The Weekend Post - Real Estate
Agent’s clever campaign
CAIRNS real estate agent Karl Latham has launched an innovative new advertising campaign with a difference.
The “Whykarl.com” campaign, launched about a month ago, features everything from personalised numberplates on his BMW to advertising on bus seats.
“The idea was to put personality into a marketing campaign,” Mr Latham said.
“I wanted something unique, something to be a mobile billboard, but without plastering my name and face all over the car.
“I wanted to come up with a clever marketing campaign to put out across as many mediums as possible, something that curiosity gets the better of people and they click on the website (www.whykarl.com).
The Elite Cairns agent has been in the industry for the past seven years, during which time Mr Latham has become one of the leaders in the business.
For the past two years he has been on Queensland real estate A-list – the only non selfnominated state rating of real estate salespeople, recognising the top 150 performers out of 18,000 registered agents.
Mr Latham said the idea for the Whykarl.com campaign was inspired by another of the industry’s top agents.
“My real estate mentor, Mat Steinwede, he was my inspiration when starting in real estate and he did a campaign similar to this years ago,” Mr Latham said.
“I always thought that once I had grown my business to where I wanted it, I’d like to pinch his idea and take it to the next level.
“The website breaks down barriers of being agent and introduces me as a real person to potential clients, tells them about me, who I am and what I am about, and how we operate as a business.
“On the website there is help for buyers and sellers, tips about real estate, how to get the best price, tips on how to prepare their property for sale, recommendations of what to do before they put it on the market, as well as a running cross sheet of what we are do, and how many homes we are selling.
“Also, when people read a testimonial we felt it didn’t have enough impact, so we got video testimonials which we’ve uploaded on a website to create some validity about it.”
Mr Latham said the campaign had already attracted a lot of attention, with people taking photos of his numberplates and sending in emails and massages.
As well as the popular numberplate and bus seat advertising, Mr Latham said a crucial part of making the campaign a success of an advertising presence in The Weekend Post.
“I needed the right exposure to get it out there,” he said.
“To catch the most fish you need to fish where the fish are, and majority of buyers and potential sellers get The Cairns Post real estate guide, which in my opinion is still the ‘buyer’s bible’.
“The response has been great; people send me messages and emails and make comments about the numberplate, saying it’s a great initiative and idea, something original.”
I wanted something unique, something to be a mobile billboard, but without plastering my name and face all over the car.
Karl Latham