Comments on: Joel on Spotrunner

By: RealEstatePro

RealEstatePro — Sat, 16 Sep 2006 03:21:36 +0000

Real Estate Pros have actually had these low cost services available for years. The only thing that has changed is the wrapper. By reading the fine print on the Spotrunner web site and comparing it to a semi-automated discount ad agency called Cheap-TV-Spots.com, I found that Spotrunner’s only advantage is its user interface. Spotrunner offers no real savings or value over similar service paradigms. The automated Spotrunner airings actually cost more than the semi-automated Cheap-TV-Spots.com system (air time is the most expensive part of any TV campaign). Spotrunner offers an upgraded ad comparable to CheapTVSpots standard custom ad, but at a price nearly 5 times the Cheap TV Spots rate. Spotrunner does not appear to allow national airings (because of licensing restrictions), and it does not allow a web version of the commercial to be freely distributed by the client. Cheap TV Spots, by contrast, provides both local and national airings, and allows the client to freely distribute a web version of their ad via e-mail and web postings. Spotrunner forces the real estate agency to keep purchasing their more expensive air time or Spotrunner will re-sell their ad to the agent’s competitor in the same market. Again, by comparison, the Cheap TV Spots system delivers local and national service with maximum flexibility at a cost (including air time) which is less than the limited Spotrunner system. Cheap TV Spots does not insist on long term contracts for air time. Spotrunner, inconveniently, also charges to speak to a live person. There are Silicon Valley rumors about Cheap-TV-Spots.com acquiring Spotrunner. Cheap TV Spots actually has the better system and has been around longer, but to the average agent or broker, Spotrunner’s interface could be appealing. A CheapTVSpots.com / Spotrunner hybrid model is actually the most compelling model for our business sector, and a real acquisition for Google, Yahoo, or even Ask.com. Importantly, in a down market, TV can be the difference between a sale, and no sale. Today, even one person real estate offices can afford to be on TV because it can easily cost less than newspaper campaigns (at least in my area). The web, TV and print can all work together. There is no one best answer to marketing, especially in a dynamic business environment.

By: lwalsh

lwalsh — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 13:34:20 +0000

You make some good points Real Estate Tycoon. There is a lot of controversy surrounding “New Media,” and in some cases it’s not always what it promises to be.

On the other hand, if you’re defending Spotrunner as an independant voice, old media allows you to take that approach with no potential for visible dissent. If you’re actually representing Spotrunner without stating your affiliation, new media will respectfully call you out on that

My point is this - New media has changed the rules. While it’s true that traditional marketing has it’s place in many marketing budgets, and for good reason, the one-to-one message transfer available via clever online campaigns is a unique opportunity. Maybe it’s also a viable channel for Spotrunner - given the right partner? I can imagine Spotrunner campaigns running on Google video, and other video ad networks, on a CPC basis. Get a little wackier with the video templates for online delivery, and voila.

Thanks for a lively debate!

By: Real estate tycoon

Real estate tycoon — Thu, 15 Jun 2006 19:21:23 +0000

You make some valid points about the effectiveness of TV ads, however, I don’t think what they are doing is that off the mark.

The controversy over the ‘death of the 30-second spot’ is just that, a controversy. Some people believe that DVR’s causing time-shifted viewing sound the death knell to linear television advertising, but even after 8 years of this technology being available, the adoption rate of DVRs is relatively low. In the U.S., people using DVR’s are at about a 12 percent clip. I don’t deny that interactive advertising is the mode de jour, an effective mode of marketing, as that is how Google has become what it is today, but television is still watched in a linear fashion by the majority.

Secondly, to your point about the strategy of targeting a real estate broker’s market/audience, you’re really trying to maximize your reach in a specific geographic region. When considering the ROI of an ad through a service like Spot Runner, if for it’s low cost, there is ian ncremental increase in business, it’s worth the investment because of the low cost of the service.

To illustrate my point, I bring up the Yellow Pages. I would say that this resource tool has been obsolete for some time now since the advent of the Internet and search tools like Google and Yahoo, yet you still see quarter, half page, and full-size ads bought by real estate agents, pizza parlors and plumbers. It’s because for that small number of incremental new business garnered through the resource, it is well worth it to advertise in the Yellow Pages. Such can be said about Spot Runner.

Spot Runner doesn’t claim that it is the end all, be all of marketing. What it is saying is, “here is another service that local businesses can utilize to better market their products and services.”

No good marketer believes in just one method of spreading the gospel. It’s about creating stereo surround sound with your message. Spot Runner happens to be another ’speaker’ that can be utilized to deliver a message. It’s bringing the democratizing effect of the Internet to offer a service that was traditionally for large companies with million-dollar marketing budgets to the small or local businesses.

I think for the ads themselves, it is in the eyes of the beholder.