Case Study
CFP Board of Standards
BRAND STRATEGY
Financial Services
Repositioning a national brand from “inside-out” to “outside-in.”
THE CHALLENGE
CFP Board’s ratings on awareness and preference were declining and this caused concern about a lack of emotional brand connection with consumers.
Additionally, CFP Board had a goal of reaching 100,000 CFP® professionals by 2025 and 150,000 by 2030.
To address both challenges CFP Board needed a new brand positioning to shift from an inside-out approach that spoke mainly about certification to CFP® professionals, to an outside-in strategy that spoke to consumers who need a financial plan. The older positioning lacked an emotional-values promise.
Further, there was a growing need of helping consumers plan for retirement and a new brand strategy could help with workforce strategies to increase college majors in planning and grow the number of financial professionals.
OUR STRATEGY
Using our VISTA (Values In Strategy Assessment) methodology, we uncovered that the CFP brand had permission to play the role of a partner because this was a significant unmet need of consumers. They needed a partner to help them navigate a path of financial decision making.
With that partner in place, this unlocked the emotional-values promise of confidence today and a more secure tomorrow. This would shift the role of the brand and the relationship with clients. It would be more about the consumer and less about the certification, putting the human at the center of the brand promise.
IMPACT
A series of new advertising and marketing campaigns were launched under the expressions, “Only With a CFP” and “Its Gotta Be a CFP.” These campaigns gave CFP Board’s awareness and preference ratings a much-needed boost.
The new campaign also gave way to CFP Board developing a specialty designation on the psychology of financial planning, revamping its website assets, modernizing their consumer segmentation, and creating an account management journey plan with financial services firms and their employees.
As of 2024, CFP Board has reached its goal of 100,000 CFP® professionals ahead of schedule and is on the way to 150,000 by 2030 as a part of its Workforce Initiatives.
