In 1996, Merrill Lynch & Company spent $300,000 on an advertising campaign to publicize the new celebration of the Codex, the scientific manuscript Leonardo da Vinci bequeathed to the world, at the American Museum of Natural History in Manhattan.
October 1996
Merrill Lynch & Company is spending $300,000 on an advertising campaign to publicize the new celebration of the Codex at the American Museum of Natural History in Manhattan. The exhibition opened in October and will end Jan. 1.
The Codex show is the first scientific presentation Merrill has ever sponsored.
Paul W. Critchlow, a senior vice president at Merrill Lynch said. ''We want everyone to know that we're an intelligent company with intellectual capabilities. The Leonardo show exhibits the work of a Renaissance genius who understood forces that were shaping the world. And we feel that we do exactly that for our clients.''
'Now we want to be regarded not as the thundering herd but as a sophisticated adviser,'' Mr. Critchlow said.
There are actually two campaigns one by Merrill and one by the museum. The first, mounted by the brokerage firm, was produced in association with Bozell Worldwide, a unit of Bozell, Jacobs, Kenyon & Eckhardt, and is an extension of Merrill Lynch's national corporate campaign. The targets include New York-area print outlets like New York magazine, as well as national publications.
Merrill Lynch is also advertising internationally in magazines like The Economist, hoping to attract tourists to the only scheduled public showing of the Codex Leicester in the United States.
Merrill Lynch is also helping to pay for a 30-second television spot celebrating the exhibition. (''Stand in the presence of genius,'' the voice-over says.) The television campaign will run until Nov. 13.
The Leonardo show will also be promoted in Merrill Lynch's mailings to retail clients, who will be able to use their Visa cards to receive discounts on the museum's Leonardo merchandise. Gift shop items include everything from scientific toys and a CD-ROM presentation of the Codex Leicester to pop-up Leonardo books, Codex scarves, Codex ties and, yes, a Codex mouse pad.
An interesting thing is that there could be some irony in associating Merrill Lynch's newly intellectual corporate image with Leonardo. The Codex demonstrates that, despite his acknowledged genius, the master was often wrong. But Mr. Critchlow of Merrill Lynch, rationalized by saying ''The point is that Leonardo sought to understand the way things work,and it is much better to make that effort than not to.''
New York Times
October 31, 1996
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Constitution's bicentennial - Merrill Lynch
As a way of providing additional visibility to its offices around the country, Merrill Lynch & Company underwrote ''ratification parties'' in every state as part of the celebration of the Constitution's bicentennial.
July 1987
As a way of providing additional visibility to its offices around the country, Merrill Lynch & Company is underwriting ''ratification parties'' that will take place in every state as part of the celebration of the Constitution's bicentennial.
The stock broking company will spend $6 million that will finance 60 percent of the cost of the events. Each event will have the state's governor as host and will raise money for a project of the state's choice to increase understanding of the Constitution. In each event state officials, whose job it is to support the Constitution are honored.
Claudia J. Kahn, vice president, and Ann M. Simon, assistant vice president, corporate staff of Merrill Lynch are involved in the activity.
The event will coincide with the ratification date in each of the 13 original states. On Dec. 7, Delaware, the first state to ratify the document in 1787, will have a black-tie dinner dance in a hangar at Dover Air Force Base.
States other than the original 13 are selecting dates of particular historic meaning between Dec. 7 and the end of 1988.
The program was the idea of William A. Schreyer, chairman of Merrill Lynch, who wrote to each governor about the tie up according to Merrill Lynch officials.
The necessary local promotions will be handled by Merrill Lynch's advertising agency and public relations firm, Bozell, Jacobs, Kenyon & Eckhardt for advertising and Burson-Marsteller for public relations.
The brokerage will also underwrite a public television special called ''We The People'' that will run on four consecutive Tuesdays starting Sept. 22.
That series is already alluded to in an ad that Merrill Lynch began running in the spring and that has appeared in U.S. News & World Report, American Heritage and Black Enterprise. The artwork illustrates a number of the freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution, with the headline ''Guaranteed in writing.'' The tagline says, ''Your world should know no boundaries.''
The ad will run again on Sept. 17, National Constitution Day, in The Wall Street Journal, The Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia magazine.
For more details
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE7DB1139F933A25754C0A961948260
July 10, 1987
July 1987
As a way of providing additional visibility to its offices around the country, Merrill Lynch & Company is underwriting ''ratification parties'' that will take place in every state as part of the celebration of the Constitution's bicentennial.
The stock broking company will spend $6 million that will finance 60 percent of the cost of the events. Each event will have the state's governor as host and will raise money for a project of the state's choice to increase understanding of the Constitution. In each event state officials, whose job it is to support the Constitution are honored.
Claudia J. Kahn, vice president, and Ann M. Simon, assistant vice president, corporate staff of Merrill Lynch are involved in the activity.
The event will coincide with the ratification date in each of the 13 original states. On Dec. 7, Delaware, the first state to ratify the document in 1787, will have a black-tie dinner dance in a hangar at Dover Air Force Base.
States other than the original 13 are selecting dates of particular historic meaning between Dec. 7 and the end of 1988.
The program was the idea of William A. Schreyer, chairman of Merrill Lynch, who wrote to each governor about the tie up according to Merrill Lynch officials.
The necessary local promotions will be handled by Merrill Lynch's advertising agency and public relations firm, Bozell, Jacobs, Kenyon & Eckhardt for advertising and Burson-Marsteller for public relations.
The brokerage will also underwrite a public television special called ''We The People'' that will run on four consecutive Tuesdays starting Sept. 22.
That series is already alluded to in an ad that Merrill Lynch began running in the spring and that has appeared in U.S. News & World Report, American Heritage and Black Enterprise. The artwork illustrates a number of the freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution, with the headline ''Guaranteed in writing.'' The tagline says, ''Your world should know no boundaries.''
The ad will run again on Sept. 17, National Constitution Day, in The Wall Street Journal, The Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia magazine.
For more details
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE7DB1139F933A25754C0A961948260
July 10, 1987
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Merrill Lynch Bull
Merrill Lynch Bull - Black longhorn bull who was the living incarnation of the tenacity, size, and bullish strength of the Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith brokerage house. Merrill's lumbering figure could be seen cautiously walking through the aisles of a china shop or thundering down New York's Wall Street. Zane (the bull's real name) was owned by Ralph Helfer, the creator of Africa, USA an animal behavior center located in Southern California.
Source
http://www.tvacres.com/adanimals_merrill_lynch_bull.htm
Source
http://www.tvacres.com/adanimals_merrill_lynch_bull.htm
Merrill Lynch Online Foray- Change in Advertising Message
January 2000
Merrill Lynch & Co., as it starts online trading service , is trying to change its image.
The largest brokerage firm in the US will phase in a new series of television spots featuring real-life clients talking about how they have prospered financially because of their relationship with their Merrill broker. Another set of ads will promote the firm's corporate icon, the Merrill Lynch bull - the first time Merrill has featured its corporate symbol in almost a decade - only with a more modern, digital twist.
Merrill was the first of the big brokerage firms to react to the growing threat of online trading with its own low-cost offering, including $29.95 computerised stock trades.
Merrill had to re-evaluate its "Human Achievement" ads that it had run so far. The humna achievement ad had celebrated humans over computers in a not-so-subtle dig at online investing.
In the fall, Merrill replaced the Human Achievement campaign with ads that sought to integrate Merrill's bread-and-butter full-service brokerage business with its online stock-trading service. The new ads weren't universally applauded inside Merrill and are now being ditched, as company executives continue to refine the firm's image as a full-service brokerage firm offering discount trading over the Internet.
Ad experts say that Merrill Lynch is struggling with the difficulties faced by traditional brokerage firms as they begin offering do-it-yourself online investing and try to convince potential clients they can compete with more established online players such as Charles Schwab Corp., of San Francisco, and E Trade Group Inc., of Menlo Park, California.
Merrill, for its part, spent a record $130 million on ads during 1999 - almost twice as much as originally envisioned and 85 per cent more than the year before -as part of its image makeover.
Many analysts believe ads will become even more important this year, as Wall Street players jostle for position in the rapidly changing brokerage business. Merrill expects to spend $150 million in ads this year as it looks to reinforce an image of a tech-savvy company.
The new campaign was designed by WPP Group PLC's J. Walter Thompson agency.
According to James Gorman, Merrill's marketing chief, the spot on the Merrill bull underscores "the durability and power" of the Merrill brand, with a modern twist.
In the ad, Merrill "scientists" hijack a giant bronze bull statue from the firm's staid corporate headquarters and replace it with a jazzy, new digital bull ready to take on competitors as well as internal forces opposed to the electronic-commerce revolution. The client-testimonial ads show a diverse cross section of Merrill customers - artists, musicians and a former basketball player - both at work and at home, thanking their brokers for helping them reach their goals. "The heart of the brand is the client," Gorman explains.
Executives at Merrill say their strategy was to introduce new ads throughout the year, ditching the fall campaign around the first of this year for a new set of television spots.
The ads are being criticized by some. Many people inside the firm - particularly those in the firm's brokerage ranks - thought the fall spots actually demanded typical Merrill customers, showing them in various states of incomprehension and distress when discussing the firm's new menu of offerings. In one segment, Nelson, a brokerage customer, needs repeated reassurance that he will be able to speak with his broker even as the firm begins online trading. In another, several investors appeared befuddled by the mechanics of Merrill's fee-based accounts, which charge investors one fee for unlimited trading and advice.
Gorman says he has heard the criticism but insists the fall ads were a big success. Surveys, he says, showed that the commercials put Merrill on the map as far as online trading is concerned. Some Merrill officials say most brokers loved the spots because they emphasised the need for a financial adviser, even in the age of do-it-yourself investing. "There are lots of points of view about these ads, but they were memorable and they resonated," Gorman says.
For more details
http://www.expressindia.com/news/fe/daily/20000113/fco13025.html
Merrill Lynch & Co., as it starts online trading service , is trying to change its image.
The largest brokerage firm in the US will phase in a new series of television spots featuring real-life clients talking about how they have prospered financially because of their relationship with their Merrill broker. Another set of ads will promote the firm's corporate icon, the Merrill Lynch bull - the first time Merrill has featured its corporate symbol in almost a decade - only with a more modern, digital twist.
Merrill was the first of the big brokerage firms to react to the growing threat of online trading with its own low-cost offering, including $29.95 computerised stock trades.
Merrill had to re-evaluate its "Human Achievement" ads that it had run so far. The humna achievement ad had celebrated humans over computers in a not-so-subtle dig at online investing.
In the fall, Merrill replaced the Human Achievement campaign with ads that sought to integrate Merrill's bread-and-butter full-service brokerage business with its online stock-trading service. The new ads weren't universally applauded inside Merrill and are now being ditched, as company executives continue to refine the firm's image as a full-service brokerage firm offering discount trading over the Internet.
Ad experts say that Merrill Lynch is struggling with the difficulties faced by traditional brokerage firms as they begin offering do-it-yourself online investing and try to convince potential clients they can compete with more established online players such as Charles Schwab Corp., of San Francisco, and E Trade Group Inc., of Menlo Park, California.
Merrill, for its part, spent a record $130 million on ads during 1999 - almost twice as much as originally envisioned and 85 per cent more than the year before -as part of its image makeover.
Many analysts believe ads will become even more important this year, as Wall Street players jostle for position in the rapidly changing brokerage business. Merrill expects to spend $150 million in ads this year as it looks to reinforce an image of a tech-savvy company.
The new campaign was designed by WPP Group PLC's J. Walter Thompson agency.
According to James Gorman, Merrill's marketing chief, the spot on the Merrill bull underscores "the durability and power" of the Merrill brand, with a modern twist.
In the ad, Merrill "scientists" hijack a giant bronze bull statue from the firm's staid corporate headquarters and replace it with a jazzy, new digital bull ready to take on competitors as well as internal forces opposed to the electronic-commerce revolution. The client-testimonial ads show a diverse cross section of Merrill customers - artists, musicians and a former basketball player - both at work and at home, thanking their brokers for helping them reach their goals. "The heart of the brand is the client," Gorman explains.
Executives at Merrill say their strategy was to introduce new ads throughout the year, ditching the fall campaign around the first of this year for a new set of television spots.
The ads are being criticized by some. Many people inside the firm - particularly those in the firm's brokerage ranks - thought the fall spots actually demanded typical Merrill customers, showing them in various states of incomprehension and distress when discussing the firm's new menu of offerings. In one segment, Nelson, a brokerage customer, needs repeated reassurance that he will be able to speak with his broker even as the firm begins online trading. In another, several investors appeared befuddled by the mechanics of Merrill's fee-based accounts, which charge investors one fee for unlimited trading and advice.
Gorman says he has heard the criticism but insists the fall ads were a big success. Surveys, he says, showed that the commercials put Merrill on the map as far as online trading is concerned. Some Merrill officials say most brokers loved the spots because they emphasised the need for a financial adviser, even in the age of do-it-yourself investing. "There are lots of points of view about these ads, but they were memorable and they resonated," Gorman says.
For more details
http://www.expressindia.com/news/fe/daily/20000113/fco13025.html
Dad can Save, Baby can Have
Advertisement of Fidelity International in India
The caption is
DAD CAN SAVE: 10,000 RUPEES A MONTH
BABY CAN HAVE: OVER 1.1* CRORE AT 21
I noticed the advertisement first on 21 May 2008 in Brand Equity, supplement of Economic Times
The caption is
DAD CAN SAVE: 10,000 RUPEES A MONTH
BABY CAN HAVE: OVER 1.1* CRORE AT 21
I noticed the advertisement first on 21 May 2008 in Brand Equity, supplement of Economic Times
Merrill Lynch 1995 Financial Planning
June 1995
In a new $22 million campaign devised by Bozell Worldwide for Merrill Lynch, the agency uses a provocative variation -- sentimental comeuppance.
Bozell uses it to sell one of Wall Street's sourest services, financial planning.
In a television commercial out just in time for Father's Day, Bozell mixes quintessential baby-boomer memories, such as the 1950's family packing for a vacation, with the image of a sullen teen-aged hippie and a stern father, as well as more contemporary images of middle-aged angst, such as the desk with the personal computer and piles of financial records.
"Strange, I spent the first half of my life not wanting to walk in his footsteps," says the grown son about his now elderly father. "Now I only wish I could."
While the Wall Street advertising of the 1970's and 1980's emphasized such images of power and reward as "Thank you, Paine Webber!" and "When E. F. Hutton talks, people listen," Wall Street is now changing its advertising message.
Merrill Lynch, the biggest Wall Street brokerage firm, wants to emphasize the basic concerns of financial planning, such as 401(k) accounts, trusts and estate planning that many people would like to put off as long as possible. The slogan is: "The difference is planning. The difference is Merrill Lynch."
The Bozell campaign for the Merrill Lynch Private Client Group, the financial planning unit, began last year with a series of commercials that tended to emphasize individuals on their own, such as a single woman worrying about the way to take care of both her daughter and her ailing mother.
"People have strong feelings about how money affects them, but in order to get them thinking about financial planning, you have to make what amounts to mini-movies," said Dan Haughton, director of marketing services for the Merrill Lynch financial planning unit. "We have to appeal to their emotions."
The new campaign, which started last month, emphasizes two characters in each spot -- two sisters, a father and his newborn baby, a small-business owner and his son, and, above all, a father and his now-grown son.
The idea came from an Op-Ed article in The Wall Street Journal, in which a baby boomer reflected on how his father, on a salary of $5,000 a year, was able to buy a house, send two children to college and still make enough so his wife did not have to work. The baby boomer said that with he and his wife working, with combined salaries of $200,000, they would be hard pressed to match the feat.
"That was the genesis of 'Footsteps,' " as the commercial was known, according to Jay Schulberg, the vice chairman of Bozell who oversaw the Merrill Lynch campaign. The copy was written by a woman copywriter, Carol Wydra.
According to Mr. Shulberg, the copy would have been probably harder for a man to write. It was a fine line between maudlin and genuine, and you an excellent writer like Carol with feminine instict walked that line successfully.
Refer
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990CE5D61E38F93BA35755C0A963958260
In a new $22 million campaign devised by Bozell Worldwide for Merrill Lynch, the agency uses a provocative variation -- sentimental comeuppance.
Bozell uses it to sell one of Wall Street's sourest services, financial planning.
In a television commercial out just in time for Father's Day, Bozell mixes quintessential baby-boomer memories, such as the 1950's family packing for a vacation, with the image of a sullen teen-aged hippie and a stern father, as well as more contemporary images of middle-aged angst, such as the desk with the personal computer and piles of financial records.
"Strange, I spent the first half of my life not wanting to walk in his footsteps," says the grown son about his now elderly father. "Now I only wish I could."
While the Wall Street advertising of the 1970's and 1980's emphasized such images of power and reward as "Thank you, Paine Webber!" and "When E. F. Hutton talks, people listen," Wall Street is now changing its advertising message.
Merrill Lynch, the biggest Wall Street brokerage firm, wants to emphasize the basic concerns of financial planning, such as 401(k) accounts, trusts and estate planning that many people would like to put off as long as possible. The slogan is: "The difference is planning. The difference is Merrill Lynch."
The Bozell campaign for the Merrill Lynch Private Client Group, the financial planning unit, began last year with a series of commercials that tended to emphasize individuals on their own, such as a single woman worrying about the way to take care of both her daughter and her ailing mother.
"People have strong feelings about how money affects them, but in order to get them thinking about financial planning, you have to make what amounts to mini-movies," said Dan Haughton, director of marketing services for the Merrill Lynch financial planning unit. "We have to appeal to their emotions."
The new campaign, which started last month, emphasizes two characters in each spot -- two sisters, a father and his newborn baby, a small-business owner and his son, and, above all, a father and his now-grown son.
The idea came from an Op-Ed article in The Wall Street Journal, in which a baby boomer reflected on how his father, on a salary of $5,000 a year, was able to buy a house, send two children to college and still make enough so his wife did not have to work. The baby boomer said that with he and his wife working, with combined salaries of $200,000, they would be hard pressed to match the feat.
"That was the genesis of 'Footsteps,' " as the commercial was known, according to Jay Schulberg, the vice chairman of Bozell who oversaw the Merrill Lynch campaign. The copy was written by a woman copywriter, Carol Wydra.
According to Mr. Shulberg, the copy would have been probably harder for a man to write. It was a fine line between maudlin and genuine, and you an excellent writer like Carol with feminine instict walked that line successfully.
Refer
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990CE5D61E38F93BA35755C0A963958260
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