For 20 years, StreetEasy has helped New Yorkers find homes. Now, the brand has launched a new campaign to mark the last two decades. Positioned as a love letter to NYC, ‘Be a Forever New Yorker’ hopes to inspire residents to think about why they love the city so much and ask them to stay.
The creative pairs vivid photography of older ‘forever New Yorkers’ living the dynamic and joyful lives they’ve built here, alongside bold, empowering declarations such as ‘Long live New York,’ ‘Be the only relative worth visiting,’ ‘Live where there’s no room to grow apart’ and ‘Make your NYC era last a lifetime.”’
The campaign invites the audience to envision its own future in the city that is full, vibrant and unapologetically New York, celebrating the energy and longevity of a life fully lived here.
“New York is often thought of as a city of renters, but StreetEasy data shows that one in five New Yorkers browse homes for sale while also searching for rentals. To us, that signals many already imagine a future here; they just aren’t sure how to make it last,” said Scott Sparks, principal brand strategist at StreetEasy. “Home buying here isn’t just a transaction, it’s a declaration: that New York isn’t something you age out of and that buying here is a way of committing to the life you want to keep living.”
The campaign was led by StreetEasy’s in-house brand marketing and creative team, in partnership with creative agency Mother New York. This is StreetEasy’s third partnership with Mother.
“Every day in New York, we pass incredible characters whom we admire because they’ve been shaped by this incredible city. From iconic institutions and world-class museums to hidden treasures just around the next corner, living here means our lives feel fuller than anywhere else,” said Evan Carpenter, group strategy director, Mother. “This campaign is an ode to those New York icons and a promise from StreetEasy that staying here means you, too, can grow old without ever growing bored.”
The campaign will roll out across digital and social channels, including Facebook, Instagram, Reddit, Pinterest, TikTok, online video, streaming audio (Spotify and Audacy) and CTV, as well as MTA subway cars and subway stations.
Additional out-of-home placements will roll out from March, with large-scale, hand-painted murals at Kent Avenue and Grand Avenue in Williamsburg, then Thompson Street and West Houston Street in SoHo in April.
