Have a potential account - an Edward Jones agent. Tried newspaper - no results. Tried some
radio, no results. Has anyone ever had a successful ad campaign for an Edward Jones agent.
What worked? He is willing to give us a try, but I will only get one shot at this. Any help appreciated!
James Henderson
General Manager
KHMV -FM
Half Moon Bay, CA
An old Dutch man who I used to walk dogs with told me, "I tell dees (expletive deleted) if day can make me more money dan me? Day got my business!" (He'd pound his cane for emphasis.) Maybe an approach like, "Trust us for a quarter with a quarter of your wealth. Watch what we can do."
Don't know that Edward Jones would be willing to take the risk, but I believe a 3 month trial is fair. And 25% of one's portfolio with a brand name like Edward Jones allays some fear. A trial by fire, even with a down market, and EJ shows a profit? They prove their worth and your guy has a new client.
BTW, my old Dutch friend found that his investment savvy was more acute than the any financial advisor he "auditioned" and ended up managing his own portfolio.
James, our local EDJ branch has been a regular advertiser for decades. The branch was started in the 1960's by Bob; his son Greg joined him in the practice sometime in the early 2000s and took it over after dad passed away 8 or so years ago. In the 36 years I've been with the stations here, the firm has had three distinct ad campaigns. The first was a morning stock market report, telephoned in by Bob himself each weekday morning. Ran that for many years, but eventually Bob got tired of the drill and decided instead to sponsor local college baseball. After a decade or so of that, after Greg took over, the firm switched to sponsoring local high school sports, which they've continued to do to this day.
Edward Jones provides its agents with a bunch of pre-approved scripts. The library is online and the agent has only to decide which products or subjects he's interested in promoting. The scripts aren't bad, and can be read either by an announcer or the agent himself.
I think the biggest virtue you can bring to the table is consistency, repetition of the message over a long period of time. I would not suggest presenting a 3- or 6-month contract, any more than an EDJ agent would recommend to one of his prospects that he "try us out for 3 months." (Which he would never do!) You're not "testing" anything; you're offering him an opportunity to leverage his expertise and resources to assure your listeners that investing with EDJ is a sound decision. Instead, think in terms of annual/2-year/3-year contracts, giving him the opportunity to sponsor ("own") something for an extended period of time. You're opening a relationship, not putting on a magic show!
Consistency-over-an-extended-period-of-time is absolutely consistent with the way EDJ agents sell investments (investment accounts that get fed every year, etc.) to their clients AND, more importantly, with the EDJ investment philosophy: a balanced and diversified portfolio of historically sound stocks (mutual funds) and municipal bonds designed to produce reasonable growth over time. Their advice is to stay invested, taking a long-term view, rather than letting market volatility provoke knee-jerk reactions (pulling investments, trying to "play" the market, etc.). So, they live and operate in a culture that values consistency over a long term. Anything you offer your EDJ agent should mirror these values.
Other suggestions: EDJ agents work by appointment; they schedule hour-long visits with customers around a week in advance and they watch their clocks. Be aware of this when asking for an appointment and be cognizant of the time. They're friendly and will make small talk, but they're also disciplined. Demonstrate that you're organized and be respectful of his time. During your visit, ask the agent to show you how he demonstrates to his customers the historical reliability of the American stock market, how it has fared over the decades and weathered periodic corrections and downturns. (They have all kinds of easy-to-follow charts and graphs to illustrate this.) He'll respect your interest, and you'll see why I suggest that the ad campaign you suggest should mirror their investment philosophy: own something (an audience) and hold onto it over a long term. Treat his advertising as an INVESTMENT in his growth. That's a concept that should resonate with him.
Finally, think about what program you can offer him that is likely to appeal to adults who CAN invest - probably over 30 years of age, contributing to IRAs, saving for their kids' college, etc. If you have programming that appeals to business owners, professionals, parents, etc., that would be a good bet. My client likes HS sports because his sponsorship demonstrates his investment in our local school, our kids, our community. It's a good fit. (The fact that he has kids in school here helps, too.) I've uploaded three of his radio spots for you to hear.
Let us know how it goes, OK?
My thought is Edward Jones is all about positioning. I would encourage a daily phoned in stock market report with the client voicing it. When it comes to results, the agent's voice on the radio does two things: it gets friends and neighbors to mention it (or a bit of lighthearted teasing) and he will not want to cancel himself.
The concept is positioning the client as the local expert. When it comes to money, people want the best and the agent doing a daily business report makes him an expert over all the others not on the air doing the same.
Yes, I have 3 Edward Jones agents on the air for many years now. They are on our AM Talk station. They call in every week day morning at around 7:45 am and talk to live to our morning drive time DJ about the stock market, investment opportunities etc. In addition to this I run :60 spots through out the day as well as on the weekends. They have several spots recorded and I rotate them on a monthly basis.
The agents then split the costs of the invoice but send in one check per month. Janet
