A new creative treatment and an additional medium ramp up the Financial Planners Standards Council (FPSC) “Take the Next Step” consumer branding campaign for the Certifed Financial Planner (CFP) designation this fall.

New magazine and specialty TV advertisements employ quotations on matters of money and living from Oscar Wilde, Albert Einstein, Malcom Forbes, Pablo Picasso and others of notable fame to get Canadians talking with CFP professionals about their financial planning needs.

The television campaign consists of 10-second closed captioning sponsorship ads running from October 3 to 23 (three weeks) and November 7 to 27 (three weeks) on The Food Network, The Comedy Network, Home & Garden Television, The Life Channel, The Score, The Sports Network and The Weather Network.

“Getting the CFP brand message out to our target audience, those who are most likely to benefit from financial planning advice but who have not yet sought it, with popular prime-time TV programs such as Emeril Live, Taking it Off and Holmes on Homes creates terrific synergy with our print ads in lifestyle and personal finance magazines,” says Ann Bowman, FPSC vp communications and corporate relations. “We’re using two powerful mediums to hit our target audiences when they are most likely to be contemplating life and lifestyle changes. These ads get Canadians to act on their impulse to get professional financial planning help by engaging their interest in specific but diverse issues introduced by unexpected authorities like Mark Twain.”

FPSC estimates the TV ads will reach almost 64% of adults 25 to 54 an average of 4.7 times during the six-week run.

Eight new CFP half-page print ads are now appearing in a rotation that started in August and will run through March 2006 in six magazines: Canadian House & Home; Canadian Home Workshop; enRoute; Gardening Life; Golf Canada; Money Sense; Ski Canada; and Today’s Parent. The print campaign is estimated to reach over 60% of FPSC’s target audience 3.8 times.

Creative for the new CFP print and television ad campaign was developed by Clique, of Toronto, and the media plan was developed by Walker Media, of Oakville, Ont.

Filling in the roster of CFP brand advertisements through the year is FPSC’s RRSP-season “Ask-the-Expert” radio campaign featuring CFP professionals on talk-radio in major markets across the country.