Does Sexy Real Estate Advertising Work?

TorontoRealtyBlog

We've covered this topic before, but with the stakes higher than they've ever been in the Toronto real estate market, do you think that sellers should be doing more?

Or do you think that trying something "different" risks offending the masses?

In any industry, marketing techniques need to evolve, or everybody else plays catch-up.

How long until we see advertising in the Toronto real estate world catch up to what other cities around the world see every day?

Remember all the buzz created by PSR Real Estate's Karen Filiatrault when she did a "lifestyle video" for her listing at 318 King Street East last month?

Well, that property sold for over list, in mere days.  So those demanding the real estate "boycott" should go back to the drawing board.

Karen recently published a "Part II" to that video, which I think puts a lot of the haters in their place.

Take a look:

I watched this video like three or four times to try and figure out what the take-away was.

I think I have it now though.

The guy who showed up at the door is riding the "friend train," as so many guys have can attest to having done.

He's looking to spend time with the woman who has his heart, but she's looking for him to clean up around the place while she goes out on a date with a different guy.

Quite the different story from the first video that caused such controversy.  And I think that's the point.  So many people found the first video to be sexist, and this second video shows us another side of the story – that the woman was, in fact, the one with all the power.  And the "morning after" shows that she has those guys wrapped around her finger.

In any event, I didn't find the first video to be that controversial or racy (many disagreed, but we covered this in a blog post last month), and if we looked at what some real estate agents around the world have done in the past, then judging on a curve, videos like "King(Dom) In The Sky" is harmless.

There are two real estate agents in Australia named Ian Adams and Adrian Jenkins, who run Neo Property, and their ads are probably the most racy I've ever seen.

They're also the most original, and they rack up the most page views, and the most shares.

So let me ask the obvious question: isn't that the point?

I watched "King(Dom) In The Sky Part II: The Morning After" three or four times because I wanted to figure out the story.  So the video worked!

And these videos by Neo Property, although racy, get people watching, talking, and most importantly in today's day of social media: sharing.

These videos date back to 2011, so they're not new, and it's not a novel concept.  In fact, the agents that produced them have probably moved on to something newer, better, more creative, and perhaps even more attention-grabbing.

But I want to look back at these videos, and ask what you think.

If you were a seller, and you were told that this was the best way to showcase your home, what would you say?

Would you trust the agent's judgement and track record?

Would you do anything to sell your home?

Let's have a look…

One of the more memorable videos that Neo Property has done is this one:

I think it goes without saying, that many people would be offended by this.

But as I've said before, people are offended by just about everything out there today.

One might ask, "Do you really need a beautiful woman, tied to a chair, to sell real estate?"

I don't think it's a matter of "need," but rather it doesn't hurt.

Sure, there might be a few people out there that think the video is trashy, and don't consider the house because of it.  But something tells me the extremely wealthy demographic would see more appeal in this video.  I think many successful people took a risk or two to get where they are, and this video is more likely to resonate with them.

As for this video, it's cheeky (no pun intended), but somewhat harmless:

This next video is similar to the first one in terms of its agenda: get sexy people to sell the home.

The guy's bare bum?  Maybe that's PG-13.

But this next one is

Ten seconds into the video, this woman is pulling at her underwear, beneath her all-too-short, unrealistic golf shorts.

Then we have the obligatory cleavage shot, and then a shot of her shaking her behind.

Soon enters the shirtless pool-boy, "Cleeve," who they muse "comes with the house."

And clearly the agents know that their videos don't go over well with everybody, as Ian Adams says, "Come on, at least she's got her clothes on, and she's not roped to a chair," which is a reference to the first video I showed – and the video that seemed to cause the biggest uproar for these guys.

Whether the above videos work or not, I have no clue what they were thinking with this video:

I didn't get it.

A midget hiding in the fridge?

Pimps and hoes?

I found this to be incredibly trashy, and while I can look at a well-chiseled male physique and be jealous, or look at a gorgeous woman and appreciate her beauty, I don't see anything in this video that I admire in the slightest.  A midget in the fridge reminds me of Jackass, and I never understood why people found that show funny.

While Neo Property seems to be the first and most infamous real estate team to feature "lifestyle videos" to sell real estate, there is another company called Shaw Property Group that has followed suit.

They have a very different style.  There's still a gorgeous woman being featured throughout the home, but it's far more tastefully done, and with classical music:

And last but not least, here's one more example of a lifestyle video, somewhat sexy, although nothing compared to the first set of videos.

This one also hails from Australia (what's the theme here?), except it tells a completely different story:

Actually, having watched that three times now, I feel bad for the woman!

She seems so lonely!

That's a big house for one person.

Although maybe that's the point of the video – to get us thinking?

Maybe this is the point of every video – to get us analyzing the story, the character, and the situation, trying to figure out what's what, and who is who.

Is this woman a successful, powerful, independent woman?  Is she the CEO of a Fortune 500 company who came home after a long day's work, opened a bottle of wine, and went for a swim in her private pool?

It keeps you thinking, doesn't it?

So what's the verdict?

If you owned a piece of luxury real estate, in Toronto or in Queensland, would you want your agent "thinking outside the box" and trying something creative?  Or do you think these videos miss the point?

The post Does Sexy Real Estate Advertising Work? appeared first on Toronto Real Estate Property Sales & Investments | Toronto Realty Blog by David Fleming.

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