1. 4/15/2011 Century 21 Moves Into Virtual Real Est…
APRIL 14, 2011, 6:57 PM ET
Century 21 Moves Into Virtual Real Estate
Real-estate broker Century 21, still dealing with a housing crisis in the real world, is attempting to make a splash in a
virtual one.
The company struck a deal to have buildings carrying its brand
incorporated into a city-building game for the iPhone called “We
City.” Depending on what level of the game players have reached,
they can snatch up a free house, office or skyscraper to build their
cities until April 21. They can also purchase – with virtual dollars – a
Century 21 real estate office to accelerate the expansion of their
cities.
“It’s a cool and fun frontier to engage consumers on the brand in a
platform they enjoy,” says Bev Thorne, chief marketing officer for
Century 21.
The move is an attempt by the 40-year-old real-estate company to better connect with younger and more tech-savvy
consumers. Some of those in the tech world might not have seen the value in using a real, live real-estate agent.
In addition to the game, Century 21 has launched its own mobile application and worked on TV promotions. It’s all part
of a broader campaign promoting a “smarter, bolder, faster Century 21.”
Meanwhile, as the real-world housing crisis drags into its fifth year, Century 21 finds itself competing for a limited
number of sales. Many consumers remain afraid housing values have further to fall, while would-be buyers are having
trouble securing financing.
“We City” is one of the many mobile social-networking games app developer ngmoco provides. The games are free to
download and play, but players have the option to pay real money for bonuses such as decorative items or added power
to make the game easier.
Century 21 paid an undisclosed fee to ngmoco, which is a unit of Japan-based DeNA Co. Ltd. The app developer would
not disclose the number of people who play “We City” but says people play it for millions of minutes per week.
– Roger Cheng and Dawn Wotapk a
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