Ameriprise Breaks $30 Mil. Campaign

Ameriprise Financial is breaking a $30 million integrated campaign to stress the importance of having a respected advisor during uncertain economic times by featuring a selection of its 10,000 consultants in the ads.
 
The campaign includes TV, print and online ads that seek to address investor trepidation during the recent market and economic gyrations by presenting Ameriprise agents as trustworthy guides. A group of actual Ameriprise advisors star in the ads, which carry the tagline “Our advisors, your dreams. More within reach.”

 
The campaign marks the first work since Ameriprise tabbed Interpublic Group digital agency R/GA as its lead agency in December after a review. The incumbent was Saatchi & Saatchi. R/GA created the broadcast, print and online placements.
 
It is a departure from Ameriprise’s earlier efforts. In 2006, it ran a campaign starring actor and ’60s icon Dennis Hopper talking up retirement packages.
 
Ameriprise is running three different spots during the campaign. In one 30-second commercial titled “Milestones,” five Ameriprise agents take turns speaking directly to the camera about the worried mind-set of investors and how Ameriprise helps them to determine and reach their financial goals.

“The advisors are their brand,” said Taras Wayner, ecd at R/GA. “A lot of them have spent their careers with them, 10 or 20 years. They really believe this stuff and live by it.”
 
“Our advisors play an important role in helping our clients plan for life’s milestones, whether they’re saving for a wedding, sending their children to college or achieving their ideal retirement,” said Ameriprise CMO Kim Sharan in a statement. “They play a central role in their client’s lives and their communities, and are the faces consumers naturally associate with our brand.”

 
Ameriprise is running the spots on TV and cable, as well as online. TV placements include spots during next Sunday’s Grammy Awards and the Lost season premiere next week. Print ads will run in to financial publications. The online media plan includes CNNMoney.com, SmartMoney.com and a channel on YouTube.

IPG’s Initiative handled planning and buying for traditional media; R/GA handled digital media duties.

R/GA shot footage of 30 Ameriprise advisors and plans to film more.
 
The Ameriprise YouTube channel expands on the TV spots with a series of videos showing client stories. Another set of clips contains Ameriprise advisors and other experts giving financial tips on subjects like finding future growth prospects, the outlook for stocks and crafting an investment plan.

See also: “R/GA: Digital Agency of the Year ’09”