The year 2025 marks the 10th anniversary of Apartments.com’s iconic “The Place to Find a Place” advertising campaign featuring Jeff Goldblum as Brad Bellflower. Over the last decade, the fictitious tech visionary of Apartments.com (or as he calls it, the “Apartminternet”) has taken us on a whimsical journey through the futuristic world of the rental search platform, while transforming the unknown brand into a category leader.
Ten years ago, CoStar Group laid out big plans for Apartments.com: to rise above the fragmented and undifferentiated field of rental listing services and become the go-to platform for renters nationwide. At the time, the category had no clear brand leader — most renters came across listings through generic Google searches. Apartments.com was relatively unknown, trailing its biggest competitor, Craigslist, by 19 points in unaided awareness. The goal was to make Apartments.com a brand renters would instantly recognize, trust, and turn to at the start of their search.
We needed to build a brand that was both unique and consistent — one that would break through, get attention, and raise broad awareness. To achieve this, Apartments.com and RPA, as their agency of record, stays true to four core elements that continue to drive long-term success:
- Consistent and differentiating brand iconography: the futuristic Apartments.com HQ world, eccentric spokescharacter Brad Bellflower (Jeff Goldblum), and recognizable brand colors.
- A distinctive quirky, humorous, and satirical brand voice that stands out in the category.
- Relatable and entertaining stories that highlight the benefits of site features for renters.
- A brand perception of innovation, playing off big tech news and culture, and sci-fi storylines, to keep the “Apartminternet” at the forefront.
The distinctiveness, creativity, consistency, and sound strategy of the campaign have led to tremendous success, both in marketing metrics and real-world business results. Since the beginning of the campaign, unaided awareness has grown by 476%, site visits and qualified leads have increased by 17% and 14% year-over-year on average, and revenue has risen an astounding 976% since launch — topping $1 billion in 2024. The Apartments.com brand has gone from being lost in a sea of sameness to becoming a household name and the #1 brand renters think of. In recognition of this long-term impact, the campaign was honored in 2025 with one of the most respected awards in advertising — a Gold Effie Award for Sustained Success.
Apartments.com: Celebrating 10 years in 10 memorable moments.
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