I'D WORKED ON ITS AWARD-WINNING DIGITAL LAUNCH
iSHARES LAUNCH CAMPAIGN, 2007.
iSHARES LAUNCH CAMPAIGN, 2007.
And in that time iShares had gone on to become the industry leader.
But it does put a target on your back.
As market leader, iShares soon had a pack of "me-too" challengers. Seeming to offer several similar products - for less. The position it had established for itself was being eroded.
I was tasked with finding ways to reestablish iShares' unique position.
Many people made some of the same products as iShares. Buut iShares market knowledge was second to none. And on the back of this knowledge, they'd built a wider portfolio of products. So investors and brokers could put together highly sophisticated portfolios, that could take account or risks and opportunities in ways that could be better tailored to the precise needs of each investor.
It wasn't enough to simply declare our brand’s superiority. If we were to convince investors that we were still the only choice when it came to ETF investing, they needed to experience the difference for themselves.
And so I came up with a digital product specifically designed to deliver this.
It was called "Join the Conversation”
"Join the Conversation" was an app that engaged users in dialogue about current events, opportunities and risks in the global economy right now.
How to protect your interests. And maximise your opportunities. With content as current as the latest news.
Once downloaded, it would display a range of current topics. Conversations about how to invest to take account of events. And then experts suggesting specific iShares portfolios, based on their analysis. Different experts may have different analysis. And so suggest different portfolios. That didn't matter. The point was - whatever life threw up, and however complex the circumstances, iShares always had options that could help you cope or take advantage.
"Join the Conversation" shifted the focus from the cost of specific products, to the superior value a relationship with iShares could deliver.
It put iShares at the heart of the most relevant debates over investment.
And it moved iShares from being a single voice in that debate, to becoming the platform on which all voices could be heard, all possibilities could be discussed, and all eventualities could be acted on, through the superior breadth and flexibility of iShares' product portfolio.
It encouraged interaction and a deeper relationship with the brand.
For next steps, I envisioned ways we could keep building our ownership of the mindspace.
Including bringing in an ever-wider range of financial icons and thought-leaders into the conversation. And even voices from BlackRock's competitors.
The very fact that they appeared on our platform would highlight our ownership of the ETF space.
How do you make the card no-one knows they have, the card everyone wants?
How do you drive more of the world to a world heritage site?
How do you make the top social platform a top commercial platform?
"Mike is the finest creative mind I've ever had the pleasure of working with. His ideas are invariably bold, simple and powerful. They demand the attention of consumers and award juries alike. A Mike Kerr idea is as hard-working as it is delightful. Mike is a leader who brings out the best in his colleagues, whether Art Director, Account Manager or Client. If you desire heavyweight brainpower to deliver powerful ideas for your account - and galvanise a team - I have no hesitation in recommending Mike Kerr to you."
RICHARD CLARK, Planning Director at McCann Enterprise