Who: Mackenzie Investments, with Mosaic for creative and strategy, OMD for media.
What: “Why Mackenzie,” a new brand campaign for the investment management firm, which says it’s on a mission to “create a more invested world.”
When & Where: The campaign went live late last month and is running through the end of July. Aside from TV, it is heavy on targeted digital (online video and display), social and print.
Why: The campaign is the culmination of a two-year overhaul of the brand’s marketing, developed to connect the brand to a larger purpose of encouraging Canadians to invest in their financial futures.
Like almost everything else, it is shaped by the pandemic—which has seen a surge in people moving money from their financial investments into their savings accounts.
“You kind of scratch your head and go, ‘Hmm is that the best thing for the investor,'” said Leisha Roche, senior vice-president, head of marketing for Mackenzie Investments.
“What we know about Canadians is they are so highly invested in everything they do, in their life and their families and their relationships, but the number one thing that causes the greatest stress is their finances,” she said.
That insight sparked the idea at the heart of the campaign: “If we could just help Canadians be as invested in their investments as they were in the rest of their life, that’s pretty powerful.”
Can’t robots do that for us now? “That works for a certain segment, and for some type of investing. But when you’re thinking about your future…you absolutely need an advisor by your side to give you that advice,” said Roche. “We need to make sure that investors are more invested, and we need to help advisors with that.”
How: Roche wanted a campaign that avoided the typical financial services tropes of lifestyle imagery and messaging about how the brand can turn that idyllic imagery into reality. The ads employ a split-screen technique to convey the ideas of working together for the greater good, and how the right investments can help investors reach larger goals.
The 60-second launch ad takes time to provide context about the importance of investing. “Don’t think about the short term, think about the long term. Think about the potential that you have inside you already to realize some of your dreams,” said Roche. The brand isn’t revealed until almost halfway into the spot, when the messaging shifts to talk about Mackenzie’s mission to create a more invested world.
“It is not meant to be preachy in any way, it says ‘Here is what is happening, here is what we do. If you are looking for this, then we might just be the partner for you,'” she said. “It is not saying ‘Go Mackenzie! Buy our funds!’ It is done in a more conversational way because we may not be for everybody.”
Other campaign elements such as print (above right) also use the same creative approach to deliver the greater together message, the additive effects of working with Mackenzie, and the benefits of a more invested world.
It’s bigger than Mackenzie: This is a brand campaign for Mackenzie, but there’s a larger underlying message for the whole industry, said Roche. “The investment industry and other fund companies need to make sure that investors are more invested, and we need to help advisors with that so they feel supported,” she said. “Ultimately it’s just going to help everybody become better off from a financial standpoint… so it’s kind of a bigger rallying cry for the industry.”
