The Campaign

“We are not just experts in investment – we are also an asset management firm providing useful products to help our customers plan for the future.” This was the essence of a campaign needed to reshape perceptions of Fidelity Worldwide Investment held by the media and general public. Three survey modules were launched to study wealth management approaches among different social groupings in Hong Kong and enable Fidelity to provide professional advice to help them optimize their investment results. Findings of the survey were unveiled at well-attended press conferences, which generated high levels of coverage. As a spin-off benefit, each of the survey modules served as a well received educational tool that encouraged better wealth management in the community.

The Brief

The core objective was to reshape the general perception of Fidelity through media coverage for maximum impact. The aims of the study modules were to: • Identify Hong Kong investors’ wealth management patterns. • Tease out attitudes and misconceptions. • Provide an opportunity for Fidelity to offer advice on optimizing investment results. Perhaps most importantly, the campaign was designed to help establish Fidelity’s thought leadership positioning in the Hong Kong financial services market.

Results

Each press conference drew more than 20 media representatives interested in transforming the findings of surveys into news stories and features. In fact, feedback from press conferences, one-on-one, follow-up meetings with individual journalists was totally positive, suggesting that they regarded the module survey results as a good source of newsworthy material. The collative efforts will bring in significant thought leadership of the firm in the industry. Regional and local media organizations ran more than 30 news stories in print, online or onscreen, based on the findings of each module – with the added benefit of each topic surveyed becoming a “talk of the town” issue that generated yet further press coverage. Key messages of the modules were reflected in almost all of the media coverage, and some 90 percent of headlines were based on key statistics from survey module findings. These included: • 90% of post-80s have lost money in investment • 30% of married Hong Kong women earn more than their spouses • “Laid-back” men lost 16% of their liquid assets last year

Execution

Each module was developed according to topics Fidelity wanted to target, as well as issues currently being aired by the media. Questionnaires developed in conjunction with a research organization were put to work in field surveys that each lasted an average of one week. Findings were usually available just one week after completion of a survey, when they were dissected by a data analysis exercise that would take up to two weeks. Press conferences were staged in: • August 2011 – to release findings based on a study of wealth management among post-1980s generation investors. • November 2012 – to discuss results of an investigation into the approach taken to wealth management by women. • May 2012 – when findings from a survey into men’s wealth management habits came under the spotlight.

The Situation

Fidelity Worldwide Investment serves the needs of customers ranging from private individuals to major institutions. Problems with Leman Brothers Minibond in 2009 sparked more than 20,000 complaints to the Hong Kong Monetary Authority – and alerted Fidelity to grave concerns among local investors. This prompted the idea of an education program to help the company form a better understanding of the level of risk awareness among investors, as well as the depth of their investment knowledge. That learning could then be used to position Fidelity as a financial institution that distinguishes itself by seeking to understand investor needs and offer wealth management, along with investment knowledge and advice.

The Strategy

The campaign could expect a reasonably high volume of coverage by zooming in on wealth management habits of Hong Kong investors according to the social groupings that most interested the local media, such as the post-1980s generation. By the same token, investors not involved in the survey but from the same social strata as those studied would easily identify with the groupings that gave rise to the findings published. Another aspect of the strategy was that the facts and figures mined by the study modules could be relied upon to produce newsworthy copy and eye-catching headlines for media seeking to target Hong Kong’s high population of investors.