Thoughts

Positioning a New Product Family

Posted by Anu Heda on Mar 27, 2013, in Thoughts , tagged with ,

New ETFs from firms with no ETF history. Prestigious long-only managers launching alternatives. Massive non-US banks entering the domestic asset management landscape. All seem to be occurring at a more frenetic pace than ever.

We’ve been supporting clients in these and similar situations. A client from last year mentioned Killian Branding during an engagement. And their post recently on customer service is very poignant. More broadly than this post, our advice for clients in these situations is to carefully study the providers with significant market share. The burden of the new entrant is to provide a new reason to do business with them. Paradoxically, it’s a burden and a great opportunity.

Presenting Product (Alphabetic and Asset Class)

Posted by Anu Heda on Mar 26, 2013, in Thoughts , tagged with

You’re a mutual fund manufacturer with 50, 60, maybe even 100 mutual funds. On your Web site, the initial idea was to present them alphabetically. Perhaps, a few years later you broke them into asset classes, then alphabetic, but now you’re not sure at all what to present. Where’s a good place for ideas? Maybe look outside the industry for innovation?

I did a quick review of the four largest companies (I started by market cap, removed non-US companies and oil/gas companies).

  1. Apple – The homepage has no product section. “Store” is a natural proxy. And in the store, the products are grouped, well, similar to asset class. Instead of equities, there’s “Mac.” Instead of tax-exempt bonds, there’s “iPod.” The page has a featured fund, I mean product, and some left-hand navigation for the user who wants precision in her shopping.
  2. Microsoft – My first visit ever on this computer and Microsoft pops up a survey invitation. Really (right)?msft_popup Anyhow, there is a “Products” tab that presents a “mega-menu” organized by asset class (or product class here) first and then by business customer segment.
  3. IBM – Here I have to understand a “Product” versus a “Solution” (typical problem in our industry as well). I assume products are physical items IBM manufactures and solutions to be consulting and professional services. Clicking on “Products” shows me that I am – wrong. There’s software and professional services organized by product class here.
  4. GE – First I segment myself (let’s say I’m a business customer), then I see a massive list (below) of products organized by industry (again, akin to asset class). It’s the most daunting list and well, if I want to know more about “grid automation,” then I’m simply out of luck. No Web site for me!ge_pop

Two quick observations:

  • Organization is difficult. These large, established firms are full of very smart people trying to bring prospects and customers to the right place quickly. What are products and solutions to financial advisors, investment consultants, and institutions?
  • This cursory review does not imply an absence of great ideas outside the industry (I think there are multiple lessons to learn from Hulu, Zappos, & TaylorStich. More on those over a beer, though.) Simply that looking outside is a good input alongside internal groups and design partners.

The Rarely-Seen Mano-a-Mano Marketing

Posted by Mike McLaughlin on Mar 22, 2013, in Thoughts , tagged with , ,

Check out the banner and whitepaper from Janus, which is smack in the middle of its landing page for Institutional Investors:

The hook is clear: with equities, it's Janus v. Gross.

The hook is clear: with equities, it’s Janus v. Gross.

The asset management industry almost always takes a live-and-let-live approach to marketing. Certainly there are competing ideas and products, but not often is that competition made so specific in public, especially in print. Count me as a fan of the bold (and certainly smartly-opportunistic) positioning by Janus here.

Digital Fracture: Implications for the Web Site

Posted by Mike McLaughlin on Mar 21, 2013, in Thoughts , tagged with , , , , , , ,

In a post last week we introduced the concept of Digital Fracture, our term describing the proliferation of technology-driven marketing efforts that are increasingly specialized and disposable. Whereas the proprietary .com was once the overwhelming focus of digital efforts, firms now look at the Web, mobile, and social media as flexible platforms that require multiple, targeted presences.

Putnam provides a simple illustration of this trend. Digitally, Putnam not only has Putnam.com but distinct Web sites for thought leadership and advisor technology, numerous social media initiatives, and several distinct mobile applications.

For Putnam, digital means multiplying presences across multiplying platforms.

For Putnam, digital means multiplying presences across multiplying platforms.

This extension of traditional digital platforms into more targeted marketing is a shift that continues to gain acceptance.

What is driving this trend? Let’s start with the Web site. A central problem with firms’ Web sites is a lack of visibility, meaning that:

  • Not enough prospects and clients visit, and
  • Valuable content is often lost in the shuffle or hard for find for the people who do visit

So what can firms do? Three options stand out to us as particularly important:

  1. Broaden Content Distribution: many Web sites rely on their ability to attract an audience and promote content. Some accept material for free (M*, Advisor Perspectives), some are pay-to-play, and some require a PR and relationship-building effort to gain access. Purposefully moving beyond the proprietary site is an important opportunity.
    Via Google, third-party sites provide higher visibility to Janus's content than Janus.com

    Via Google, third-party sites provide higher visibility to Janus’s content than Janus.com

  2. Embrace Tactical Microsites: differentiated product stories typically do not function within the confines of a banner or online fund profile. As a result, we’re starting to see a renewed uptick in the tried-and-true microsite as a way to give timely visibility and depth to firms’ most compelling product/concept marketing. Two good examples: RidgeWorth on midcap equities, Pioneer on its strategic income fund.
  3. Improve Search: the vast majority of our clients remain dissatisfied with their sites’ search capabilities. Meanwhile, outside the industry there is continued innovation with tools like Facebook Graph Search and Google Knowledge Search. As these natural language and logical search tools continue to improve, there will be more reason than ever for firms to their own search offerings to make it easier for people to find what they want.

The common thread across these opportunities is that they go beyond “let’s just improve our content, functionality, and design” and reflect the diversity of leveraging the Web beyond the proprietary .com. This combination of breadth and focus is a reflection of Digital Fracture.

Next up: Digital Fracture for mobile and social.

The Rise of Digital Fracture

Posted by Mike McLaughlin on Mar 05, 2013, in Thoughts , tagged with , , , ,

Florida in February, 100+ attendees, and a series of truly interesting sessions – needless to say, we were fortunate to be part of the MFEA’s Distribution Technology Summit last week.

Our opening presentation introduced the concept of Digital Fracture. What is that? We’ll go into more detail in posts over the course of March, but for now we’ll let this quick synopsis we delivered after our session set the table:

DTS – Mike McLaughlin from FundchatS.

For a complete summary of the day’s events and perspectives on everything from predictive analytics to mobile-supported wholesaling, check out the MFEA site.