Baird & Warner wants to change the focus of discussion in the residential real estate market. On Monday, B&W, the largest independent residential real estate broker in Illinois, debuted an illustrated, minute-long TV commercial — the first of its kind from the company.
Developed with talent from Otherwise Inc., Cerise Films and Heads of State, the new spot seeks to shift the conversation from some of the more downbeat news about housing and to encourage everyone to consider the more aspirational aspects of buying or selling a home.
That’s a nice idea, because nobody who has been attached to the residential real estate business in this city for the past several years needs to be told how depressing it’s been.
Homeowners have had to wait months, if not years, to sell homes, often at steep markdowns. And folks looking to buy a home have been stymied by banks understandably reluctant to lend money.
But Baird & Warner would rather not dwell on those issues.
Rather, in its new spot the emphasis is on what a home adds to one’s life. The tagline pretty much sums up the message: “Real estate is more than just the home you live in — it’s the life you get out of it.”
Looks at housing in a different way
Well, we can’t argue that point — up to a point. But the new commercial does start to go a little overboard in making that point when it begins talking about “reaching higher” and “dreaming bigger.” Yes, buying or selling a home is, in some ways, an aspirational adventure of sorts.
But the spot — as romantic as it tries to make the adventure — isn’t diverting enough to make anyone entirely forget that this is high-stakes stuff we’re talking about. Big money is involved in real estate most of the time, and a lot of people have suffered huge financial loss and significant other problems when they plunged into the housing market.
Yes, it’s nice — for 60 seconds anyway — to look at housing in a different way. After there has been so much pain, Baird & Warner is to be commended for trying to present a more uplifting take on things. But viewers should take the commercial for what it is without forgetting the bigger picture — which may not be quite so pretty.
Contact Lewis Lazare at LewisL3@aol.com
