The Financial Planners Standards Council said Wednesday it is stepping up its marketing campaign promoting its Certified Financial Planner brand with a radio and transit advertising program.

The radio campaign features planners who hold the CFP credential and work in different businesses and industry sectors on one-hour, ask-the-expert-style radio shows in Halifax, Ottawa, Toronto, Winnipeg, Calgary, and Vancouver, and two in Edmonton.

“The aim is to increase public awareness of the significance of CFP certification and inform Canadians about the importance of life-long financial planning during the RRSP and tax season when personal finance is top of mind,” the FPSC said in a release.

The radio shows are supported by 30-second commercials running on the host and sister stations in each market for three consecutive weeks leading up to the shows. The commercials use quotes from Albert Einstein, Henny Youngman and Oscar Wilde to illustrate the importance of taking control of one’s financial affairs.

There will also be transit posters on the backs of buses in Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver to promote the radio shows shows, as well as Web site promotion.

All radio shows air on Saturday, Feb. 19 unless otherwise indicated. The complete schedule for talk shows is at: www.cfp-ca.org/radio_home.htm.

The radio programs and transit ads are part of a broader marketing campaign that includes national life-style and business magazine full-page advertisements. The ads feature individual CFP professionals and their diversity of expertise and practice styles, as well as their adherence to common CFP standards of competency and ethical behaviour. The campaign tag-lined “Take the next Step” is in its fourth year, and is creatively and strategically aligned with all FPSC’s consumer information and public relations activities.

“Financial planning is unregulated in provinces outside of Quebec, and this radio campaign offers an often-confused public the opportunity to empower themselves with knowledge about how financial planning, as guided by a qualified CFP professional, can help them meet their own financial and life-goals. Canadians will hear first-hand from a diverse group of individual CFP professionals who will represent and speak about the commonality of expertise and ethical commitment that is defining professionalism in financial planning in Canada today,” says FPSC Vice President, Communications & Corporate Relations Ann Bowman.