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Carver Communications - Index

Carver Communications - 3.1.09 - Index

Have you heard about the gloom
and doom of the economy lately? I think
we all have. Though that information may
be true for some parts of the country,
Texas, and specifically San Antonio, is faring
well in this economic downturn. We
continue to have job growth and price
appreciation in our market, and low interest
rates make San Antonio a very affordable
place to live. To combat some of the
negativity consumers are hearing in the
media and to put light on the other side of
the story, the REALTOR® organizations
at the local, state and national levels have
put together media campaigns to present
the factual, positive side of the story that
tends to be skipped over by most media
sources. The goals of the campaigns are to
create a balance to the negativity and to
help consumers realize the need of using a
REALTOR® when doing property transactions.
At the local level, the San Antonio
Board of REALTORS® 2008 REAL-
TOR® Image Committee hired KGBTexas
at the end of last year to help make media
By Florence Terrell
Chairman, San Antonio Board of REALTORS®
Giving Balance to the Story
buys and place advertisements in primary
local media vehicles throughout 2009.
The message of the campaign will effectively
convey the importance of using a
REALTOR® when making any kind of
property transaction and that now is a good
time to buy. Additionally, the campaign
will focus on driving consumers to
SABOR.com to access our public Web site
so they can search for properties.
Expected to be up and running by the end
of March, this site will also help drive
leads to SABOR members as consumers
come in and search for listings.
The local campaign is expected to
be launched in April. Specifically, the
campaign will use the National
Association of REALTOR® commercials
and will tag them with a local plug for our
organization and Web site. These will be
dispersed across various television stations
which KGBTexas will negotiate with and
monitor for us. Additionally, a full-color,
full-page ad will be published in the San
Antonio Relocation Guide this spring and
once again this fall. In September,
March 1, 2009 REAL ESTATE NEWSLINE 3
SABOR will be a sponsor of the “All
About San Antonio” guide that will be sent
out all over the city as a supplement to the
San Antonio Business Journal. SABOR
will also have Web ads on mysa.com from
May through September. The ads will link
directly back to SABOR.com and advocate
the importance of using a REAL-
TOR®.
At the state level, the Texas
Association of REALTORS® has put
together a campaign that is being broadcast
throughout this first quarter of the
year. The “Ask a Texas REALTOR®”
campaign is a statewide effort to shed light
on the unique aspects of the Texas real
estate market and encourage consumers to
consult their Texas REALTOR® for sound
real estate advice. TAR has created radio
spots that are airing on local stations all
across the state of Texas. Additionally, the
campaign includes billboards and online
banner ads. REALTOR® members can
access materials of the campaign by logging
onto www.texasrealtors.com and
entering in their username and password.
Members can even download the banner
ads and place them on their Web sites to
further carry the message out to the public.
The National Association of REAL-
TORS® has also developed a 2009 Public
Awareness Campaign that includes commercials
that focus on motivating buyers
into the market. New TV ads, in tandem
with new radio spots and print materials
explain the buyer opportunities available
in many of today’s real estate markets,
convey the financial and social benefits of
owning a home, and continue to empha-
size the importance of working with a
REALTOR®. NAR focuses on three main
campaigns: “Buyer Strength,” “Fence
Sitters,” and “Home with a View.” Each of
these campaigns include television spots,
radio spots, print ads and Web ads. To
enhance the campaign’s effectiveness and
reach, the ads direct consumers to the campaign’s
microsite,
www.HousingMarketFacts.com, which
educates potential home buyers about the
value of homeownership, provides
resources and research about the current
housing market and industry issues and, of
course, helps buyers and sellers find a
REALTOR®.
Each year the National Association
of REALTORS® conducts three separate
tracking studies with consumers and members
to assess attitudes and perceptions
regarding REALTORS®, NAR, and the
real estate profession. One of those tracking
studies is conducted with Hispanic
consumers to specifically assess the effectiveness
of the Public Awareness
Campaign’s Spanish-language advertising.
There are many things being done
to combat the negativity of the real estate
market and to educate consumers on the
entire picture. Be sure to look for some of
these campaigns as they make their way
into the marketplace. For more information
about any of these campaigns, visit
www.realtor.org, www.texasrealtors.org,
or contact the Director of Communication
at SABOR, Kate Cherry, at
kate@sabor.com.