Sol Sun Media (my company) was hired by financial planner Brenna Warren to help launch her wealth management firm.
Not only did our market research and creative strategy help inform her positioning as a business, but we built her website, logo, two videos, and a strategy report.
Project management, service design, web/UX design, content strategy & production
Since Brenna was starting a new business, we needed to understand the human context behind the market she was entering.
We focused our research on the client acquisition process: the mental journey one takes from first considering financial advising, all the way through choosing the right advisor.
Cocreation
Between her network and ours, we formed a core group of 5 people who fit her ideal client profile to collaborate with throughout the process.
Interviews
We interviewed Brenna and our co-creation group to learn about the wealth management process from a business and psychographics perspective.
Competitive Analysis
We also analyzed the websites and marketing strategies from other top performing firms in her broker dealer.
Prototyping
Based on the language and themes from our interviews, we built 3 stylescapes to explore the ideal positioning, copywriting tone, and visual identity.
Feedback from our co-creation group guided us to what imagery and content resonates best.
The output of our research was a brand strategy report: the springboard we used to dive into her video, website, and inform the rest of her business.
Throughout the research and strategy processes, we kept Brenna close. This allowed us to move forward together taking full advantage of our research findings.
Insights
Prospects are overwhelmed and looking for trust.
Prospects are dealing with life savings, retirement, and don’t know financial services. Prospects ask family or trusted professional connections for advice because they’re looking for a solution they can trust. This is important for digital presence: People care about 'genuine' as opposed to ‘cold corporate professional'.
To see the value, prospects need to think longterm.
Financial planning is very personal. It’s about working towards a vision of your longterm future. To show this value, we need to get our audience thinking in terms of decades and not minutes.
Prospects want the best guide on their team.
The most important factors to prospects when comparing options are:
1. Competence (dependable + reliable)
2. Personal Connection (caring + human)
3. Objective validation (experience + reputation)
Wholesome State B
Client’s ideas around financial freedom aren’t about wealth or luxury, rather the wholesome benefits of a good financial position like paying for their children’s college or first house.
Journey Mapping
We presented these insights to Brenna through a journey map to show them in the context of her business.
This journey map highlights the mental journey one takes from first considering financial advising, all the way through choosing the right advisor.
Our client was an analytical business type. We presented our research in a formal style that was most likely to be heard and trusted.
Purpose
From understanding the desires and priorities of our users, we designed the site’s read sequence:
1. Win the viewers trust and earn their consideration.
2. Help viewers establish fit through seeing Brenna’s offerings and values.
3. Differentiate Apex Wealth Management from the other sites they’re comparing with a personal approach.
Wireframing
From our interviews, we took the most important functions for her site and structured them into pages.
Build
The website was custom built from scratch in webflow, using original photos we shot during the production of the film.
Script
Content starts with words. We have our clients write about their "why". Sometimes we help get their thoughts going with a list of big picture questions.
We refine their words into a script that is concise and powerful for video, while also preserving their voice.
Scenes
The script and visuals work together to build a connection with Brenna in the minds of the audience. Through scenes of her family, kids, and life outside of work, we show who Brenna is as a person.
Creative Treatment
The creative qualities of the film should visually represent the intangible value that Brenna brings to her clients: stability, control, and comfort.
These were supported by the creative choices in cinematography, lighting, camera movement, and composition.
