Fort Collins Agent Featured as Community Builder In New Realtor TV/Radio Ads

6/3/2003

From: Liz Johnson, 202-383-1043, ljohnson@realtors.org, or Iverson Moore, 202-383-1290, imoore@realtors.org, both of the National Association of Realtors

WASHINGTON, June 3 -- Linda Norton, a Realtor(r) with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Fort Collins, Colo., is featured in new television and radio spots that begin airing nationwide this week as part of the National Association of Realtors(r) Public Awareness Campaign.

Norton, who has helped create more than 1,000 units of affordable housing, was a winner of REALTOR(r) Magazine's 2002 "Good Neighbor Awards". The new spot tells the story of how Norton led a difficult $10 million renovation of the historic but neglected Northern Hotel in downtown Fort Collins that now provides 47 apartments for very low-income seniors. Her story was one of two chosen for NAR's new spots designed to showcase the community building roles of Realtors(r) throughout America.

A second new spot features another 2002 Good Neighbor Awards winner, John Green, a Realtor(r) from Franklin, Tenn., who for more than 50 years has mentored generations of young men while he was a Scoutmaster for the Boy Scouts of America.

The spots, in both 60-second and 30-second formats, will rotate with the other NAR Public Awareness Campaign commercials, which air during morning and evening news, prime time and late-night television between March and October this year.

NAR's television spots are seen on programs like The West Wing, JAG, Dateline, 20/20, CSI, Who Wants to be a Millionaire, Law & Order and Third Watch. Additionally, they run on late night shows including The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Nightline and Late Night with David Letterman.

Radio versions of these new Good Neighbor spots also will run in rotation with NAR's other radio ads, which air on networks such as Westwood One, Premiere, ABC and National Public Radio. The radio spots will begin airing in July.

NAR's national advertising campaign, now in its sixth year, is based on communicating the value Realtors(r) bring to the real estate transaction with spots featuring the catchy tagline: "Work With Someone Who'll Work With You. We're Realtors(r). Real Estate is Our Life."

"We expanded our $20 million-per-year advertising campaign last year to include commercials highlighting Realtors(r)' humanitarian and volunteer work, because community service is such a core value to us," said NAR President Cathy Whatley, owner of Buck & Buck Inc. in Jacksonville, Fla.

Whatley praised Norton and Green for their volunteer work. "Their stories of extraordinary acts of kindness and community service not only are plot lines for our new commercials, but also they are living proof that Realtors(r) are more than just business people," she said.

"We're caring people who are concerned about the communities we serve and the people who live in them. Linda and John are, indeed, role models for all of us. They make us proud to be Realtors(r) and proud to be Americans."

At Whatley's request, Norton opened NAR's Midyear Meetings last month with an invocation moments before the 60-second commercials premiered.

"The Good Neighbor spots-last year's and this year's-give the public a broader picture of what our members are really all about," said Frank Sibley, NAR senior vice president for communications. "Certainly, Realtors(r) add value to the real estate transaction, but they also are vested members of the communities where they live and work."

The campaign is running for 10 months with more than 4,400 television and radio spots this year. A similar media buy is planned for next year, Sibley said.

From its inception in 1998, the Public Awareness Campaign has relied on rigorous consumer and member research to evaluate performance. The program has achieved substantial results by creating a perceived difference between Realtors(r) and other licensees. For instance, the percentage of consumers who believe there is a benefit to working with a Realtor(r) rather than a licensee who is not a Realtor(r) rose from 42 percent in 1999 to 61 percent in 2002.

To view all of the Public Awareness Campaign spots and to learn more about the campaign, visit http://www.realtor.org/awarenesscampaign.

The National Association of Realtors(r), "The Voice for Real Estate," is America's largest trade association, representing approximately 880,000 members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries.

Information about NAR is available at http://realtor.org. This and other news releases are posted in the Web site's "News Media" section.

REALTOR(r) is a registered collective membership mark which may be used only by real estate professionals who are members of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS(r) and subscribe to its strict Code of Ethics.