Most effective use of advertising in business or professional publications – Winner

Most effective use of advertising in business or professional publications

Winner: Norwich Union

Agency: AGA

Campaign: Bred for Success

 

The campaign targeted intermediaries ranging from very small to large networks. Such an audience was known to be highly cynical about marketing communications so the campaign needed to be immediately compelling to reverse existing perceptions and the wall of prejudice.

To combat traditional preconceptions Norwich Union constructed a fund strategy based upon ‘best of breed’. The strategy combined some of the leading products and fund managers in the industry under the campaign banner ‘Bred for Success’. For more than 20 years Steve Bloom has been recognised as one of the world’s leading wildlife photographers. The use of animals ensured that the campaign had the maximum appeal while Bloom’s work added visual stature to the campaign and provided dramatic and eye-catching imagery to the advertising.

Each animal was chosen for a particularly outstanding quality which was then matched with an appropriate offering. The differences between the products, as represented by the animals, became strikingly obvious and the reasons to recommend them graphically dramatised. The analogies between the dominant qualities of powerful and attractive animals and the various product offerings also ensured that the key messages of the campaign were easily understood.

For example, the image of a cheetah chosen for its speed and agility was linked with the Norwich Union UK Special Situations Fund with the strap line ‘bringing together agile minds’. An eagle, with the connotation of eagle-eyed, emphasised that the UK Equity Income Fund was managed by those with an experienced eye. A bull elephant offered a powerful approach to investment, while other animals included a rhinoceros denoting dominance and presence, giraffes explaining that ISA expertise was within easy reach and a pride of lions emphasising that the group of investment funds available belonged to a powerful family. The campaign covered Norwich Union products Global Property Fund, UK Special Situations Fund, UK Growth and Value Fund and UK Equity Income Fund.

A total budget of £350,000 was allocated, £60,000 of which was for the creative. The timing of the campaign was crucial as the two months before the end of the fiscal year is the key season for buying ISAs. Consequently it ran throughout February 2007 to April 2007. 

The campaign ran in trade press titles which were deemed most appropriate for the target audience; intermediaries use it to increase their awareness of market offerings and their knowledge of investment products. Full page advertising was taken in titles such as Money Marketing, Investment Advisor, Investment Week, Funds Strategy, New Model Advisor and CityWire Funds Insider in conjunction with web banners.

Client confidentiality forbade the disclosure of specific results, but Norwich Union was very pleased with the outcome. The campaign provided some of the most dramatic advertising ever seen for investment funds. So successful was it that Fiona Simpson, marketing manager of Norwich Union Collective Investments commented,  “The campaign has made a substantial and critical impact to our intermediary perceptions within the ISA season and has provided the platform from which we will move the business forward.”

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