Who is Florida Gulfcoast Commercial Association of Realtors?
Established in November of 1993, the Florida Gulfcoast Commercial Association of Realtors® (FGCAR) is the lone commercial-only professional real estate board for licensed commercial real estate brokers and professional affiliates in the Tampa Bay region — an organization that is one of the only two in Florida and one of a handful nationwide. The mission of the Florida Gulfcoast Commercial Association of Realtors® is to provide the Tampa Bay region a source of professional expertise and ethical accountability in the field of commercial real estate. The association offers continuing education as well as resources for all brokers and professionals engaged in commercial real estate transactions.
The FGCAR’s president Brian Andrus — the owner and managing broker of Stonebridge Real Estate Co. — provides analysis, marketing, and management of both sales and leasing of commercial real estate. However, as experienced as he and his organization were, influencers and brokers were largely unaware that the FGCAR existed, and some residential real estate brokers were falsely claiming to have commercial credentials. How was the FGCAR going to bring awareness of the organization to Tampa’s real estate market to help prevent the negative impact on the commercial market?
The FGCAR Found a Need…
Many municipalities saw themselves as professional planners and commercial developers in the real estate development of their city or county. This was creating delays as well as requiring additional paperwork and approval levels. These hurdles were leading to setbacks in commercial transactions as well as a commercial landscape that was heading toward stagnation. Corporate influencers, municipal leaders, real estate brokers, legislators, and affiliated professionals needed to recognize and rely on the FGCAR’s expertise and ability to make a difference in the commercial real estate sector of Tampa Bay.
…While They Faced Challenges
The real estate community and city planners in Tampa Bay was largely unaware of the FGCAR and the services it provided. In some cases, those who were aware would circumvent the organization, leading to delays and other issues. This vacuum meant the local market had a number of residential real estate professionals sometimes acting as commercial real estate brokers. In addition, some municipalities mistakenly believed that their code enforcement division was the equivalent of a commercial division. Both situations caused delays in closings, negative client experiences, and other issues that hampered growth.
…We Provided Disruptive Solutions…
With the FGCAR’s commercial real estate expertise, education, and resources being unique to the Tampa Bay area, we directed the organization to begin an awareness and educational campaign. Our approach would position the FGCAR as the only professional organization that city planners, along with real estate and affiliated professionals, needed to turn to for the right resources to foster successful commercial real estate development. To generate awareness, we targeted specific lower-tier industry-specific publications including local business journals as well as higher-tier media outlets, such as MarketWatch and Bloomberg.
Media Exposure Metrics
During their nine-month long campaign, the FGCAR achieved a total of 26 placements in precisely targeted media outlets including many industry-specific publications, podcasts, and radio shows.
This amounted to an exposure aggregate of 5,659,603 potential views within industry-specific business and real estate publications in addition to larger newspapers and business journals. Based on that aggregate and the expected industry standard of 2.5% for actual views, more than 141,490 of their targeted decision-makers (i.e. prospects) read or listened to these news stories.
Brian Andrus was featured in an article that appeared in Business Intelligence Info, which caters to professionals with an interest in Business Intelligence news and insight. He offered his expertise and predictions on the possible rate of shopping mall closings as a result of the rise of eCommerce.
WFLA 970 radio, with nearly 588,000 unique visitors a month in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Sarasota area, welcomed Brian Andrus on the show to offer his expertise-backed reassurance that there wasn’t a retail “apocalypse” actually happening at the time.
Architectural Digest, which targets sophisticated and affluent individuals interested in architecture and design, featured Brian Andrus representing the FGCAR in an article that asked real estate experts on the best land redevelopment strategies for abandoned malls. His advice to research the communities’ needs proved to be highly insightful for the local areas.
For every news story and interview, we positioned Brian Andrus as an authority on the state of commercial real estate in the U.S. with an emphasis on commercial property concerns in the Tampa Bay area. His media exposure propelled the FGCAR from being an unknown entity in commercial real estate to become the influence of being the commercial land development resource that city planners and local governments can rely on for expert guidance for their municipalities’ urban improvement and retail development needs.
…and the FGCAR Responded!
“I turned to JOTO PR Disruptors to give our organization a voice in our industry. The public relations strategy they created for us quickly garnered the attention of the media through targeted media relations. Within a 3-month period, our search engine results climbed dramatically, building the awareness and credibility they targeted. I highly recommend their talent.” ~Brian Andrus, President of the FGCAR
ABOUT THE FGCAR:
Established in November of 1993, the Florida Gulfcoast Commercial Association of Realtors® (FGCAR) is the lone commercial-only professional real estate board for licensed commercial real estate brokers and professional affiliates in the Tampa Bay region—an organization that is one of the only two in Florida and one of a handful nationwide. The mission of the Florida Gulfcoast Commercial Association of Realtors® is to provide the Tampa Bay region a source
of professional expertise and ethical accountability in the field of commercial real estate. The association offers continuing education as well as resources for all brokers and professionals engaged in commercial real estate transactions.