Offers practical information, examples, and thought-provoking tips that provide ideas and insights that enable financial services professionals to improve their own marketing approaches and achieve ambitious marketing goals. This book includes examples drawn from basic marketing approaches and successful consumer marketing.

Preface xv Foreword The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same xviiby Ken Dolan Introduction xxiThe Professional’s Guide to Financial Services Marketing offers a different perspective on some basic marketing approaches and explores marketing concepts that are often overlooked by financial services practitioners. I Creating an Extraordinarily Effective Marketing Organization 1 1 Getting Started 3Marketing is integral to almost every activity that takes place both before and after the sale is made. Therefore, it is important to recognize the differences between sales and marketing, as well as those between marketing strategy and marketing tactics. 2 A Marketing Pop Quiz 7To keep pace in today’s highly competitive financial services environment, firms must abandon the status quo and transform their organizations. 3 A Marketing Compass 11The most successful financial firms will be those who become early adopters of sophisticated marketing approaches. 4 Seeking the Outstanding Marketing Director 15As a voice of opportunity and the champion of the unconventional, the marketing director’s position has grown in corporate importance and stature. II Strategic Planning 19 5 Strategic Strategy 21Properly conceived and executed, marketing strategy can provide the framework that can help an organization focus its organizational capabilities, talent and energy on those initiatives that will create competitive advantage. 6 The Starting Point 25A clear business definition facilitates the planning process by guiding corporate decisions concerning target markets, product offerings and appropriate marketing activities. 7 You Can Plan on It 29The marketing planning process provides an organization with the opportunity to set goals and plot a course that will help it achieve a differentiated market leadership position. 8 The Best Laid Plans 33A well-crafted marketing plan can serve as a roadmap for management’s efforts to favorably position the organization and its product/service offerings. 9 A Mission Possible 37‘‘What businesses are we in?’’ How management answers this question can have a significant impact on the company’s ultimate success. 10 What’s the Big Idea? 41Every now and then a major marketing idea comes along that revolutionizes the way that marketers approach their craft. The most influential have a significant impact that lasts for decades. 11 New and Improved 45Success, in the form of rapid growth and high margins, comes most often to those organizations that understand the value of innovation and look beyond current competitive practices. 12 In the Beginning 49A knowledge and understanding of common product launch pitfalls can help marketers prevent financial product and service failures. 13 I Have an Idea 53Financial services organizations are increasingly dependent on creative marketing ideas to achieve visibility and competitive differentiation in a cluttered marketplace. 14 Become a Marketing Hero 57It’s not difficult to be a marketing hero when offerings are well received in the marketplace. The real challenge for most marketers is to find a way to ‘‘save the day’’ when there is a difficult sales situation. III Tactical Implementation 61 15 Brand Aid 63A strong brand communicates a corporate value proposition that helps a company create relevant marketplace differentiation and competitive advantage. It can also help to significantly accelerate the sales process. 16 Branding: Step One 67Naming is the important first step in the branding process. The right name can play an important role in creating a strong emotional connection with the target market. 17 Write Right 71Hard-working copy should get attention, relate to the target market, intrigue the reader, focus on the product or services’ superiority, create a desire and provide a call to action. 18 The Color of Marketing 75Astute marketers understand that color can play an extremely important role in helping a company both express its positioning and corporate purpose, and influence market perceptions and attitudes. 19 Did You Get My Message? 79Shaping marketplace perceptions through effective messaging can provide differentiation to largely undifferentiated products. 20 Big Bucks 83The HNW market holds untapped opportunities for those financial services marketers who are ready to abandon long-held misconceptions about the affluent and focus resources on under-prospected niche segments. 21 Unite and Conquer: Strength in Collaboration 87Since traditional organizational structures often lack the resources to support expanded business models, companies must devise creative new solutions. 22 A Tale of Two Categories 91The Pareto Principle stands as a continual reminder to focus 80 percent of your efforts on the 20 percent of issues that will achieve 80 percent of your results. 23 How Do You Measure Up? 95Effective marketing measurement—like marketing itself—is an ongoing process that is both an art and a science. This area is in its formative stages, but promises to be a significant future trend. IV Promotion 99 24 The Secret of Successful Advertising 101While most advertising messages get lost in the clutter and fail to accomplish their objectives, astute marketers know the secrets to creating advertising that attracts attention and gets results. 25 Us vs. Them 105In the proper situation, targeted comparative advertising can provide a powerful centrepiece for a financial services organization’s marketing campaign. 26 Speak Up 109Creatively conceived and effectively executed, campaigns utilizing a corporate spokesperson can take an organization one step further in its quest to effectively deliver its marketing messages. 27 Let Your Fingers Do the Walking 113Even in this age of information and advanced communications, the ‘‘Yellow Pages’’ continue to be an important initial touch point for marketing financial products and services. 28 What It Takes to Be Well Connected 117Creative use of new IVR technology has the potential to significantly and cost-effectively improve communications in brokerage, insurance, mutual fund and banking arenas. 29 Start Spreading the News 121A well planned and effectively orchestrated public relations program can help establish and maintain goodwill and mutual understanding between a financial services organization and its various constituencies. 30 Best in Show 125Trade shows can be a meaningful part of a company’s marketing efforts or a significant waste of time and money—the difference lies in careful planning and judicious resource management. 31 Just Cause 129Cause marketing offers an excellent opportunity to generate awareness and goodwill while enhancing corporate image and promoting a sense of corporate integrity. 32 Go Ahead, Judge That Book by Its Cover 133Naming a new venture, product or service can be one of an organization’s most important marketing decisions. V Effective Sales Support 137 33 Experience Counts 139By creating a customized interactive marketing program that is meaningful to prospects and customers, a firm can create relevant differentiation and strong competitive advantage. 34 Going Up 143With a little planning and creative marketing, you can prepare your entire organization to effectively represent your organization and provide unconventional sales support. 35 Mobilizing an Effective Salesforce 147A well structured referral program can help an organization cut through marketplace clutter and accelerate prospects’ decision-making. VI Supporting Strategic Decision Making 151 36 Slice and Dice 153An effective market segmentation strategy can also significantly help increase sales and improve overall market performance. 37 Turning Market Information into Marketing Insights 157Focused market intelligence can help marketers deliver the right products and services to the right target markets using the right messaging. 38 I Know Where You’re Coming From 161Influences that occur in individuals’ formative years establish a common generational value system that can be more meaningful than mere demographics. 39 Getting the Right Marketing Answers 165The right research approaches enable you to get meaningful answers to marketing research inquiries by working smarter rather than harder. 40 Giving Them What They Want 169Organizations need to make effective use of market research applications in order to become attuned to the needs of the marketplace. 41 Some Trendy Thoughts 173Effective planning enables an organization to anticipate trends and make decisions based on an understanding of future circumstances, rather than those of the past or present. 42 Check It Out 177An effective benchmarking program can make valuable contributions and trigger ongoing improvements throughout an organization. 43 Know Thy Neighbor 181Financial services organizations that are tuned in to the competition can avoid unpleasant surprises. 44 Focus Groups: Is There a Financial Fit? 187While focus groups are quite applicable in the retail sector, financial marketers need a more sensitive, personalized approach. VII Promotion in the Internet Age 19145 A Brave New World 193The Internet has drastically changed the face of financial services marketing, introducing new communications opportunities and challenges alike. 46 Searching for the Answer? Maybe the Answer Is Search 197Any financial services organization that wants to drive traffic to its web site must ensure that it appears in the first few pages of search results. 47 Cashing In on Clicks 201Paid search can revolutionize your marketing effort, but careful program design and planning are prerequisites for search engine success. 48 The Domain Name Game 205A domain name that reflects a company’s brand attributes and value propositions is an important corporate asset that should be carefully chosen and protected. 49 Plug into Directed Marketing 209Directed marketing combines tried and true direct mail principles with new techniques that enable marketers to interrelate with an electronically connected world. VIII Strategies for Long-Term Success 213 50 Follow Me 215In the commoditized financial services business, a company’s future can depend on management’s willingness to invest resources to conceive and implement an effective strategy to achieve market leadership. 51 Good, Better, Best! 219A program structured to share corporate knowledge can be one of the fastest and most effective ways to achieve organizational improvements. 52 Be Prepared 223It is critical that every financial services organization be constantly prepared to respond to a crisis in a way that will preserve credibility. 53 An Older Subject 227To achieve success in the senior marketplace an organization must be willing to make seniors a meaningful part of its focus. 54 Bringing Order to the Meeting 231An organization should encourage key interfunctional representatives to work as an effective team in order to foster productive communications and solid decision making. 55 And They Lived Happily Ever After 235Effective post-merger integration focuses on ensuring that newly formed companies are not only bigger, but better, than before. 56 Putting Humpty Together Again 239Companies that respond appropriately to challenges will survive. Companies that anticipate change and develop appropriate strategies to manage will thrive. 57 Counting Dollars and Making Dollars Count 243Focused research and well-crafted marketing messages enable a company to communicate value propositions commensurate with their pricing. Afterword 247 About the Author 251 Notes 253

"In financial services marketing, Jay Nagdeman is the expert. He has helped scores of leading financial firms reach and then exceed their goals. And now he has assembled his insights in The Professional's Guide to Financial Services Marketing—a must-read for any executive with bottom-line responsibility at an asset management company, insurer or securities firm. This volume is destined to become a permanent reference tool for the industry." —Evan Cooper, Senior Managing Editor, InvestmentNews "Jay Nagdeman is one of the financial industry's most innovative marketing minds. The time I spent reading The Professional's Guide to Financial Services Marketing was well rewarded with fresh insights that I look forward to successfully employing. His bite-sized approach makes this cornucopia of marketing concepts and ideas not only digestible, but an absolute pleasure to read. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in discovering both what is new and what is timelessly true in financial services marketing." —Gil Weinreich, Editor, Research magazine "Owning this book provides you with 24/7 access to some of the industry's most successful and innovative marketing thinking. It contains illustrations and vignettes taken from real-life marketing successes and failures. It also provides ideas that could help you turn successful consumer product marketing techniques into customized financial product marketing approaches. It can serve as a mentor, a resource, a reference tool or simply a compelling look at some often overlooked and misunderstood marketing approaches." —Ken Dolan, Chairman, The Dolan Group of Companies