Home Agenda Speakers Sessions Sponsors Registration Location Lodging How to Exhibit Exhibitor Info Kit About Us Contact Us Platinum Gold Silver Associatio Associatio On-site registration and Continental breakfast Monday 7:30 AM Welcome and Overview”Making the Right Connections, Making the Connections Right” Monday 8:45 AM Speaker(s): Elizabeth Gooding Chairman, Advisory Council and CEOArt Plus Technology Keynote: "Financial Communications to 50+ Consumers" Monday 9:00 AM The leading-edge Baby Boomers are beginning to retire, and there has been much media attention given to describing what this seismic shift will look like. In this keynote Jim Wironen will discuss this growing marketplace, offer ways to communicate with the 50-plus consumers, and detail the myriad opportunities they present for financial services organizations. The AARP has found that this generation is far more diverse and complex than often portrayed. There is no single description that captures the mature marketplace. Many think in terms of a future lifestyle, whether it involves pursuing a new career, volunteering, or being geographically mobile. They are also concerned with long-term health insurance, estate planning, and flexibility in receiving financial communications. Beyond the obvious shift from asset accumulation to wealth preservation, financial institutions must also consider the changing needs and preferences of this generation and how they will affect financial markets, products, tools and communications. The businesses that know how to service their needs will be the most successful. Speaker(s): Jim Wironen VP - Financial Products and ServicesAARP Financial Refreshment Break Monday 9:45 AM Session 1: Marketplace Update 2006 Monday 10:00 AM Where is the money going? This “must-attend” panel session defines the trends from the results of quantitative and qualitative research. Join our panelists as they discuss which financial products are more popular with different demographics and why. Trust and advocacy are key issues in financial communications. Learn how different types of financial services providers rank relative to one another, and whether customers’ preferences are evolving toward using a single or multiple providers. Speaker(s): Neil Bathon PresidentFinancial Research Corporation Warren Cormier PresidentBoston Research Group Mike Ellison Executive VPCorporate Insight, Inc. Gerri Leder Managing Director, MarketingLegg Mason Investment Counsel Moderator: Elizabeth Gooding Chairman, Advisory Council and CEOArt Plus Technology Refreshment Break Monday 11:00 AM Session 2: Regulators, Customers, and Life in Between Monday 11:15 AM It has been said that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. It could also be said that the road to customer confusion is paved by well-intentioned regulators. Corporate legal and compliance professionals strive to apply all regulations, but related communications practices may carry unintended consequences. A corporations' communications programs expose them to three key areas of risk: failure to comply with regulations, litigation from customers, and the risk of confusing customers. Balancing these risks requires continuous collaboration between regulators, compliance professionals and communications professionals to promote communications that are transparent and effective, rather than simply well-intentioned. Influencing regulators involves research and measurement on actual customer experience. Expert presenters will discuss methods for working with regulators and compliance professionals to meet the needs of consumers. Speaker(s): Alexander Gavis Vice President & Associate General CounselFidelity Investments Geoff Kenyon PartnerGoodwin Procter Paula Tkac Financial Economist and Associate Policy AdviserFederal Reserve Bank of Atlanta Moderator: Elizabeth Krentzman General CounselInvestment Company Institute Lunch & networking - exhibits open Monday 12:30 PM Luncheon Event & Exhibits Session 3A: Marketing to the High Net Worth Monday 1:30 PM In the 1920s F. Scott Fitzgerald famously wrote that the rich are “different from you and me.” In his day wealth was mostly inherited. Today most of the wealthy are self-made, and in their backgrounds and frames of reference they are not so “different from you and me.” In this session Andrea Trachtenberg draws upon her two decades of experience to draw out the implications of this shift in wealth creation for financial marketers, particularly for those offering wealth-management services. Andrea will also explore segmentation and positioning by a variety of psychographic profiles and discuss strategies for your sales force. You can’t afford to miss this session. Speaker(s): Andrea Trachtenberg CEOIvory River Marketing Session 3B: Outsourcing: What's Out, What's In? Monday 1:30 PM According to the pundits, we dwell in the “era of outsourcing.” It seems that Bangalore has become our back office. Punditry aside, the outsourcing issue looms large for many financial firms that want to shed non-core operations and save a bundle to boot. This is a big and complex decision. We have gathered a panel of veterans who will discuss the pros and cons, boons and banes, of outsourcing. You will get valuable information on how to decide what and how much to outsource. Who to select as your external providers. New tools to help you go through the process. And much more. If your organization is considering outsourcing, this is a session for you. Speaker(s): Mike Hoffmann Director, Strategic AccountsRapid Solutions Group John Kutch Managing Director - OperationalPutnam Investments Rich O'Brien Project ManagerJohn Hancock Financial Services Moderator: Robert Traeger VPPershing Refreshment Break Monday 2:30 PM Session 4A: Measuring How Communications Drive Sales, Cash Flow, Asset Growth, and Customer Retention Monday 2:45 PM Mark Weiner, an often-quoted authority on measuring the value of public relations, will present a case study showing how a major financial institution got more bang for its bucks from innovative public relations than from traditional marketing campaigns. He will discuss the latest and most promising methods for measuring the return on investment for the different campaigns used within a marketing mix. Mike Hoffman will share a case study on how AllianceBernstein leveraged the latest in digital print and personalization technologies to implement a successful marketing program to encourage existing 529 Plan account holders to increase their college savings contributions. The campaign, which comprised of personalized 529 College Savings Illustrations, has exceeded expectations for stimulating incremental cash inflows and asset growth from existing clients. Speaker(s): Mark Weiner PresidentDelahaye Session 4B: Delivering the Right Message, Delivering the Message Right Monday 2:45 PM For many financial services firms, “online” is quickly becoming the primary channel for regularly interacting and communicating with clients on a one-to-one basis. Even when the initial sale takes place in person or over the phone, service is increasingly delivered online with little to no personal interaction. The challenge is to create client value and maximize the efficiencies of online delivery channels without sacrificing the relationship or losing the level of intimacy and trust that attracted clients to you in the first place. In this session Eric Brickman will take attendees through several case studies that highlight a technology-enabled communications framework which includes specific, actionable, and measurable techniques to establish a multi-channel communications strategy—one that takes advantage of technology but also strengthens relationships, improves retention, and ultimately leads to new sales opportunities. Speaker(s): Eric Brickman Vice President, Strategic InitiativesThe Newport Group Refreshment Break Monday 3:45 PM Session 5A: Marketing Annuities in a Changing Market Monday 4:00 PM In the coming years, the first of the 78 million Baby boomers will begin to retire and thus require, in earnest, products and services that focus on asset distribution rather than asset accumulation. This demographic shift should be good news for annuity marketers, whose products have smartly evolved over the years to be more in line with the income needs of retirement investors. However, annuities continue to be downplayed by mainstream media and certain components of the investment community as being stodgy, high-cost, insurance-based products that offer little benefit for the average investors. This presentation will provide marketers with new perspectives and strategies for overcoming the challenges of marketing variable annuities. Using a series of examples and historical data, the session will offer attendees ideas on how to change the perception of annuities within sales channels as well as with retail investors. Speaker(s): Mike Zargaj Senior EditorStandard & Poor's Financial Communications Session 5B: Branding: The Brand with a Mission Monday 4:00 PM Every financial firm vows that it acts with the best interests of its customers at heart. Come see and hear how TIAA-CREF has sincerely made that promise the centerpiece of its brand. Jamie De Peau will give you her first-hand account of how TIAA-CREF has carried out an exemplary “brand rededication” encapsulated in the tagline, “For the Greater Good.” The goal is to demonstrate the company's continuing commitment to its over 85-year history of ensuring the long-term financial well-being of those who serve others. It also reflects TIAA-CREF's growth into a Fortune 68 company offering a products and services tailored to meet the needs of its participants. Speaker(s): Jamie De Peau SVP - Marketing CommunicationsTIAA CREF Cocktail reception & networking - exhibits open Monday 5:00 PM Registration, Continental Breakfast, and Networking Tuesday 8:30 AM Session 6: Top Trends in Financial Advertising Tuesday 9:00 AM The winds of change are lashing the advertising industry with hurricane force. "It finally sank in on Madison Avenue in 2005 that the 30-second commercial is fading as a means of hawking products and services," reported The Wall Street Journal early this year. "Ad executives will be busy in 2006 trying to figure out what to put in its place.” The traditional model of mass communications is in crisis. Audiences are fragmenting. Channels are proliferating. Niche marketing is all the rage. The fertile imaginations on Madison Avenue envision clever ways to push ads onto video iPods and cell phones with MobiTV. In this session Bill Wreaks will identify what he regards as the top trends that financial firms need to watch and put to use. Speaker(s): Bill Wreaks President & CEOThe Wreaks Media Corporation Refreshment Break Tuesday 10:00 AM Session 7A: How to Mine your Customer and Rep Data and Turn it into Gold Tuesday 10:15 AM Physics tell us, "An object in motion will remain in motion". This is also true with relationships—the good and the bad. In this day of high expectations, skinny budgets, and bright-light accountability, what if you magically had the answers to the "will this work" test? In this session you will hear, and see, how some of America’s most innovative companies use existing sales and purchase history, of their reps and customers, to gain insight and predict, with amazing accuracy, who is going to buy (or not), what they’ll buy (among choice) and when they’ll buy. Then see how to turn that behavioral insight into highly customized, data-driven integrated campaigns, often in “autopilot” mode, to generate extraordinary results—and measurable ROI. Attendees will get their own CD with a set of behavioral modeling examples and campaign demo tools that allow you to test drive this approach. You’ll learn how your company can start to make purchase history become marketing history. Speaker(s): Jim Lewis CEORelationship Marketing Session 7B: E-marketing Best Practices Tuesday 10:15 AM It’s a technology boomerang! We’ve developed all sorts of “killer apps” to market over the Internet. But our “targets” are fighting back with their own weapons—the spam filters, consent laws, and all the rest. How do you, as a financial communicator, get through the filters—both technological and psychological? How can you woo, win, and connect with customers online? This panel will explore what leaders in the industry are doing to attract, retain, and meet the changing needs of their clients using the latest online techniques. Topics of interest include online banking, bill pay, e-statements, performance alerts and how to turn convert typical cost centers into profit centers. Speaker(s): Beth Cullinan Executive Producer, Director of Web TechnologiesStandard & Poor's Financial Communications Jason Shulman EVP, Sales and Business DevelopmentPoindexter Systems Greg Wilkins Director, Financial and Healthcare SalesBrainshark, Inc. Moderator: Dona Wong Director, e-Business SolutionsJohn Hancock Refreshment Break Tuesday 11:15 AM Session 8: Consolidated Financial Communications Tuesday 11:30 AM Many investors yearn for the day when their financial firm will give them one statement that “says it all.” Some leading firms are getting a competitive edge by doing just that—offering “consolidated statements.” In this panel you will hear from some of these industry leaders. Why they did it. How they did it. This panel will address practical questions such as: Should you include performance data? Should you aggregate outside assets? How do you balance the needs of multiple audiences? What are common pitfalls? This panel will share some precious nuggets of practical advice. Come hear from people who have “got it together.” Speaker(s): Shari Gershenfeld SVP - Product DevelopmentFidelity Personal Investments Steve Hubbard Chief Operating Officer, CSGWachovia Securities Madeleine Yates Director - Total Merrill MarketingMerrill Lynch Moderator: Mike Ellison Executive VPCorporate Insight, Inc. Announcement of the Connections Contest Award winner LunchExhibits open Tuesday 12:30 PM Speaker(s): Elizabeth Gooding Chairman, Advisory Council and CEOArt Plus Technology Post-Conference Workshop A: How to Reach Your Intermediaries Tuesday 2:00 PM This hands-on workshop will give you practical ideas for getting your message out to a key audience—third party intermediaries. With financial consultants, planners, and independent advisers bombarded with proprietary and external marketing materials, how do you help make sure your offers are the ones they actually respond to? This workshop uses team-based exercises to help you understand the needs of the intermediary and how to position your organization to take advantage of this knowledge. As head of marketing for Neuberger Berman, Andrea and her group developed an “influential advisors” program designed to reach the 5 percent of intermediaries who generate 80 to 90 percent of profit. The result: an ROI of 1000 times the investment. Both Evelyn and Andrea are experienced seminar leaders who will offer concrete examples, sample materials, and other takeaways that you can put to use immediately. Speaker(s): Evelyn Ehrlich, PHD PresidentEC Communications Andrea Trachtenberg CEOIvory River Marketing Copyright@InsightForumsThe conference sessions, abstracts and presentations at the The Financial Communications Forum are copyrights of Insight Forums and the speakers. Privacy Statement