Century 21, the residential real estate brokerage owned by Anywhere Real Estate, is activatingthe Joy of Home global marketing campaign. The streaming, broadcast, OOH, and soccer marketing campaign showcases how a modern brand markets in multicultural America by embracing soccer and other passion points. Tori Keichinger, VP and head of Marketing at Century 21 Real Estate, LLC, tells Portada about the elements and the key rationale for the campaign.
Century 21 Marketing: The Joy of Home Campaign
- OOH: Times Square billboard was seen during the ball drop on New Year’s Eve. (Billboard From Black Friday, November 29, 2024, through January 5, 2025).
Tori Keichinger, VP and Head of Marketing, Century 21 Real Estate, LLC - 60-second and 30-second spots streaming on Apple TV, TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram. Spots include Moments of the Century.
- Official Real Estate Services Partner of Major League Soccer, the MLS All-Star Game, and MLS Cup presented by Audi includes:
– national broadcasts on MLS Season Pass
– in-stadium promotions and on-site presence at the League’s milestone events
– Activations for the CENTURY 21 brand throughout the season, including premium ticket and hospitality opportunities at MLS matches across North America.
– Official partner of MLS NEXT Pro, the professional men’s soccer league in the U.S. and Canada that completes the pro player pathway to MLS first teams.
– Influencers: MLS soccer players – Four players from four clubs can be included in Century 21 creative. - Messaging: Leans into a more humanized message that celebrates what today’s home buyers prioritize: community, connection, and
a more profound sense of joy.
The Objectives
First and foremost, Century intends to connect with the audience that wants to buy or sell property within the next 12-24 months.
In addition, Keichinger tells Portada that a critical KPI for Century 21’s Joy of Home Marketing Campaign is the engagement and campaign adoption by the company’s 130,000 agents in 79 countries. Keichinger refers to the vast array of marketing creative/assets the Century 21 brand (the franchisor) offers its franchisees (the real estate brokerages).
Keichinger also notes that residential real estate marketers cater to a relatively complex audience of brokerage companies (franchisees), agents, and end consumers. “If you can connect with the consumer, you’ll come out on top. Agents want to communicate with them at the end of the day. This way, they are set up for success.”
Soccer MLS Partnership
Century 21 has a long history of sports activations, partnering with several sports leagues and teams, including the MLS and the U.S. Women’s soccer team. A powerful rationale for the 2025 MLS partnership is that the soccer league’s audience is slightly younger than other leagues’; the average age of the MLS fan is aligned with that of first-time home buyers, which lies at 38. In addition, the MLS fandom has a relatively balanced male-to-female ratio at 54% to 46%. The passion most Hispanics feel for soccer also plays a substantial role in the MLS sponsorship decision. “We want to be the first-choice brand for Hispanic consumers when buying or selling a home,” Keichinger asserts.
Century 21 Marketing: Will Franchisees Follow Through?
As stated above, franchisee-driven companies like Century 21 focus a substantial part of their marketing efforts on having franchisees adopt the different creative assets to engage the end consumer. Century 21 has approximately 900 franchisees in the U.S., which are local or regional real estate brokerages. Local brokerages can tailor their marketing messages to the specific features of local audiences. Keichinger’s team provides templates (digital social and video assets) for the franchisee network to customize and distribute. For the Home of Joy campaign, these include creative assets referring to the ‘moments of the century that happen at home’, a ‘map of the century’, and a ‘battle of the century’ (e.g., a family snowball fight across the yard), which Century 21 real estate agents use to spotlight and highlight moments from their clients. This User-Generated Content adds a level of authenticity, says Keichinger. “Agents localize the creatives and make them work for their particular markets, ” she adds.
Another critical question to the campaign’s ultimate success is whether franchisees invest to activate paid media campaigns. For example, Keichinger cites New Jersey’s Century 21 real estate brokerage Action Plus Realty, which is leveraging the assets provided by Keichinger’s team with a local streaming buy.
Century 21 local and regional brokerages also have the option to invest in assets provided by any of the 30 MLS clubs, including their youth programs. Brokerages also typically do local OOH campaigns, through which they sometimes highlight agents.
Century 21 Marketing Profile
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