nor can we print ‘Property Brochures’ or floorplans to use as our reference material! Full size images take ages to spool ….. why did they change this and did they ever survey the agents themselves (their customers!) to see what we all would like??
Our entire team in the office feels the same way! If we’re frustrated, what’s it like out there for our buyers who rely on this info even more??
David Taylor
Videos are disgusting. Realestate.com.au charge agents a fortune to advertise on their website, then spend money making stupid videos, undermining them.
Have they forgotten who pays their bills?
Phil
Too bad the video clips cannot be played or viewed. I think company should spend less in advertising and focus more on the core areas of the product being advertised. They should make use of their resources wisely to save for something more important..