develop a message strategy brief for the Ameritrade Case

(below is the structure for the brief & the case study)

DIRECT MARKETING PLANNING EXHIBIT 2-5 Message Strategy Brief JACOBS GER Client - Company, division, brand Product Description of the product or category Project - Use a descriptive name Key fact - The single most important fact related to preparing this advertising Consumer problem this creative must solve - Related to the key fact. State in consumer terms. Not what the brand/product/service needs... What the customer needs! (.e. The value proposition) Communication objective - How this creative proposes to solve the problem stated above Creative strategy - Prospect profile - Competition - What is the current perception of the brand, and what perception of the brand do we want after this contact? - What is the prospect's current behavior and what behavior do we desire after they receive our message? - What action do we want the prospect to take now and how? O What is the call to action? Proposition o What do prospects/customers get, and what's the incentive for them to respond? Reason why - Secondary support - Legal & policy considerations / Mandatory factors CASE STUDY: Ameritrade Last Market Hour Adapted from the Direct Marketing Association International Echo Awards 2005. This environment often led to price and offer wars. In addition, there was the ongoing challenge to BACKGROUND lay a foundation for building customer loyalty with an Ameritrade (TD Ameritrade) develops financial audience that tends to have multiple accounts with products and services for individual investors. The other brokerages. Given all this, Ameritrade needed self-directed active trader, usually males aged to revitalize its own offerings, positioning themselves 25-55, was the target audience for this campaign. emphasizing value and integrity. to the active trader as the category leader, while This target, already customers of competing online brokers, tends to place a large number of trades, MARKETING STRATEGY and therefore provides the greatest opportunity for the final hour of the trading day is characterized by Ameritrade to profit. The active trader is less sudden changes in markets and can create big deterred by the state of the economy and more opportunities for traders. This is when a trader needs likely to trade even when there is a downturn in the real-time tools and accurate information to keep market. Further, active traders are optimistic and pace. Ameritrade positioned itself as the "owner of willing to take risks; they have the confidence to the last hour" by offering tools traders need to make find opportunity in the market on their own. Often fast, informed decisions. pressed for time, the active trader values the tools that can give them an edge in spotting trading MARKETING TACTICS opportunities and executing trades. This campaign provided the platform to create the awareness and buzz to take Ameritrade to the next CHALLENGE level. Each channel (Online, DRTV, OOH, and PR) Deliver hard-hitting customer acquisition goals in a performed a different role in order to assist account marketplace transitioning from bearish to bullish. generation and increase awareness. The media strat- egy capitalized on the unique behavior and media Corporate earnings were on the rise, the unemploy- consumption of the active trader during the last ment level was dropping, and trading volume market hour of the trading day. The integrated plan reached near-peak levels. Also, the online discount provided ownership of iconic financial media proper- brokerage category was growing, as most broker- ties both online and in television from 3 to 4 p.m. ages were offering a similar set of product and (EST), allowing Ameritrade to convey the campaign Services, so differentiation was key. BUSINESS, STRATEGIC, AND DIRECT MARKETING PLANNING 41 CASE STUDY: Ameritrade Last Market Hour (continued) message at a time when it was most relevant. The during the last market hour. In addition, a strong majority (95 percent) of media weight was allocated to Online and TVthe two media outlets that traders free Internet equity trades) was packaged with this incentive offer (free PalmOne Tungsten T3 plus 25 look to most during the waning hours of the market program (Exhibit 2-6). for real-time information. Within the Online space, partnerships with both RESULTS Yahoo! Finance and CBS Marketwatch created inte- A brand-tracking study, URLs, and 800 numbers grated and innovative online creative, resulting in were used to measure results. The campaign branded clocks that appeared on these respective generated over 50 percent more account openings Web sites with a countdown to market close. than originally projected. These accounts were The campaign promoted a special offer during the higher-value accounts. The delivered cost- the final trading hour. In addition to 25 free trades, per-account was 35 percent lower than projections. customers who signed up for an Ameritrade Cost-per-response for the Television program was account received a free PalmOne Tungsten T3 97 percent lower than historic results for that ($399 value) with the alarm set to 3 p.m. to mark channel. Per the communication objective, brand- the start of the final trading hour of the day. tracking results for the integrated campaign showed that Ameritrade became more relevant CREATIVE STRATEGY and top-of-mind in the life of the active trader. The creative strategy was an integrated effort across Unaided awareness of Ameritrade improved by various channels. The message challenged active 54 percent against its core target, those who exe- cute 10 or more transactions. Ameritrade also traders to think about what they could accomplish experienced a significant lift in brand favorability in the last hour of a trading day. It was communi- of 30 percent cated in the context the active trader would consult