A Wells Fargo Financial Advisory
Stealth Creative has been The Princeton Group’s partner agency for several years. By developing a highly targeted, research-based marketing strategy and maintaining a brand that reflects this elite group’s distinctive personality, we’ve helped them to confidently stand out from the crowd of other financial advisors—and grow their firm substantially!
The Background:
Stealth Creative’s range of web and content development services driven by sound marketing strategy has been effective at generating success for a growing list of associated individual financial advisors and firms. This reputation attracted the founder of The Princeton Group, who challenged us to turn his team of highly experienced Wells Fargo advisors into an industry force. The goal was to grow The Princeton Group—not only by gaining clients and increasing assets under management—but also by attracting financial advisors to grow the firm’s geographical reach.
The Challenges:
Being a member of the Wells Fargo network provides clients access to world-class resources and information and gives firms a competitive edge. However, associating with a global corporation often comes with regulatory guardrails and potential compliance pitfalls—especially when it comes to marketing!
The Princeton Group wanted their brand to stand out from other firms. But doing so while adhering to the parent company’s requirements proved difficult. The client knew that it would take the special capabilities and expertise of a partner agency they could trust. That’s why they brought Stealth in to help The Princeton Group shine; our experience with other FAs had proven our ability to work within stringent brand guidelines and maximize the proprietary Wells Fargo web platform, among other details.
Plus, key members of TPG recognized early on that it was Stealth Creative’s deep financial marketing know-how, research capabilities and decades of creative strategy experience that could really help take them to the next level…
The Research:
Understanding the value of “long-game” thinking, The Princeton Group didn’t only engage Stealth to develop fresh brand assets and refine their web presence. We worked closely with their core team to develop a truly integrated strategy, which both parties understood to be the backbone of a successful, years-long collaboration.
Stealth leveraged our industry relationships, bringing in marketing research professionals to identify TPG’s most ideal target audiences, and worked closely with a career financial industry content specialist assist in developing a comprehensive content strategy.
The initial legwork pinpointed two distinct target personas:
The HENRYs (High Earners, Not Rich Yet)
- Smart shoppers with an eye for value
- Uninterested in traditional wealth management services
- Anything that smacks of a “canned approach”
might turn them away!
The Boomers
- Ahead of other generations in almost every financial category
- Primarily concerned about retirement
- Lots of competition for the Boomer audience’s business and loyalty!
The Content Strategy:
From each of our two target personas outsprung an overarching content theme to be integrated throughout all messaging, five content paths for long-form pieces (like videos and white papers) and fifty suggested topics to be applied to either long-form content or short-form applications (such as social media posts). Universal messaging points were also established for each target persona, ensuring that every marketing message landed effectively. (For example, incorporating “Empathy” when addressing HENRYs and touting TPG’s “Experience” when influencing Boomers’ decisions.)
Our master strategy document also included key data points and messaging affinity graphs for each content path. So, whether we were talking to HENRYs about “Recognizing the Value of a Financial Advisor” as a path, or to Boomers about “Estate Planning,” our creative would always resonate with our original, research-driven (and pored-over) content plan.
This comprehensive, methodical approach remains the playbook for The Princeton Group’s continual success as a brand and informs every piece of content we create for them to this day.
The Branding:
What’s in a Name?
While there were initial discussions about changing the existing name, it was mutually agreed upon that “The Princeton Group” served the firm’s prestigious nature and was attractive to their more affluent target audiences. It also speaks to their East Coast connection!
What About Tone?
Direct, confident, approachable—and focused on “You,” the potential TPG client. Copy is nuanced to effectively communicate with different generations, but the personality had to shine through consistently to hold the trust (and interest) of anyone interacting with the brand.
The Logo & Other Brand Elements:
Above all else, The Princeton Group wanted their brand to stand out from other FA firms (not relying solely on traditional Wells Fargo-derivative colors and design elements). But it was crucial that all TPG elements remained technically compliant with their parent company guidelines—a fine line to walk, but a fun challenge for Stealth Creative!
The Tactics:
Directly informed by our master content strategy is a variety of creative tactics, all of which play a significant role in The Princeton Group’s holistic marketing outreach:
RESULTS
Stealth Creative has been instrumental in driving The Princeton Group’s substantial growth as a wealth management firm. Since the beginning of our engagement:
The Princeton Group has Added 16 New Member Advisors to the Team
Added 4 New Office Locations
Process of working with an agency on the integrated marketing plan:
Consistent branding, both digitally and physically
Involves collaboration/consistent communication with the marketing agency, the FAs overseeing the process, + compliance
Innovation and fresh ideas, backed by data
What’s Next?
Stealth Creative continues to optimize The Princeton Group’s website, develop new topics grounded in our main content strategy, write new bios for incoming advisors—and anything to continue sharpening the edge we created for this group of rockstar FAs!
