April 21, 2008

Dear C.A.R. Member:

This Wednesday, C.A.R. will launch the 2008 Consumer Advertising Campaign highlighting the value REALTORS® bring to the transaction. Building on last year's successful "Your Piece of California. Your Peace of Mind" theme, the campaign also will raise awareness of the REALTOR® brand and reinforce the professionalism of REALTORS® who belong to C.A.R.

C.A.R.'s $2.1 million 2008 Consumer Advertising Campaign features two new radio spots, contextual Web banners placed on popular Web sites like REALTOR.com, CNNMoney.com, and Zillow; behavioral advertising on more than 2,500 Web sites including ESPN, Motley Fool, and Discovery Channel; in-text advertising on sites including MSN, Dow Jones, and Mortgage Insider; and search engine marketing on Yahoo! and Google, all directing consumers to www.yourpieceofcalifornia.com.

The site reinforces key messages of the radio ads while providing valuable information for consumers when buying or selling a home. The www.yourpieceofcalifornia.com site also contains consumer-friendly guides to regions throughout California, from the Northern California and the Central Valley regions southward to Orange County and San Diego. In addition to housing market data and links to school, health, crime and government information, the guides enable consumers to search for median price information on more than 250 communities throughout the state.

New this year, the campaign will feature two new radio ads in Spanish that will reach the state's Hispanic home buyers and sellers. The Hispanic campaign also features a Web site in Spanish at www.lallavedetutranquilidad.com that contains in-language information on buying and selling a home and information-rich guides to the state's many regions.

Both Web sites will go live April 23 to coincide with the debut of the radio ads. The Web sites also remind consumers why they should use a REALTOR® in all of their real estate transactions and contain links to the "Find a REALTOR®" page on www.car.org, the Association's official Web site, as well as The California Living Network at www.ca.realtor.com and www.sucasa.net for property searches.

Please visit C.A.R. Online (www.car.org), and click on the "2008 Consumer Advertising Campaign" button on the home page.  You can listen to the radio spots, view the Web banner ads, and learn more about the campaign and its history. The radio spots will air through August, and the online advertising will continue through the end of October.

Please turn on your radio April 23 and listen for the latest benefit of your C.A.R. membership. Let us know how you like the campaign!

Sincerely,


William E. Brown
2008 C.A.R. President