Mastery Of The Craft – The Campaign Behind The New Brown Harris Stevens

In June of 2020, the real estate world was stunned when Halstead became part of Brown Harris Stevens. While both were known industry giants owned by Terra Holdings, each firm held specific strengths. Brown Harris Stevens – a legacy brand with offices in NYC, South Florida, and the Hamptons – has commanded the luxury market since it was founded in 1873. Halstead, a much younger, larger firm, had strong roots in the New York Tri-state area and won numerous awards for innovative marketing and technology strategies. As the pandemic loomed large and many businesses were forced to shutter or sell off to larger operations, Brown Harris Stevens was tasked with redefining itself.

To outsiders, Brown Harris Stevens and Halstead might make for a strange marriage – but the two firms are both built upon the same theme: Real estate is serious business, and it takes a mastery of the craft – agents with a command of every nuanced detail of the transaction – to be successful in this fast-paced, emotional process. Combined, the two firms were unstoppable: Brown Harris Stevens currently has the #1 highest average sales price per agent in the nation, each agent possesses an average of 23 years of experience, and 2021 was shaping up to be the best year in the firm’s nearly 150-year history.

Driven by Brown Harris Stevens’ Chief Marketing Officer Matthew Leone and the 50+ in-house marketing team, in partnership with renowned boutique creative strategy firm AgencySacks, the Mastery of the Craft campaign came to life over the next 12 months. The campaign combines Brown Harris Stevens’ unmatched history of leadership in the luxury market and the distinctive skills required to meet modern real estate demands while tackling real-life challenges portrayed in a series of lifestyle ads. The campaign incorporates media across print, digital, video, TV, streaming services, outdoor and social platforms and will run through October 2022.

“Mastery of the Craft showcases the skills of today’s BHS agents and executives as well as our incredible array of properties across the East Coast,” explained Leone. “We are presenting a picture of all the necessary components needed for a modern brokerage to succeed – from experience and knowledge to powerful marketing and imagery, to a global network of best-in-class agents and properties. This is a proud next era for the new Brown Harris Stevens and helps to differentiate our unique offering in a very noisy space.”

Although the campaign is companywide, imagery and messaging are designed to celebrate each unique region BHS serves including NYC, the Hamptons, Miami, Palm Beach, Connecticut, New Jersey, and the Hudson Valley. The campaign was photographed and directed by portrait photographer Jason Madara with cinematography by Nick Kormapilis.
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“Real estate can be an incredibly complex process and great agents possess a mastery of this highly nuanced journey. At BHS, luxury is not about price; it’s about service. Our staff, agents, and clients are from all walks of life and this is what we aim to emphasize in our first ad campaign as one unified company,” said Bess Freedman, CEO.

Mastery of the Craft ads will appear in premium magazines and papers including The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Architectural Digest, Vanity Fair and local/regional publications in each market. There will also be out-of-home ads including NYC digital taxi tops, NYC/Miami outdoor bus shelters, NYC/South Florida airport ads, billboards, train station platforms, and cause-based marketing events. For the first time, Brown Harris Stevens will air commercials across television and Hulu streaming channels.

• The new ad campaign follows a long list of new marketing initiatives introduced at Brown Harris Stevens including:
• Refreshed brownharrisstevens.com website with new chat functionality, search options, and aesthetics.
• Exceptional Residential Properties print insert in the New York Times and online.
• Updated BHSNow blog which offers exclusive content created by an in-house team of marketing professionals and outside authors. Features include design trends, neighborhood profiles, in-depth property stories, events, company news, and more.
• Curate by BHS, a pre-market home staging service; and Bridge Loans, a loan program covering the gap for those selling a current home and buying a new home.

For more information on the Mastery of the Craft campaign, including visuals, visit bhsusa.com/mastery.