Moving the Needle: Public Awareness of CFP® Brand Shows Significant Increase

CFP Board’s Large-scale Public Awareness Campaign Showing Early Dividends

Washington, DC, November 17, 2011 – Americans now have a greater awareness and more positive impressions of the CFP® designation since the start of Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc.’s Public Awareness Campaign, according to a study commissioned by the organization.

Just sixteen weeks after beginning the campaign, the study found that 71 percent of “mass affluent” Americans were aware of the CFP® designation. This is an increase of 8 percentage points from 63 percent, the awareness level measured during week one of the campaign April 18 through April 24, 2011.

“Traditionally it is very difficult to change what consumers believe is important about a particular ‘product,’” said Sue Davidson, Executive Vice President and Managing Director of Marketing Evolution, the company who conducted the study. “Therefore it is compelling to see such positive results from a campaign of such a low spend and frequency.”

CFP Board’s 4-year nearly $40 million campaign started with online, print and 13 weeks of national cable television advertising and continues with print advertising in major personal finance magazines as well as online advertising. While this study certainly contains positive results, CFP Board will continue to assess the campaign’s effectiveness over time and make adjustments to the campaign accordingly.

“People have an increasingly positive view of the CFP® brand and how they could be helped by someone who holds the designation,” said Tom Crowder, CFP Board’s Managing Director for Marketing and Business Development.

Crowder went on to note the following personality metric and brand metric increases:

Personality Metrics (of the CFP® professional)

• An increase of thirteen points in respondents’ ratings of CFP® professionals as “hard-working”
• Eleven point increase in respondents agreeing that CFP® professionals are “ethical,” “best in the field,” “worth the money,” and “stays up to date”
• A nine point increase in “competent” and “help achieve goals”

Brand Metrics (of the CFP® designation)

• An eight point increase in intent to seek out a CFP® professional
• A seven point increase in “beneficial for those like me” and “offers high quality service”
• A six point increase in “familiarity,” “is trusted” and “unique and distinct”

“We are certainly ‘moving the needle’ and making an impact in consumers’ awareness and perceptions around CFP® professionals and the designation,” said Chief Executive Officer Kevin R. Keller, CAE. “This indicates that our creative and media strategies are working and we are on the right track. It means that CFP® professionals and the designation will be more on consumers’ minds when they are looking for competent, ethical and qualified financial professionals who can help them meet their financial and life goals.”

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