Since the height of the “dot com” boom more than a decade ago, technology startups have invested hundreds of millions of dollars to hype their products at the ultimate marketing event: The Super Bowl. From herding cats to other memorable gimmicks have often been entertaining, even if many of the tech stars quickly burned out.

A Durham startup, SoloPro, is following in the footsteps of other startups, albeit in a less costly way.

Thursday evening, the company which is seeking to ‘revolutionize” the real estate industry by replacing percentage-based sales commissions with flat fees, unveiled a slickly produced TV commercial on Raleigh’s WRAL TV. CEO and founder Tommy Sowers deliberately chose to kick off a multi-media campaign within a WRAL Super Bowl 50 special.

“This time of year is also when many people are considering moving and are in the market to both buy and sell,” Sowers explained.

“Our main purpose is to increase awareness in the market.”

There’s much more than the TV spot.

“​This is a multi-channel buy across the Triangle,” Sowers said “This will also include cable and digital buys.​”

Asked why invest so heavily in TV advertising, Sowers pointed out that “Buying a home is a considered purchase.” And he noted that in his previous experiences “I’ve seen the power of television.”

A former veteran and government administrator, Sowers acknowledged that the “six-figure” buy is an expensive one for a new company. SoloPro is backed by $1.7 million (CBC, the parent corporation of WRAL TechWire, is among the investors.)

“​It is, but this was a very considered and smart pu​rchase,” Sowers said.

“The conventional strategy for a technology startup is to only advertise online. When I ran for Congress and as Assistant Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, I witnessed the power of television to tell a story an entire community. We are excited to get the word out to home buyers and sellers across the Triangle.”

Fast growth helped justify the expense.

“​The company has grown faster than our projections,” he pointed out. “With over 800 agents in 36 states, our network is bigger than RedFin.” (Seattle-based RedFin launched in 2004 offers discounted commissions on sales.)

SoloPro’s mission is to “revolutionize” the home buying business, Sowers said.

“Our model blows up the traditional commission real estate model. We felt it was only appropriate for our first television commercial to do the same thing.”

Looking ahead to the remainder of 2016, Sowers is confident, adding that “​We’ll likely raise additional funding later in the year.”

Based at the American Underground. SoloPro current uas eight full-time employees – and the help wanted sign is out.

“I’m always looking for talent, especially now in sales, marketing and front end development,” he said.

Interested? Contact Sowers via email: (tommy@solopro.com)​