Gearon Hoffman Refines Message for Brown & Co.

Gearon Hoffman is introducing a campaign for discount brokerage Brown & Co. with the tagline, “I believe in the market. I believe in me.”

Eight 30-second TV spots tout benefits such as $5 market equity orders, low option rates and 10 percent volume rebates for the Boston-based client, a unit of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.

As with prior Brown & Co. campaigns, the new effort—which has begun to break nationwide—targets individuals who prefer to handle their own investments.

In one spot, a woman says, “I believe making a greater effort earns me a greater reward … like $5 online equity market orders at a site built from the ground up to give me the tools to trade smarter and manage my accounts better.” Scenes of the woman swimming across a lake are interspersed with clips of her managing her trading via computer.

Other commercials attempt to show the value of balance in one’s life and the payoffs associated with hard work; the spots feature assorted characters fixing a car and practicing martial arts maneuvers.

All spots open and close with the “I believe” tag spoken by one of the characters. The commercials are running throughout the fall on CNN, CNBC and other cable outlets.

Creative credits include art director Dick Davis, copywriter Doug Gor-ansson and producer Daryl Warner. The spots were produced by Backyard Productions; the director was Chase Strickland.

Print ads with the same theme are running in publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s and Investors Business Daily. Radio spots are also due before the end of the year.

The client spent about $7 million on ads in 2000, according to CMR. Boston’s Gearon Hoffman has worked with Brown since 1982.