Challenge

In 2017, Hilliard Lyons was prepared to introduce a rebrand of the company designed to better capture the essence of the firm. Outside of a handful of markets, measured brand and contextual awareness of the brand was at levels considered unhealthy by industry standards.

While the ultimate goal of firm marketing initiatives is always business impact, the decision was made to take advantage of the rebrand to build top-funnel awareness of Hilliard Lyons and its unique relationship-driven proposition with various prospective clients. In addition, the newness of the brand required simultaneous message testing to determine what messaging resonated with the audience.

Objectives were to increase brand awareness across key markets by 5-10 percent, increase engagement on and “vetting” of brand on new Hilliard.com website using standard engagement measures, and leverage media to message test different consumer propositions to provide messaging direction for future campaigns.

Solution

PriceWeber launched the campaign in twelve key test markets over a six-month period. We leveraged hyper-targeted TV, print, radio, display, pre-roll, native, and paid search across all key target life stage groups, pulsing media to maximize effect and optimizing creative based on digital performance. In addition, we applied custom research to everything from target client feedback to branch office signage visibility, earned media, competitive presence, and client market penetration to formulate a market segmentation guide that will define future media strategies.

Results

results are confidential, the firm also reported exceeding expectations for growth of assets under management.

• Increased awareness avg.+27.1%
• Digital performance +600-800%
• Developed media strategy for ongoing marketing and for new markets
• Creative test successfully defined messaging for each key life stage customer target.