Several months ago, Baltimore-Washington Financial Advisors Inc. surveyed the competitive landscape and decided it was time to make a change.
Several months ago, Baltimore-Washington Financial Advisors Inc. surveyed the competitive landscape and decided it was time to make a change.
"We realized that being known in the market as an independent, fee-only, objective financial planner was not enough," said Scot Millen, director of client services for the Columbia, Md.-based firm. "We want to highlight what makes us distinctive."
The resulting redesign of Baltimore-Washington's website with new graphics, text and video clips is the first step in the firm's rebranding campaign.
"We're now emphasizing the fact that we're dedicated financial planners with specialties in tax planning and investment managing and that we primarily service the local community," Mr. Millen said.
Baltimore-Washington's marketing campaign is part of a growing trend around the country, according to Catherine Savello, chief operating officer of Savello Group Inc., a Las Vegas-based marketing firm.
PENT-UP DEMAND
"We're seeing tremendous demand from smaller advisory firms who need marketing and branding services. Competition out there is so fierce for these firms that if they're not recognized in their market, people are just not going to go to them. Even small firms need to create an identity today," Ms. Savello said.
Until earlier this year she had been director of marketing for Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. of Springfield, Mass., but she launched Savello Group earlier this month with her sister, Denise Savello, to take advantage of the pent-up demand for marketing services from local advisers.
Even a firm as well known as L.J. Altfest & Co. Inc. of New York is launching a marketing campaign and looking for a marketing company to work with.
"People are confused when it comes to financial services," said Karen Altfest, vice president of the firm. "We're celebrating our 25th anniversary this year, and we decided we want to strengthen our brand and clarify what we do. We want to let consumers know that we will help them take care of their financial planning and investment management needs and help them achieve the lifestyle that's right for them."
Altfest & Co. is redesigning its marketing materials and threw itself a 25th anniversary party at the New-York Historical Society last week. It plans to embark on a full-fledged branding campaign this fall, Ms. Altfest said.
In the suburban Chicago market, Balasa Dinverno & Foltz LLC has also launched a marketing campaign targeting medical professionals, small business owners and high-net-worth women.
"A lot of firms are now calling themselves fee-only comprehensive wealth managers," said John Smith, a wealth manager with Balasa of Itasca, Ill. "We realized it was no longer a differentiator, and we wanted to rebrand ourselves in a concentrated fashion."
To date, the firm has taken a grassroots approach, Mr. Smith said, concentrating on "centers of influence" such as clients, local hospitals and area professionals.
"Building personal relationships is a much more effective tactic for us," Mr. Smith said. "It doesn't make sense for a firm like ours to blast things out using mass media like a Merrill Lynch can."
Also taking a grassroots approach is Robert Bollenbacher, a sole practitioner who owns Bollenbacher Financial Services in Liberty Township, Ohio.
On the advice of a business coach, Mr. Bollenbacher said he has begun to woo prospective clients by taking them to Ohio State University football games in Columbus, to Cincinnati Reds baseball games and on a riverboat cruise on the Ohio River. He has also begun a direct mailing campaign to prospective customers and paid $500 to hang a banner advertising his firm in a local high school gymnasium.
So far, prospective clients have been impressed, Mr. Bollenbacher said. "It's too early to gauge the results on the bottom line," he said, "but I think I'm scoring brownie points for the future."
Advisory firms are also taking advantage of new media technology for their marketing campaigns.
"The ability to build brand awareness is quicker and easier than ever. It's being driven by the Internet and other new media such as social networking technologies, blogging and text messaging. To build a brand in the old days, you had to spend a lot of money over many years. Now anybody can do it," said Dave Swanson, principal of SwanDog Strategic Marketing LLC, a Warrenville, Ill.-based firm that works with financial services companies.
In addition to redesigning its website, for example, Baltimore-Washington Financial Advisors also plans to use LinkedIn, an online business-oriented social networking service from Mountain View, Calif.-based LinkedIn Corp.
REBRANDED ITS WEBSITE
Frye Financial Center, an independent boutique wealth-management firm in Aventura, Fla., is rebranding its website as part of a marketing campaign.
The firm hired a full-time marketing manager earlier this year "after realizing that some higher-net-worth prospects were choosing the large brokerages or banks over us," said owner Austin Frye.
To stress the firm's strengths, he launched a "best of both worlds" campaign emphasizing the firm's independence and personal service as well as its affiliation with LPL Financial of Boston.
In addition to the website, the firm's newsletter, press releases and local newspaper column are all being rebranded with the LPL logo, Mr. Frye said. LPL signs are now also prominently displayed on the firm's office building and in its waiting room. The firm's conference room has been refurnished, and presentation materials given to prospective clients now include the "best of both worlds" pitch, he said.
So far, feedback has been positive, Mr. Frye said. "Clients tell us they love being treated like big fish in a small exclusive pond rather than getting lost and neglected in a larger firm. That is exactly the feeling we were hoping to instill with this new marketing and branding approach."
E-mail Charles Paikert at cpaikert@investmentnews.com.
