Builder Lands TV Coup

In the San Francisco Bay area, one home builder has successfully positioned itself as a quality company with knowledgeable experts at the helm. Team members of Greenbriar Homes based in Fremont, Calif., are regularly interviewed by local press on a variety of topics of interest to prospective buyers. But perhaps the most notable expert is Carol Meyer, Greenbriar's chairman of the board. Meyer regularly writes copy in local publications for buyers and owners and appears monthly on a TV segment during "Bay Area Living with Sunset Magazine," seen on the local CBS affiliate.

Segments have included April's "Landscaping Do's and Don'ts," August's "What's Behind the Walls," and coming up in October, "Getting Your Home Ready for Winter with Carol Meyer." More than 11 million Bay Area viewers have seen Meyer's segments during the past year.

Meyer says she had built such a good relationship with members of the media over the years that when her agent approached the local TV channel about featuring Meyer on Bay Area Living, they were quick to agree. "It's a great opportunity to get our branding story out," says Meyer, and feels that she is seeing branding results: "We had one buyer recently tell us that he just had to live in a Greenbriar Home."

In 2003, GHC was rated the nation's best large home builder for Overall Quality in the 2003 Eliant Awards, based upon an Eliant survey of nearly 100,000 homebuyers.