IShares, a provider of exchange-traded funds, launched a campaign on April 19 to raise awareness of its brand among investors. Created with McCann Erickson and MRM Worldwide in San Francisco, the push incorporates digital, mobile and television components. It is the company’s first marketing effort since BlackRock acquired the firm last December.
Digital components, including banner ads on business Web sites such as The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s and Yahoo Finance, will launch April 22. Television spots, which first aired on CNBC, Fox News and Bloomberg on April 19, will be available in longer forms at a campaign microsite. The creative features the tagline “Keep evolving,” a reference to the fluid nature of the funds.
“We’re going to be presenting a number of innovations, new technologies and new ideas that are driving business now,” said Bob Ellis, GM of McCann Erickson San Francisco. “We’re tracking companies on the cutting edge of innovation, and [exchange traded funds] are in their own right innovative. We’re also going to drill down on an educational level to tell how to apply those strategies to your clients.”
IShares will target its customer database with “Keep evolving” e-mail and digital messaging in coming months as it releases new products.
“There’s going to be various relationship marketing elements rolling out that will correspond with certain product launches,” Ellis said. “These will include information kits driving to tools on the Web site. There will be a lot of digital media reminding [prospects] of that.”
The campaign will also include mobile components. IShares is sponsoring The Wall Street Journal‘s iPad edition, as well as the Web site’s exchange-traded funds center, which will be optimized for mobile this month. Mobile agency Ansible, which like McCann is owned by Interpublic Group, created the mobile site.
“Our guys are BlackBerry guys, and we’re trying to make the mobile experience as rich as possible” while keeping regulatory concerns in mind, Ellis said.
IShares hired McCann and MRM last November.
