In the news this morning, Merrill Lynch’s $20 million marketing effort stole the headlines. The focus of this recent advertising strategy is retirement, which is the number one savings goal for most people, according to Justine Mertz, the head of marketing for retirement and philanthropic services at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. In the recent recession, many people’s savings accounts shrunk significantly in size, and although our economy is yet to fully recover, Metz claims that Americans have proven themselves as “cautiously optimistic.” I believe that this newfound positivity about the financial markets will trigger a series of new advertising campaigns, as companies attempt to capitalize on what journalist Dan Neil of the LA Times describes as “Americans’ amnesia”. Neil also points out that the US economy is “led into and out of recession by consumer confidence, which turns on our faith in our institutions”. Perhaps Merrill Lynch’s campaign has arrived at the perfect time -- the economy is far from prosperous, with 10% of people in the United States still unemployed, but our country appears to be on the road to recovery.
Albert Einstein once stated: ”In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.” Well, here it is -- one big opportunity. I believe that firms should continue to be careful with their messaging, but that given the current optimism in our nation, they should begin to roll out new strategies with services offering to help Americans. Copy in one of the new “help2retire_____” Merrill Lynch campaigns reads “A Merrill Lynch Financial Advisor can explain the potential benefits and help you determine if one is a good fit for your long-term strategy.” People want help, they desire stability, they need security.
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