The campaign is part of a multi-year effort in nine countries. The company rolled out online, out-of-home and print advertising campaigns in Taiwan and Hong Kong to boost brand awareness in the region. In Hong Kong for example, ads appeared in The South China Morning Post, Hong Kong Economic Times, Hong Kong Economic Journal, Apple Daily and iMoney last week.
“The purpose of the campaign is to help investors navigate their choices, encourage them to take action and equip them with clear and purposeful information,” said Damien Mooney, chief marketing officer in Asia Pacific.
The campaign will not promote any one specific product but aims to educate and encourage retail investors to create their own investor action plan.
Digital will be the driving force behind the campaign. “Digital is a very strong component of the campaign and is at the heart of what we do,” Mooney said. As part of that, BlackRock has produced an explanatory three-minute online video on investment options. The digital campaign also comprises an integrated search component. “Every investor situation is unique and we want to help investors navigate their choices while connecting with the issues they face,” Mooney explained.
Out-of-home will also be an important part of the campaign with hoardings and billboards seen in densely populated areas like tram stops, trains and bus stops. As for print, Mooney and his team are focusing on getting the campaign out in the vernacular press.
BlackRock is keen on extending the campaign in Japan, a market that is popular with institutional investors. However, since BlackRock doesn’t have any retail products in this market, most of its promotions are done via news articles in various publications
Earlier this year, BlackRock took out multiple page adverts in leading business dailies including The Financial Times and The Wall Street Journal. The current campaign, which launched on 6 May, will run until July and will resume again in September.