NB: Confidentiality agreements prevent us from naming this client.

Brief

"Create the online launch campaign for the latest addition to our active trader brand, FX trading."

Our client boasts one of the market-leading equities trading platforms for active traders. One of their strategic goals for 2008 was to expand and reposition the trading platform to include all major asset classes.

One of the first new services to be added to the platform, FX trading, was due to launch in June 2008. We were commissioned to develop the marketing strategy and online launch campaign for the FX products.

The challenges were significant. Not only was this a new service with ambitious sales targets, but it was the first time the client had run a campaign under the new branding for the platform and underlying business.

Strategy & execution

Target key influencers and focus on the platform's differentiating features

We began by developing a comprehensive strategy that incorporated all online and offline launch activity for FX on the platform. The plan covered both traditional through-the-line marketing and innovative, community engagement tactics.

Our creative team then created a striking online campaign that employed state-of-the-art banner design techniques, including 3D animations and expanding banners with microsite-style ‘pages’ and interactivity.

Results

The campaign ran for six weeks on leading financial websites such as the Financial Times, Reuters and FX Week.

Almost 500,000 unique users saw the campaign, with an impressive 20% of people choosing to interact with the expanding banners. Thanks to the depth of information included in the banners, the click-through rates were eight times the industry average.

Given the success of the campaign, we repackaged the banners as 30 second spots for the client’s upcoming TV launch campaign. The resulting ads ran on Bloomberg throughout June 2008.