So it’s true that estate agents aren’t known for their retiring, wallflowery nature. But London chain James Pendleton really could show you a thing or two about self-confidence.

If you haven’t come across their WE WIN AGAIN tag line, you can get a rough idea of its effect by imagining how you might celebrate a defeat of an alien invasion: 60-foot letters scorched into a crop field. What (presumably) began as a celebration of their board-sweeping at The Sunday Times Agency Of The Year has now become their full-time slogan, their strap line.

James Pendleton are actually good agents – this is not a dig at their service. I used them recently and found them professional and friendly with an impressive portfolio. They also seem to put a lot of effort into the idea of local knowledge; staff members even post their own blogs on the company website.

Which makes it even more of a shame that somebody OK-ed this air horn marketing. It’s like they sank the Red Bull, switched on the self esteem tape, inhaled a copywriting guide and went with their first idea.

5 head-scratching JP marketing strategies

• In 2011, to herald the opening of a property management office, a 1.5 metre portrait of “Rachel” (a blond Mariah Carey-esque employee) filled the window. At the moment, “Kelly” graces their A-boards. “Have you met Kelly?” it says. I haven’t, but if I went into their office asking to do so, it would probably be weird.
• Email signatures: the tag line plus data-hogging images of all their awards. Fine in theory, but it’s three times bigger than the email content.
• Ads, with tag line, across every ticket gate of a local tube station. Sure to lift the spirits of any early morning commute.
• A variation found in-office: “WE LIVE HERE” in neon-bordered signage. It’s meant to reflect their ethos of employing people who live in the area, and so have more local knowledge. But instead it implies that they live there, in the office, drying their pants on the radiator.
• Marketing materials invite you to “Search James Pendleton Awards online”. Let me run home and get right on that. Instead, how about “Homes let this week: 174″, or “Average properties shown to find the perfect home: 5″?

So, as potential customers, how do we respond to this? Every time I see those big white words (on average, six times a day) I feel like I’m being shouted into submission in an argument I didn’t start. But in terms of marketing, does it work? Maybe it does. I remember being so amused/horrified by the campaign that I couldn’t help wanting to test them out.

It’s a bold approach, in that they seem unperturbed by many people’s image of estate agents as super-competitive money grabbers. Personally, in a property search, I’m looking for someone who’ll hold my hand, find me the cosiest possible rooms for my budget and tell me everything’s going to be OK.

I think it’s more a question of responsible advertising, being mindful of your company’s aesthetic impact. As a business which prides itself on loving its locale, how much of it are they prepared to claim?