We have those at our brand new Shaw's supermarket and a few agents from our office did six months. Their return on investment was zero. I am sure it is different in many areas, but in this particular case, it did not work for them. Good luck!

Hi Patsy, there are two agents in my office that do this..separately..and they both love it.  They have done it for years.  It is a great way for face recognition too.

It should be very good for name recognition--top of brand awareness. 

I haven't done it before, but several agents in my area do this in various stores. I have noticed that the agents change quite frequently though. That would tell me that it doesn't work, but I can't say that for sure as I have never spoken to any of them about it. I would think that would have just as good a chance at getting buyers though - move up/down buyers, are there any local apartments around?

From my marketing experience I wouldn't just offer your information though - you have to give them something value-added. FREE something usually catches their eyes and it doesn't have to be real estate related. Contests, etc...

Good Luck! 

Pass on it. You can find better ways to sell homes. You may get noticed but you will get little business. Give away pens and someone will remember you.

My first three responses, one good,one bad and one in-between.  OK.  I was still hoping.  Then Leigh gave me the best advice ever, and I THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU.  I will get with my co-sponsor and we'll come up with some kind of contest, or give-away, or "something of value."  Thank you again.  My whole advertising idea is changed by your response.

I love ActiveRain.

Thank you all for your responses.  Patsy

I use Adcarts in Orlando. It is very pricey and I have done it for alittle over a year now. I was getting ready to quite when I received 2 calls, one from a past customer. She saw my face and thought to call me. 2nd was a previous buyer I was working with decided to go back to Atlanta then 2 months ago she moved back to my area, saw my cart and remembered how helpful I was. Besides friends and family calling me from the carts I dont have anyone else calling. The whole purpose is branding.

The only response I ever got from giving away a pen was a co-worker told me it leaked in her purse.  I'm fairly off pens, but give-aways are still on my list, and I posted on this yesterday.  Thanks for your comment.  Patsy

Heather, thank you for your comment.  It's very helpful.  I have a questions.  I have a copy of the contract here, and I asked the guy about the right of first refusal when my six months are up.  He said that I would be given first dibs, but this is not stated in the contract. On the contrary, the contract explicitly states there are no agreements outside the contract.   How was this company with renewing the contract, and did you pay more the second time around.  Should I have this stipulated in the contract?  Did you?  Thanks for your response.  Patsy

Glad I could help - anytime you send anything in the mail, email or face to face branding you have to give the consumer a reason to contact you - otherwise it's a small percentage that you will get them to call. Then I add them to my database and contact them with various information so that they see more than just while they are in the grocery store (in your case). I can't wait to hear how it works out for you - please keep us posted!

I have of heard of it , actually the guy talked to me about my my pic on a cart but i said no.

Patsy - Image based advertising seldom yields a ROI. Like any strategy, repeated impressions builds brand awareness. Brand awareness builds brand trust. Just understand, image based advertising must be sustained over a long period of time to reap any real results. If you are a local real estate "celebrity" agent, it can help, otherwise, I suggest you spend your money else where.

Thank you for your comment Bobby:  But how do you become a "celeb" agent if you don't brand?

I may be stupid, but I used to get 25 cards a day in the mail from agents looking for business, talking about business, asking for business, and now I get one or two a week, maybe.  I think the market is so down, that many have left the business.  I'm thinking this is my time to strike.  Now is when I should be branding, when there is less competition.  And I'm certainly open to "elsewhere" but where is "elsewhere" besides those wretched postcards?

And I'm taking Leigh's advice, and offering something of value, though that valuable has yet to be determined.

Patsy - I have no problem with image based branding. The important aspect I wanted to emphasize was this, don't expect immediate results from it. If your ok with that, go for it. In fact, one of our local clients recently ponied up large dollars to be The Carolina Hurricanes NHL Pro Hockey Team Preferred Realtor. Will she recoup that investment this year....if she does it will be a big surprise to me. Will she gain tremendous name recognition from it..you better believe it. So if you can afford it, do it. It is our firm's desire to educate each client to all aspects of selecting a particular marketing strategy and establish reasonable expectations to go along with it.. I agree as well with the concept of offering something of value to build a bridge.

Thank you Bobby.  Shame on me.  I didn't realize you are in the "business" of marketing.  I'll take your advice any day.  Thanks.  Patsy  p.s.  And we're going to try this for a year, not just the six month.  Hence the intent to have a right of first refusal in our contract.

No worries....love you post! You've got the right take on things. Try it, benchmark the results, then evaluate the strategy to see if it makes sense to keep doing it.

A consumer's 2 cents. I was in a supermarket recently in a nearby town and could not help but notice the photo of the most prolific Realtor in that county looking up from every cart in the corral. My first thought was "smart". Then I figured it was probably terribly expensive and that the displays would get beat up and need to be replaced with some frequency. I think for this particular broker it is worth it. He is a listing agent. He puts his face up in lots of places and is very much recognized, with year after year of highest sales claims. I have heard though, that he just takes listings and then waits for someone else to sell them. He markets himself, not the listings. He has name recognition, that's how he gets so many listings, and this is one more way for him to keep it. 

Thank you Mr. or Mrs. Consumer.  You are the first consumer comment I've ever had, and I appreciate your input.  Unfortunately every community has a Realtor such as your fella.  But I can imagine it took him many, many years to get to where he is today, so I don't begrudge anyone their celebrity.

Also, you brought up something I hadn't thought of: who is responsible, and at what cost if it is me, for the upkeep on these signs.  I'll bring that up at tomorrow's meeting.  Thanks for the tip.  Patsy

We moved out of that county 17 years ago and I still remembered this guy's face and name. So his branding definitely works.

Patsy, I don't do mass advertising of any kind anymore.  I rely only on referral based business and internet lead generation.  But I do have agents in my area who did this at my neighborhood grocery store.  My first thought was that it was tacky but again, I'm not a broker and I don't have a need to brand...it's just me.  This will probably change with my goals as I get further into my career.  I'm just not ready to commit at that level yet.

The two broker/owners split up not long after the advertising started and the remaining broker had to redo all her cart ads!  After less than a year, she included only her name and number and it was glaringly obvious.

Another thing that struck me was that it would almost be essential to consistently farm in those neighborhoods so that the consumers could not only see your face but have your name and number/email right in their hands at home.  That's where they're likely to call you from.  I don't see the effectiveness of doing one without the other unless your website is so easy to remember that they'll automatically go to it.  Even so, it seems they'd need a reminder sitting on their fridge by virtue of a magnet or a calendar.

Good luck with your venture!

I tried something similar.  I had my ad on the dividers that you place between grocery orders at the checkout.  Here are a couple of things to think about.

• Most people in the grocery store aren't going to have a notepad and pen to write down your contact information.  You will want to use an easy to remember phone number or website address.
• This type of advertising is EXTREMELY expensive for the amount of return you receive if you are in a bigger city.  It may work better in a smaller sized community.
• The company that is doing this in my area is either out of business or is about to go out of business because my contract expired several months ago and they still haven't found anyone to take over the ad space.  Good for me because my ad is still there, but I think it is an indication that this advertising is not effective - at least not in my area.
• If you have a logo or something that is instantly recognizable that you use in all of your advertising (like I use my dog in my photo and ads) then I think it has a little better chance of producing.
• I would say this is on the lowest end of the advertising spectrum.  It is one tool, but shouldn't be your main advertising effort.
• I think you get more bang for your buck with direct mail - postcards, newsletters, etc.

Good luck - I hope it works for you.

Dear Patti:  Thank you very much for your comment.  I truly appreciate all this very good advice.

I am in a small town, or at least a small part of a town.  We're half way between Jacksonville and St. Augustine, and there are only two grocery stores close, so I estimate we will get about half the direct advertising.  We're in it (if at all) for the long haul.  So with that said, branding should work.

Were you with Adcart?  Or another company?

My logo is quite recognizable.  In fact, I've given it to strangers who "remember" seeing it either in advertising or on a listing sign.  It's a little goofy, but my reputation keeps it in good stead.  I'm leaning toward no photos of us, but Scott thinks we should.  What do you think? 

I'm heading to bed, so probably won't respond until tomorrow.  I've been waiting for this Braves/Astros game to end.  We're in the FOURTEENTH!!! inning and I'm exhausted beyond the capacity for rational thought.    It's 12:30. Thank you for your response.  Good night.  Patsy

patsy - all this type of advertising will do for you, is brand your name. It won`t get you a deal because you did it, however if you ad it to your mailers, and walking your farm, or the give aways that you do, or anything else you do, than it will just reinforce your name to people, and in that case it becomes of value, but if you are using it as your sole purpose of marketing, it will not work

I used ADCARTS down here in Long Beach a few years ago stricktly to get my name and face out in front of the community for branding purposes.  Took 100% of the largest most active supermarket in the area.  ADCARTS only put me on 1/2, I complained, they didn't fix it, claimed that this is normal.  They said the carts go out into the community and get picked up by the trucks and end up at all different markets.  That does not work for me and is not in the contract.  They offered a huge discount on the following year, that is all they would do.  They did not meet the terms of the contract. 

NOBODY is paying them anymore down here.  My advertising is still on some of the carts in that store because they cant sell it down here any longer.  Everybody who was doing it has stopped over the last 2 years or so.  

Several past clients called me when they were shopping because they thought it was cute that my ad was on their shopping cart, they just had to call to tell me.  

I would pass on it unless it was super-cheap. Why try to "brand yourself" with strangers when you can send a note out to your past clients looking for business? Spend the same money on a drip campaign and web site focusing on Sphere of Influence and Past Clients and the ROI will be much higher.

Too costly for me.  But if it works, great.

I actually live in Valencia, and while I hate to say anything that would disparage tax revenues from flowing into my wonderful community, most the Realtors I've spoken to say, "too much money for too little return". 

But let me share a marketing tactic that has stuck with me since the time I moved to Valencia over 13 years ago.  There was this small moving van that I constantly saw around town with this Realtor's face which said something to the effect of, "list with me and use this truck for free with your move".  I saw that truck everywhere.  That Realtor's name and face has stuck with me and if I were ever asked to just name a Realtor that's the name that would have popped into my head.  Probably pricey, but needless to say, she is a very successful lady.

Patsy--While I have not done the shopping cart advertising, I have done the ads at the car wash and some pretty pricey print ads. While I believe that both of these build 'top of mind' and can be beneficial, I believe it is important to first examine whether 'top of mind' is your goal. If it is then great. Now decide how much your marketing budget can allow for this 'top of mind' advertising. "Top of Mind" advertising does not usually equate to sales right away and you can spend a good chunk of your advertising budget before you know it. If you are already very established in your market place and people truly know you as someone in their local market area, then this is probably a great way to leverage yourself. If not, I say do something less costly Good luck!

Hi Keisha.  Thank you for your comment.  I appreciate your advice, and you've put a bug in my ear about the car-wash.  I like that idea.  Fortunately for me, I've got someone to go in with me, so my marketing budget is twice what it was, or I spend half what I used to, whatever way you look at it.  Thanks again.

 Hi Helene:  Oh, I wish I had the money for a truck.  My husband suggested we could probably afford a used one, but getting it full of advertising would probably cost even more, and then there's insurance.  How many times have I wished I owned a truck, though.  But also, where would I store it?  Thanks for your comment.

Hi Joe:  I have only been in the business for 3 years, and though I have done very well, I hardly have a war chest of past customers.  It's that very demographic that I'm trying to increase.  Thank you very much for your post.

Hi Laurie:  Your comment was very illuminating and I'm sharing that with Scott on Monday.  We didn't get with these people yesterday, and now I'm glad.  Thank you very much for your insight.

I have noticed that they change frequently, so I am not convinced that this works great.   I have two friends that have done and it is quite pricey.

I have several clients that have done it, one that still does--the ones that don't do it any more, got no business from it...the one that still does it, well he only has it in one Safeway, and its the one located directly in the community where he lists & sells 95% of his listings.  Not sure if he has GAINED any additional business, but added to all the other marketing he does in the community, it is definitely giving him more brand recognition...most people in the area know him buy name.

 I would suggest marketing the area even more than just shopping carts--go into the area's where the carts are, and market those neighborhoods--send postcards, letters, door to door handouts...

let me know if my company can be of assistance!

Love your name David!  We're still on the fence, though Adcart calls almost hourly.  I can't tell you how much these responses have helped.  I realize we need to do more than just one venue, but money is such an issue now. 

I'm big on door to door handouts, and gifts, because it affords the opportunity to meet neighbors.  But it's 96 degrees out there right now, so not an instant option.

Thanks for your response.

I completely agree...I think that the money for adcart could be better spent elsewhere!  - The heat has been crazy lately--although I have officially turned into my father...99 degrees out, and I just went and got a hot mocha

I don't know how many clients you'll get from the ad itself, but anytime you get your name out there is a good thing.  Next time your name comes up, they will remember you 'from somwhere'.

Can't hurt...good luck