Havas Media North America - Branded Content Campaign of the Year

Company: Havas Media North America, Boston MA
Company Description: Havas Media North America is a proud member of Havas Group, which operates in over 140 countries. Havas Media North America drives meaningful connections between brands and people to deliver growth via award-winning marketing solutions. Fully integrated specialty units empower big agency resources while maintaining a bespoke, client-focused approach.
Nomination Category: Marketing Campaign Categories - Specialty
Nomination Sub Category: Branded Content Campaign of the Year

Nomination Title: The National Association of REALTORS®: Coming Home, A 3-Part Video Series Co-produced by Great Big Story and The National Association of REALTORS®

Specify the date on which this campaign or program was launched: 12/10/2019

The National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) Consumer Advertising Campaign’s content partnerships provide an opportunity for deeper storytelling that educates consumers on the REALTOR® difference. By leveraging the credibility and equity of trusted, premium publishers, NAR is able to amplify the value its 1.4 million REALTORS® bring to the real estate transaction and beyond and align with cultural conversations around relevant trends and topics such as economic shifts and historical moments.

Audience and publisher insights are garnered in order to understand how we can best bring the REALTOR® brand voice to life with publishers that create unique programs that hold true to the brand’s mission and differentiators.

In this case, the insight that sparked this content program was that 21% of all home buyers and sellers are Veteran and Military Service Members. REALTORS® are the only real estate professionals able to obtain a certification that focuses on working with military service members. NAR’s Military Relocation Professional certification educates REALTORS® about working with U.S. service members and their families and veterans to find the housing solutions that best suit their needs and how to take full advantage of available benefits and support. Once completed, REALTORS® are prepared with the knowledge of processes and procedures involved in a military relocation and ability to identify and provide services which help service members sell or find and purchase suitable homes such as VA financing. The 'Coming Home' series was produced from stories of REALTORS® leveraging both their knowledge and empathy.

NAR strives to ensure that all content illustrates at least one facet of the REALTOR® difference, whether that be through the expertise they can provide to their clients during the homebuying process or the caring characteristics that enable them to go above and beyond for their clients and their community. When highlighting differences relevant to their character, we seek stories that demonstrate their value accessing affordable housing, equality in ownership and strengthening the communities in which they live and work.

In partnership with Great Big Story, cinematic storytelling platform created by CNN, NAR produced “Coming Home”, a 3-part video series featuring the stories of military staff and their families as they relocate, and how REALTORS® work with clients throughout their real estate journey and often beyond.

Each of the three stories demonstrate the professionalism, service and expertise that the REALTOR® offered to the veterans in their lives. From building a community for fellow vets, to offering a therapeutic service to those struggling with PTSD, the REALTOR® difference is evident.

Episode one highlights REALTOR® and NAR Good Neighbor Award winner, Mark Solomon, and the great work he and the non-profit organization he co-founded, Veterans Community Project, achieve in combating veteran homelessness.

Episode 2 features REALTOR® Gail Doxie and her non-profit, Miles of Smiles, a horse ranch in Fort Myers, Florida, treating soldiers with PTSD through Equine Therapy.

And episode 3 highlights REALTOR® Linda Batten, as she helps a family relocate from a camper in California to their first home in Virginia.

Leveraging the authority and voice of Great Big Story, allowed us to resonate and connect with our audience in a more meaningful way. Their ability to dive into complex, emotional, and often overlooked topics offered a platform to tell the stories of members of the military that we don't often see in other real estate industry content.

The NAR campaign had an outstanding performance and drove large scale awareness around compelling stories by creating custom branded content pieces.

The videos delivered >2.03M video views and >5.36M Impressions across Facebook and YouTube, over-delivering on the campaign guarantee of 1.85M views by 10%.

With >773K organic views, this campaign generated over $123K in added value for NAR.

76% of the campaign’s emotional reactions and comments were positive. Viewers expressed a deep respect for the REALTORS® helping these individuals and reacted positively to content about helping veterans.

The strongest performance was among the social cut-downs was the 60 second video creative with a .28% CTR. This is likely due to the longer storytelling nature of the video. In addition, the 15 second video had the highest VCR performance at 98%.

CNN distributed the branded content videos across CNNGo to drive large scale awareness. These videos exceeded our VCR benchmark with a 97% VCR. CNN also served over 3M display impressions across their site to drive mass scale and engagement for the REALTOR® brand.

REALTORS® are members of the National Association of REALTORS®

Episode 1: https://cvd.courageousstudios.com/search?detail=378622230
Episode 2: https://cvd.courageousstudios.com/search?detail=392754186
Episode 3: https://cvd.courageousstudios.com/search?detail=404740466