Financial advertising may not be sexy, but it’s important.
That’s the view of Matthew Quale, chief marketing officer at Brighthouse Financial, which debuted a fully integrated campaign Monday in partnership with BBH New York.
"I don’t think we’re ever going to be the guys out there who are funny or doing crazy stuff," Quale told Campaign US. "What we’ve seen is that this is a really serious topic for people, and the thing that always strikes me the most is how much fear and uncertainty our target has, and how much our products make them feel better because they are protected and it does ensure what they have lasts."
The former MetLife arm launched its own brand in early 2017 and was spun-off into an independent, publicly-traded entity in August. The company spent much of last year introducing itself to the marketplace -- now it’s ready to hit the ground running.
Brighthouse’s campaign -- which will play out primarily across TV and social media, but also includes print, email and direct marketing -- centers around consumers exploring their passions in the comfort of financial security (thanks to the Shield product, in this case).
Its target audience is what Quale calls "secure seniors." These are people like the baby-boomers who are "optimistically defining their visions for modern retirement."
"We’re now in a position where we’re proving our promise and demonstrating what our products can do and the benefits they have for our target audience," Quale continued. "[Our flagship product] can help people manage market volatility, so they can spend less time worrying about how the markets are performing, and more time doing what they love, which could be travel, volunteering or spending time with the family."
He praised BBH NY as a "fantastic partner across strategy, creative and production." Quale added the agency has really helped hit a deeper spot with the firm’s target audience by "diving into the consumer psyche and translating that into a creative execution, and then producing beautiful spots which have really leveraged our brand visual ID and our brand essence and brought it to life in a fantastic way."
Two TV spots, "The Vineyard" and "The Market," directed by Gia Coppola, will air simultaneously in the coming days.
"In 2018, our challenge is to build on last year's highly successful introduction to Brighthouse Financial and generate strong brand consideration in a highly established category," said Gerard Caputo, CCO of BBH NY.
He added: "With the launch of our spring campaign, we continue to develop the brand story for Brighthouse Financial by highlighting how Shield annuities are uniquely poised to help advisors protect their clients’ retirement aspirations."