Published by Ian Lundahl on 05 Feb 2010
January was an interesting month with firms wasting no time introducing new products and advertising campaigns. There was a new contest from Fidelity, new products from American Express and AXA Equitable, a new statement design from Vanguard and upcoming statement changes announced from Barclays and Discover.
Published by Michael Ellison on 28 Apr 2009
Walking to work this morning, I saw an ad for Fidelity, which read something like, “Jobs change. Dreams don’t. Take control over your 401(k).” That resonated with me in the same way recent Schwab ads do, which I discussed here.
Published by Ian Lundahl on 09 Apr 2009
This past month, the term “March Madness” could just as easily have described the frenzy of activity within the financial services industry as it does the annual NCAA college basketball tournament. New investment ideas, online resources and marketing efforts highlighted an especially busy March.
Published by David Rosenberg on 25 Mar 2009
In response to unprecedented rough-and-tumble market conditions, Fidelity recently launched a new GPS (Guide to Personal Savings) program to promote the firm’s guidance services, as we highlighted in our recent e-Monitor Update. This includes a series of free investment seminars around the country, as well as increased focus on “do-it-yourself” online guidance tools. The program stresses Fidelity’s ability to help investors through all life stages - from early savings to retirement and beyond. Continue Reading »
Published by Michael Ellison on 05 Mar 2009
Have you seen the latest TV ads from Schwab? While they are technically similar to their older ads (using Rotoscoping - the animation of live actors), the message is astoundingly different and have tapped into a feeling that most people have likely not felt in a while: control.
Published by Nicole Cappiccille on 21 Oct 2008
Following recent observations about how firms have been less than transparent about their financial stability on their websites and through other means, it seems that some companies are taking a different, more clear approach in reassuring potential clients. Instead of sugar-coating the state of their corporation’s health, some firms are now reassuring clients that their money is safe because their accounts are FDIC-insured – not because the firm is somehow “different from all the rest” that went down, as many have recently claimed.
While clients may still feel anxious and uncertain about the future home of their finances, the knowledge that their money is secure and won’t completely disappear with a firm if it collapses provides at least some comfort during financially unstable times. Continue Reading »
Published by David Rosenberg on 03 Oct 2008
This week, we couldn’t help but think of the famous “Dewey Defeats Truman” photgraph from the 1948 presidential election. For those of you that may not be familiar, the famous photo depicts President Harry Truman holding up a newspaper with the erroneous headline declaring Thomas Dewey’s victory, when Truman actually ended up winning the election over Dewey. The newspaper publisher badly jumped the gun there. It was actually Wachovia that reminded us this week of that moment.
Published by Brian Nicoletti on 26 Sep 2008
When opening up my email this morning, I was greeted with a promotional email from WaMu advertising their high-yield Online Savings account as a way to save money for holiday shopping. The retail industry tends to roll out the holiday merchandise earlier and earlier each year, so it’s not really shocking that banks are following the “Christmas Creep.” But with most people still not even considering their Halloween costumes yet, it seems a little too early for customers to start making a list and checking it twice.
Needless to say, this email promotion coinciding with the announcement of the firm’s acquisition by JP Morgan wasn’t exactly perfect timing. The email must have been sent automatically but in light of the recent news, now might not be the best time to remind people that the holidays are “just around the corner.” Continue Reading »
Published by Michael Ellison on 12 Sep 2008
I spent the yesrterday at JFAM:Live, a conference for financial marketers put together by the folks at the Journal of Financial Advertising and Marketing. During the sessions, the topic of relevancy in advertising came up. In the ad world, relevancy, which could be considered the holy grail of advertising, is about getting the right ad in front of the right person at the right time. For example, if a high-net-worth person were in the market for a new convertible and saw an ad for the BMW 325i convertible just as he were thinking about test driving a car, this ad would be very relevant, and very effective. In the world of financial services, it might be presenting an ad for a rollover IRA to a person who is a week away from retiring. Of course, doing that consistently is very, very difficult. Indeed, knowing what your target audience is thinking, when they’re thinking it and being able to act on that seems, well, Orewellian (or at least Googlian). Continue Reading »
