Brent Feigenbaum has been Chief Marketing Officer of J.E. Robert Companies, Director of Global Marketing Communications for GE Real Estate and Vice President, Global Communications Director, The Citigroup Private Bank.
“The rich are different from you and me,” wrote F. Scott Fitzgerald. The wealthy may be different from you and me, but they are also different from each other. When marketing financial services to the affluent, one cannot look at the group en mass. Marketers need to understand the target’s personality and individuality, and then focus on a few key factors to develop a relationship.
Breaking through the clutter in a commoditized market
Today, most financial institutions offer similar products and services. Banking has become largely commoditized. Traditional marketing activities are still effective but will not necessarily cinch the deal. Advertising can raise an institutions’ profile, while Public Relations, if managed properly, can showcase key individuals and demonstrate an institution’s expertise. Websites, social media and brochures can all work to reach the target audience and define the financial offering and company positioning.
Yet, what’s imperative when addressing this audience is understanding specifically who you are targeting – what is the prospect’s background, and what motivates them? Once you understand the audience, you can target it by clustering these individuals into groups based on common or shared interests and offer something special – a unique product, service or technology, such as mobile wealth management apps for iPhone and Droid. To attract new customers marketers need to be compelling and stand out; because products at many institutions are so similar, most firms differentiate on service and emphasize the strength of their client relationships. Thus, it is essential to find a point of differentiation and articulate the advantage.
Why does a wealthy individual select a particular financial institution? Mostly it’s because of an existing relationship or trusted referral. In certain cases a unique product or service not available elsewhere can attract a new client. As noted above, trust, reputation and service are paramount. Someone likes his/her banker, much like he/she likes his or her doctor, accountant, or mechanic. If the relationship is strong, the client will follow their banker to a new institution.
Understanding your audience
When marketing to an affluent, learn the origins of his/her wealth. Understanding the origins provides marketers with fundamental insights. How did the individual get to be wealthy? Inherited money? Self-made? Divorce? An entrepreneur who founded a new software company? Cluster your marketing efforts around these segments and communicate with likeminded individuals. How one becomes wealthy speaks volumes about their appetite for investing, their risk tolerance, ways and levels of philanthropy, etc. For example, a self-made billionaire has a proven appetite for risk and therefore will probably be a more aggressive investor than someone with inherited wealth, who is concerned with maintaining that wealth and passing it to the next generation.
Cluster clients around common interests
The best way to grab anyone’s attention is to identify his or her interests, whether it be work, leisure or philanthropy. If your prospect made her fortune in commercial real estate, try reaching her through a Real Estate publications, events, web sites, or conferences. Also, host a Real Estate Forum with existing clients and select prospects who are world leaders in commercial real estate. This thoughtful forum on a specific topic provides a captive audience to share common issues and interest. The hosting institution holds their attention, offers a unique and relevant forum, and has the ability to demonstrate its value at bringing together successful people who share a common interest.
Look beyond the obvious to make connections
Is there a philanthropic interest to tap? Offer advice; act as a catalyst to bring likeminded individuals together to help them with their giving. A psycho–social look may help identify specific elements where one can make a connection and reach the desired audience.
Also consider an individual’s sex, age, marital status, even nationality – all may have an impact on a prospect’s willingness to engage a certain institution, or make certain investments. For example, a self-made multimillionaire from Hong Kong likely has a different viewpoint on wealth, as compared with a native Floridian who has inherited his wealth. Their world outlook and experiences will be as different as their view of money. Furthermore, the way they each look to growing, or perpetuating that wealth, is also different.
Also, generally speaking, men are typically more ego-centric with their wealth than women. This extends into philanthropy as well. Men will give away more money than women of equivalent wealth, although this trend is changing as more women are making their own wealth. Men often ”validate” themselves by seeing a named hospital building, an endowed university chair, a named museum or library wing, etc. However, women are more likely to preserve wealth for their family and the next generations. Therefore, if you are marketing philanthropic advisory services, you need to consider the gender of the prospect when beginning discussions.
Trust services and wealth preservation
Family is a critical component when talking with people of wealth. Wealth preservation, secession planning for a family business, understanding complex tax codes, and minimizing risk and tax exposure are extremely important issues for people of wealth.
One tact is to reach a prospect through their children. Offer “next generation”-focused classes, seminars, suggested readings and mentoring, to engage the children and grand children of your prospects. If you can make a difference with them, you not only help build a relationship with the next generation, but distinguish yourself with the current family decision-makers. Explore and suggest wealth preservation strategies and offer new thoughts on trusts. Secession planning can be a key issue; often a business owner’s child is not the right individual to run a company, for a multitude of reasons. How this delicate issue is handled can be invaluable to a client, and to his/her child.
Product and services corresponding to the modern age
Offering something truly unique will give an institution an edge, and will differentiate it. This extends to financial products and beyond, and encompasses the global, mobile nature of wealthy individuals. For example, there may be ways for pooled individual accounts to be bundled into equivalent institutional opportunities. Technology is increasingly important in this relationship-based business; innovative applications can help bind clients to a firm for the long-term.
Certainly, the rich are different than you and me. But by segmenting the wealth market and addressing its clusters’ unique needs, marketers can engage prospects in conversations that resonate – and begin the process of converting those prospects into clients.