this is long...sorry!!
Hey Wylie!!!
Great questions!! - complicated answers but i'll try and do it without prejudice or sounding like a complete idiot.
There are two schools of thought here. I'll give them both and post my personal opinions at the bottom.
School of thought number 1...(all house and very small agent details)
The theory behind this is that the property will sell itself when presented in a large clear advertisement and that given the owner is paying for it, the property should get maximum exposure. The theory is sound in that research indicates the bigger the ad, the better response you will get and the better sale prices achieved (bad news for those who skimp on marketing). This method of advertising is especially good where the home is very photogenic and/or is unique... again, it sells itself. These ads work very well when the agency has a whole page (or large part thereof) booked for numerous ads as there will be banner ad with the agency name and all it requires is the agents name and number under the respective properties. What it can be argued to show is that the agent gets their profile from how good a job they do at inspections etc. and the home gets all the profile from the ads.
School of thought number 2...(prominent agents details and s head shot)
This school of thought is promoted a lot by prominent agents and works on a couple of levels. Very well known agents DO attract buyers. If i was to ask you the names of the agents in your area, how many could you name (wylie i know you know most of them - general statement to other readers). Once you have the names, think of why you know them - you see there names and faces EVERYWHERE...on signs, on bus stops in the paper under homes they are selling, in their own profile ads etc etc. Hiring an agent with a high profile can be a good move (unfortunately some of them also suck - got too big for their boots) as people naturally flock to those who have the biggest business as there is the appearance of success. High profile agents also have a quasi-celebrity in their patch and folks love to go through their opens because they can (sad, but true, i've seen it with some nthside agents). The thought is also that for buyers, there is a familiarity with being able to look at the ad in the paper see the agents face and then know what the agent looks like as you meet them at the property (good with stupid agents who wont introduce themselves properly or who don't stand out in a busy open home - buyers will often walk if there is the impression the agent isn't in control at an open and makes the point to talk to them - bad if you're the seller).
Now for my personal opinion - and i will no doubt get queried more about this. IF your advertisement is one of many on a page booked out by one agent i have no drama with position one as it will stand out and promote the property to the best when just a name and number is there and all the other agency details are in a header banner etc. If however your ad is a one or two off in a page of other agency ads, then there can be a benefit to a headshot (though a 3rd of the ad is ridiculous) as its adds that human factor and agents profile to the ad to aid in marketing - we do this on occasion as our area has 5 different quest newspapers in it so our properties are scattered across all five depending on suburb etc. Saying that, we also run larger ads regularly and do it as per position one when filling up a page (or even half page) in one paper.
I believe that if the agent has a profile of any sort it does help to have the picture in the ad for the reasons mentioned above - but not so that it takes up large amounts of it.
on the flip side - i also believe that it is the clients money and i will follow the clients wishes - if they don't want my mug on there - then it doesn't happen and i have no drama with that!!!
I have seen some local agencies get very cheeky of late - one very well known north west agent has gone so far as making her ad block very prominent with her agency and face and has some very small property pics. Quest papers divide their pages into 16 "units"...one unit is the size of a standard box (or picture) ad - this agent books out a 3 unit vertical column, has her details and face in one unit and squeezes half a dozen pics in the remaining space - This in my opinion is not on...
So, to specifically answer your question - It's your ad and if you don't like it - take the agent to task over it - they cannot market without your permission or approval - so enforce that and make your expectations and wishes clear - then bounce them from on high if they don't perform. In this industry we often have only one chance to do things right and if we bugger it up, then you lose the opportunity - if you make it work - it returns to you many times over in referrals and happy clients...
our mission statement is "creating clients for life through the finest of service" - you can't do that when your busy disrespecting your clients wishes.
So, in short, its your ad - you choose...and if the agent can't give you good enough reasons to go to the contrary - then they should do it your way - or you lose them??!!
again though - there can be benefit to some agency profile in and ad - just not so much that it takes away from the purpose of the ad in the first place.
hope this answers it for you - sorry about the length!!
cheers
UC