Behind the Lens with Backbone: Scaling Real Estate Visuals for Century 21
One of the real estate leader enabled agents nationwide with a fully integrated, on-demand marketing solution, which boosted listing quality, streamlined operations, and increased visual asset orders.
Seamless CRM integration for effortless agent adoption
Nationwide access to high-quality visuals, even in rural areas
A scalable solution that supported brand consistency across 200+ offices
+400%
Increase in visual orders in one year, growing from 116 in 2021 to 474 in 2022.
Company name
Century
Company size
1 000
Most used products
Photos
Presentation
1:08
The Challenge
Century 21 Germany, a major real estate franchise with over 20 years of market presence, faced a critical challenge — how could they enable their agents across Germany (including in rural and remote areas) to access high-quality property visuals reliably and at scale.
Their franchise model meant agents operated independently across geographically diverse regions, often without the resources or time to source local, professional photographers. This lack of consistency in visual content threatened to undermine the brand's premium positioning as well as the agents’ ability to win mandates and close deals quickly.
Key challenges included:
- Inconsistent visual quality across listings, affecting brand perception.
- Limited vendor access in remote or rural areas.
- Time-consuming manual processes for booking photographers and managing assets.
- Pressure to meet high customer expectations with fast, professional listing launches.
Century 21 needed a partner that could unify the visual experience across locations while integrating seamlessly into agents’ day-to-day operations.
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The solution
To meet these challenges, Century 21 partnered with Backbone, a real estate marketing software platform that specializes in accelerating the marketing process for every property in an agent’s portfolio.
Key aspects of the solution included:
- Custom CRM integration: Backbone developed a direct integration with Century 21’s internal platform, allowing agents to order visuals with just a few clicks.
- Nationwide photographer network: Backbone’s vetted network ensured availability even in hard-to-reach areas.
- Consistent quality standards: All deliverables — photos, floor plans, and virtual tours — were processed and edited to maintain brand alignment.
- Fast turnaround times: Digital delivery of visuals within 48 hours ensured listings could go live quickly.
The partnership enabled agents to focus on selling properties while Backbone handled all aspects of the visual production workflow, from booking to delivery.
The outcome
Since launching the collaboration in March 2021, Century 21 Germany has experienced significant operational and commercial benefits:
- +400% increase in visual orders in one year, reflecting rapid adoption and high satisfaction among agents.
- Improved listing performance, with properties presented more professionally, leading to faster sales cycles.
- Stronger agent enablement, allowing agents to compete more effectively and close deals at better price points.
- Brand consistency across Germany, regardless of location or agent size.
Backbone’s scalable and intuitive solutions have empowered Century 21 to uphold its premium brand promise and better serve its agents — turning visuals into a strategic competitive advantage.
“We decided to work with Backbone because we needed a partner that is not only active internationally, but who can also support our agents locally in any region.”
Christian Ammam
CEO, Century 21 Germany
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