AMERICAN ADVISORS GROUP REBRAND
HIGH-LEVEL RESULTS
4x Return On Ad Spend (ROAS)
300% Increase in Net Promotor Score (NPS)
50% Increase in Unaided Awareness
45% Market Share in Industry
3x Finalist for Better Business Bureau (BBB) Torch Awards for Ethics
98% Customer Satisfaction Rating
30% Increase in Average Home Value Per Customer
Title Vice President, Creative Director and Brand Strategy
Roles Creative Direction, Copywriting, Brand Strategy, User Experience Design, Content Strategy, Executive Leadership
Years 2017 – 2022
OVERVIEW
The reverse mortgage industry needed a hero — a champion to improve the category. The financial product can be considered one of the most misunderstood and underutilized financial tools for seniors. As Vice President, Creative Director and Brand Strategy, I led a comprehensive re-brand that led to increased brand awareness and favorability, improved category favorability, and improved lead performance in all B2C and B2B channels.
Building and managing an internal creative team from the ground up, the work included a corporate-wide re-brand, direct-response TV, direct-response digital, social, customer service design, a content-heavy website, info kits, direct mail, and more. Over the course of six years, there was a tonnage of work; below is but a smattering.
BRANDING
The logo was redesigned to retain familiar and approachable characteristics, while modernizing it through symmetry. This also included an update to a more approachable color palette and aspirational tagline.
The new tagline, Retire Better, drove brand positioning top-down—this became the company’s north star, which affected marketing, sales, operations, and customer experience. The goal was no longer to help retirees simply “stabilize” their retirement. Instead, we aimed to help people achieve better financial outcomes.
BRAND MANIFESTO
Developed for the CEO to announce the new positioning at the 1600-person town hall, the brand manifesto was the main driver of all communications for the years ahead.
DIRECT-REPONSE TV
The 120-second spot became AAG’s bread and butter. 75% percent of all funded loans were driven by television, creating a robust demand-generation engine for the sales floor. At their peak, the ubiquitous and often satired spots, brought down cost per opportunity by as much as 50%.
Over the years, we produced loads of DRTV; these are just a few of the spokesperson-driven spots. Included are the customer-focused social videos as well.
The Better Lives campaign was developed in partnership with agency Bear In the Hall.
INFO KITS, PRINT, AND DIRECT MAIL
The “offer” in all DRTV messaging was the FREE INFO KIT; a wildly successful strategy. New info kits and subsequent direct mail was elevated to reach a more affluent and influential audience.
Print and targeted direct mail continued to drive brand performance and lead generation.
DIGITAL EVOLUTION
AAG had historically been purely performance-based. There was no area on the site to provide educational information. With a strong focus on improving every touchpoint, I blew up the old experience and developed a robust content strategy that improved SEO ranking, improved site engagement and conversion. By providing our customers with valuable content, they were better equipped to talk to a loan officer—these efforts helped improve sales. This also provided the assets for an effective content marketing strategy.
EXPLAIN IT LIKE I’M 5-YEARS OLD
The product and the various financial strategies that can be employed with its use can be complex. Using inforgraphics and “explainer videos,” as tactics, I aimed to simplify everything. The videos were also used to improve SEO ranking on YouTube, Bing, and Google.
