Established National Real Estate Franchise Brands
Depending on what criteria you use, and which survey you read, the three most recognizable real estate brands are Century 21, Coldwell Banker and RE/MAX.

RE/MAX probably has the clearest, least confusing brand of the three and is less confused for another industry than the other two. Many polls put Century 21 as the most unassisted, recognizable real estate brand while Coldwell Banker, because of a huge number of mergers and acquisitions, has created a significant number of large, high quality offices. It has maintained more consistency in its brand than the others.
Any way you look at it; these three companies have the best-established brands in real estate. They have invested 100 years for Coldwell Banker and 30 years for Century 21 and RE/MAX in building the value of their brand. There are of course many other strong and established real estate brands including ERA, Realty Executives, etc. However, according to research, the five strongest established real estate brands are:
Swanepoel Trends Report 2007: TOP 5 Established Real Estate Franchise Brands:
1. Coldwell Banker
2. RE/MAX
3. Century 21
4. Prudential
5. Keller Williams
Although franchising has by far been the single strongest catalyst in building a national brand, it has placed a damper on maintaining consistency. This is the result of most franchisees being independently owned and operated, together with the strong independent contractor nature of the industry.