Planting PR roots for Oaken Financial
The challenge:
Oaken Financial was launched by Home Trust Company in 2013 to offer Canadians a competitive alternative to manage their savings independently. The goal of the campaign was to amplify Oaken’s message of “what you see is what you get” and elevate the brand’s position of not using teaser rates and complicated promotions.
What we did:
- The Felicity team had to transform the Oaken tag line into a headline-worthy story for media. The foundation of the team’s approach was a poll – “The Oaken Financial Retirement Readiness Poll” – of Canadians 55+. The results were telling: the majority of Canadians 55+ didn’t know if they were getting the best possible rates on their investments from their current banks, and the vast majority also felt deceived by bait-and-switch promotions that banks offer only to new customers.
- The Felicity team leveraged these results to build an engaging story, distributing a media release to key financial and lifestyle influencers, as well as creating a visually-appealing list of top ten tips that Canadians could use to understand their banking options. Through extensive media and social outreach, the team communicated the growing frustration that retirement-ready Canadians feel with their current banks, and ultimately, positioned Oaken as a solution.
The results:
- The team secured 100% positive coverage in top media across the country, including The Globe & Mail, the Winnipeg Free Press, and RateSupermarket.ca. In addition, the story caught the attention on social media of CTV News’ Chief Financial Commentator Pattie Lovett-Reid, a highly-influential figure who coaches viewers on money management.
- These conversations planted the roots for strong relationships between Oaken and key financial and lifestyle media.