Financial Services

Marketing - Brand Development

Situation

YieldQuest Investment Group, an Atlanta-based company serving financial advisors, offers a specific service to a finite target audience - one, which is served by a number of competitors. In addition, in an industry that is increasingly fragmented, YieldQuest (YQ) found it difficult to communicate its core strengths and benefits to potential clients seeking bond and equity solutions for high net worth investors. As a result, the company executives found after an initial year of success, the company needed to solidify its identity in order to differentiate itself.

Challenge

In addition to having the challenge of targeting and communicating to YQ's core audience, the company's top-level executives also wanted to implement a marketing solution that could be used across other business units without major redesign efforts and marketing costs.

Another challenge was the possible media response to the kit's inclusion of Pop-Tarts and kid-friendly cereals, in that they are perceived to have too much sugar and calories, and lack nutritional value.

c21 Solution

c21 partnered with designers to develop a branding strategy for YQ and its future lines of business, including YQ Advisors, YQ Securities and YQ Mutual Funds. We reviewed the company's expansion plans and conducted an audit of all existing marketing materials. The company had done limited marketing outreach, and as a result, we developed and implemented a full-blown marketing plan.

We recommended a phased marketing approach, beginning with a logo refresh for YQ Investment Group. The refresh resulted in a more modern take on the company's signature symbol, the yield curve, and provided an option for easy customization that could be implemented for emerging company divisions by slightly altering the color scheme within a template-based design shell.

Next, new company ads, a stationery package, reporting templates and Web site revisions were developed using the new brand mark. An e-mail marketing program, utilizing c21's proprietary Direct Dialogue system, also was launched to provide clients with a series of quarterly newsletters and regular e-alerts on market shifts and the latest bond and equity strategies. We extended the brand for the second business unit, YQ Advisors to encompass trade show materials, a stationery package and a new Web site.

Results

By presenting a unified brand across a variety of marketing platforms, YQ received high praise and even higher levels of recognition among its customer base of investment advisors. In the first nine months, and with a relatively small budget, YQ extended its reach and had a high return on investment through customized, one-to-one marketing campaigns, including its direct e-mail marketing programs. The e-mail campaign garnered a 60 percent increase in opted-in users as well as open rates well above 55 percent, and a metrics-focused advertising campaign drove hundreds of visitors to their Web site each month. YQ found rebranding - even on a relatively small scale - can make a big impact.