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Realogy, parent of Century 21 and Coldwell Banker, is relaunching the Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate brand after working out a deal with Meredith Publishing. The Better Homes name is still recognized as a leading real estate brand even after the company was bought out and rebranded by GMAC.

Now Realogy is placing the bet that people will remember the old name fondly and decide that Better Homes and Gardens is a trusted brand in the buying and selling of homes.

The terms of the deal that I like the best is that Realogy will have access to the Better Homes and Gardens database of 85 million names for marketing purposes. A sophisticated campaign using this information should lead to a successful relaunch of the classic brand and if done well provide great targeting information so that the marketing dollars can be well utilized.

Realogy, Parsippany, N.J., said it has reached a 50-year agreement to license the Better Homes and Gardens brand name from Meredith Corp., a publisher in Des Moines, Iowa, that produces the magazine of the same name. Terms weren’t disclosed.
Realogy, owned by the private-equity firm Apollo Management LP, intends to seek franchisees for the Better Homes real-estate brand nationwide and expects that offices under that name will begin opening in mid-2008.
The plan marks a return of a brand well-known in the real-estate industry from 1978, when Meredith created a Better Homes brokerage chain, until the late 1990s, when General Motors Acceptance Corp., then a unit of General Motors Corp., acquired the chain and changed the name to GMAC Real Estate.
The Better Homes brand, resting on the wholesome reputation of a magazine that dates back to 1924, is attractive because it is “so deeply tied to the concept of owning and improving one’s home,” Realogy said. via WSJ.com.

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