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Finance Industry Insights Marketing

Truth is a four-letter word in the financial industry

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June 19, 2018 | 4 min read

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Truth has become a four-letter word.

easyMarket main image

easyMarket

That’s because most companies, irrelevant of industry, bet on their consumers taking what they say at face value. A specific brand’s shoe will not make you faster, fast food will not make you happier or make you relive your childhood. Brokers will not make you filthy rich overnight – in fact the opposite is true:

Most traders lose.

But in an industry where opaque pricing, changing trading conditions and dealer intervention are common practice – no one is going to tell you that.

High leverages or tight spreads are often promoted, but risk management tools aren’t frequently mentioned. Although regulators force brokers to warn clients of the risks involved in trading, most disclaimers are made as subtle as possible, less visible, less offensive and ultimately less transparent - hiding them under buttons and forms.

easyMarkets, an industry veteran of close to 20 years, noticed this and set out to create a precedent.

The company decided to be as honest and transparent as possible without offending or being inflammatory. Their only purpose was to tell the truth.

The risk disclaimer became the leading statement and message of the campaign. Something that within the industry was unheard of.

“Because that is who we are, our philosophy and our mission as a company is:

Simply honest. It is not only our basic philosophy; simply honest is also our business model and innovation code: easy, transparent, accessible and friendly.”

- Nikolas Xenofontos, easyMarkets Chief Marketing Officer

easyMarkets in-house marketing team and two award winning marketing agencies curated a series of messages to find the most impactful.

Let's be honest

The result were 6 very honest statements that are widely known within the financial service industry, even amongst traders but are usually relegated to the small text of risk disclaimers:

  • Most traders lose.

  • Trading is complicated.

  • Trading carries unlimited risk.

  • You can’t beat the markets.

  • Margin trading is bad for you.

  • Say goodbye to your money.

Those messages where taken and blown up large for everyone to see. Unapologetically and bold.

The banners where posted on industry websites, blogs and broker comparison sites – displaying only the statement on a flat background. The messages were even displayed outside the industry. Anywhere people could be exposed to these provocatively honest statements. Presenting a problem without offering a solution is counterproductive though. After carefully curating their list of tools, conditions and services to fit each provocative statement, a solution was proposed for the problem they pointed towards.

According to easyMarkets after running the original provocatively honest creatives for two weeks, data was gathered. The original creatives were strategically adjusted – resulting in a significant (in the area of 50%) increase of click through traffic. This hopefully stands as an interesting insight, these intermediary steps aren’t usually revealed when companies talk about their process of building a campaign.

Being open with such a controversial set of messages carries responsibility. These statements obligate the company to proverbially “practice what you preach” proving through their actions their dedication to transparency.

Since its founding in 2001 the majority of easyMarkets efforts have been focused on becoming the most client-centric broker in the market. Although their current clients are aware of the support, service and conditions they receive – the challenge is proving that to new clients.

“We don’t believe truth is a four-letter word. We believe it’s something that is under implemented and hidden away. We believe it needs to be seen and said. Transparency should be a paramount consideration especially when dealing with financial products and clients funds.”

- Nikolas Xenofontos, easyMarkets Chief Marketing Officer

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