Interactive Investor International is running a £2m consumer advertising
campaign which its says complements professional advice.
The campaign will run for a month, predominantly in the South-east,
starting from this month.
It consists of a brand-building poster campaign in London Underground
stations plus a more widespread poster campaign focusing on the product
areas of pensions, mortgages, insurance and online share dealing.
There will also be ads on digital and terrestrial TV channels featuring a
40-second black-and-white portrayal of different shopping situations where
confused consumers give and act on bad advice.
The campaign also includes radio commercials on Capital Radio and News
Direct plus print ads in the national and trade press.
The company says an objective of the campaign is to challenge the public's
perception of financial services as confusing, showing them how the process
can be simplified.
Marketing communications director Candice Hodgson says the aim of the cam-
paign is not to replace IFAs but to offer consumers the information to make
an informed choice, contacting an adviser if they prefer.
She says: “On the site we have our find an adviser facility which allows
consumers to choose from 8,500 advisers by geographical area and product
area.
“The campaign emphasises that we are not encouraging people to buy finan
cial products willy-nilly simply because it is easy to do so online but to
help people make informed decisions with advice if they are not happy with
execution-only.”
