Century 21 Real Estate

Century 21 Real Estate LLC
Company type	Subsidiary
Industry	Real estate
Founded	1971; 53 years ago, in California, U.S.
Founders	Art Bartlett; Marsh Fisher; George Sofokleous
Headquarters	Madison, New Jersey, U.S.
Number of locations	86 countries and territories
Key people	Michael Miedler (president and CEO)
Number of employees	147,000
Parent	Anywhere Real Estate
Website	www.century21.com

Century 21 Real Estate LLC is an American real estate agent franchise company founded in 1971. The system consists of approximately 14,000 independently owned and operated franchised broker offices in 86 countries and territories worldwide with over 147,000 sales professionals.^[2] Century 21 Real Estate is headquartered in Madison, New Jersey.^[3]

History

Century 21 Real Estate (Century 21) was founded in 1971 by two real estate agents, Art Bartlett and Marsh Fisher, in Orange County, California.^[4]

Here Bartlett reveals how they decided on the name:

We were brainstorming at lunch one day - my former VP and I - and I said the name had to sound like it had been around for a long time. [...] My former VP suggested 20th Century Realty. I thought it would be impossible to get the name registered. He said 21st Realty, but I didn't like that. He then said, "How about Century 21?" I liked it, though it sounded futuristic. [...] I called Marsh and told him, but he thought it was too futuristic. He wanted Green Valley. Well, we finally agreed on Century 21, and we incorporated the company.
— Art Bartlett^[5]

Century 21 was acquired by Trans World Corporation in 1979, when Trans World Corporation decided to focus on hospitality and housing. In 1985, MetLife acquired Century 21 from Trans World Corporation.^[6]^[7] When MetLife decided to leave the housing business, Century 21 was sold to Hospitality Franchise Systems (later Cendant) in 1995.^[8] When Cendant split in 2006, Century 21 became part of Realogy, now Anywhere Real Estate.

2018 Rebrand

In March of 2018, Century 21 Real Estate introduced a comprehensive rebranding campaign to modernize its image and address industry complacency. The initiative introduced a new logo with a refined gold and black color scheme in an effort to maintain relevance to consumers, while retaining their wide-scale brand recognition and appeal.^[9]

CENTURY 21 "Gold Seal" logo introduced in 2018.

Century 21's rebranding campaign prominently featured the term "relentless" to underscore their commitment to exceptional service. This theme was integrated across various platforms, including a partnership with ESPN that highlighted "relentless moments" in sports, aligning the brand with the "pursuit of excellence". The company aimed to position itself as a "challenger brand" with a "relentless mindset," encouraging agents to consistently exceed client expectations.^[10]

The Joy of Home Campaign

In November 2024, Century 21 Real Estate launched "The Joy of Home," a global marketing campaign and the most significant update to the brand since its 2018 rebrand. Century 21 cited shifts in consumer decision making towards community and connection as motivators behind the campaign, which features "more humanized" messaging and visual media.^[11]

The campaign's direction was said to be influenced by industry-wide changes resulting from the NAR Settlement in March 2024, which enacted several changes involving buyer agent compensation, mandatory written buyer representation agreements, and increased transparency in real estate transactions.^[12]