MutualFundWire.com: Dan Ross Elevates a New Kind of White Paper

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Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Dan Ross Elevates a New Kind of White Paper

Dan Ross and the Wechsler Ross' team just debuted a new take on the traditional white paper. Ross released the New York City-based consulting firm's first "elevator paper," this one on how "investment brands are different" from both consumer-oriented and business-to-business-oriented brands.

"We know that investment marketing professionals are pressed for time and prefer their information in bited-sized nuggets," Ross told MFWire.com, noting that this first elevator page is just four pages, including visuals. "We think it combines the thought leadership of a white paper with the brevity of a fact sheet."

Ross also gave a presentation yesterday on the same subject, speaking in Washington, D.C. before the ICI's small funds committee.

This elevator paper notes investment brands, including mutual funds, have a hybrid audience of consumers (i.e. fund shareholders) and professionals (i.e. advisors). The paper also outlines the myriad channels that drive up the complexity of investment brands' distribution and marketing efforts, and the paper notes that investment products "require a leap of faith" from the buyer.

Company Press Release

Wechsler launches Elevator Papers
The first paper, “Investment Brands Are Different,” offers insight into the unique challenges of investment marketing.

New York, NY (May 8, 2012) – Combining the thought leadership of a white paper with the brevity of a fact sheet, Wechsler Ross & Partners is introducing a new series of Elevator Papers that are designed to deliver bite-sized insights to investment marketing professionals.

Now available on Wechsler’s website and blog, Elevator Papers will be short enough to read on an elevator ride, but substantial enough to deliver meaningful content.

In its first paper, “Investment Brands Are Different,” Wechsler highlights four key factors that make investment brands different from consumer and B2B brands (including other financial brands):

1. A hybrid audience
2. Faith-based products
3. Complex distribution
4. Nuanced marketing

Having a clear understanding of these differences and how they affect the decision-making of various distribution channels and audience segments provides the foundation of a successful marketing platform.

On May 8th, Wechsler CEO, Dan Ross, will deliver an extended presentation on “Investment brands are different” to the Small Funds Committee of the Investment Company Institute in Washington, DC.

About Wechsler
Wechsler is a creative marketing consultancy specializing in investment brands. For more than 25 years, Wechsler has helped asset managers and wealth managers solve tough communications problems and create memorable marketing.