THE SITUATION
Great West Financial, a leading financial investment firm for more than a century, needed a creative way to engage and educate financial professionals nationwide on a new investment product highlighting the concept of “Flexibility”.
Their goal was to set appointments with these financial professionals, who had not previously purchased their products, and use those meetings as an opportunity to educate and persuade the professionals to sell this new financial product to their clients.
THE CHALLENGE
Great West Financial does not sell directly to the end users of their product. Instead, their target market is the financial professionals who work with end users; high-net worth individuals seeking to maximize returns on their portfolios.
This type of niche audience typically does not respond to broad and generic advertising, so the team at Great West needed a more innovative approach to market this new product.
A key factor was capturing the attention of the financial professionals who would be working with the end users, which offered a perfect opportunity for creative customized merchandise.
This merch needed to do more than represent their product; it needed to generate excitement and inspire action.
THE SOLUTION
Stran met with Great West to understand their new planned marketing materials. Once we learned that Great West was producing a video explainer, we developed a high-end box with a built-in screen and drawers to hold physical product and collateral. The box demonstrated flexibility and integration by offering both physical and digital marketing materials, effectively educating and impressing the potential client.
Additionally, it included a unique promotional item—a roll-up, reusable Bluetooth keyboard.
We also built a custom Salesforce integration that allowed sales leaders to send kits directly to financial professionals from within their salesforce instance, and triggered notifications in Salesforce when the kits were shipped and delivered. This ensured the sales reps could stay connected to their sales leads and offer personalized and timely follow-up with each industry contact.
THE RESULTS
Great West distributed a total of 1000 boxes with tremendous success.
Through sending these video boxes to their target list of financial professionals, Great West Financial has been able to set meetings, educate their resellers, and drive over $100 Million in funds under management in this annuity that are tied directly to recipients of the boxes.
This is a great example of how branded merchandise can do more than just build brand awareness – it can be used as a sales tool to knock down doors, affect behavior, and drive revenue.
Contact us today for creative solutions to build your brand
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