Q&A: Merrill Lynch Flips For FlipboardQ&A: Merrill Lynch Flips For Flipboard

The first financial services firm to adopt a channel on content aggregator Flipboard, Merrill Lynch is looking to use the news and social media app to push its brand even further to mobile users.  The wealth management firm launched the channel in November, reachable through ads inside Forbesand The Atlantic magazine’s Flipboard pages, and will be updated with three to five new pieces a week. We asked Joe Corriero, head of digital marketing for Bank of America’s Global Wealth & investment Management division why Flipboard — and it’s impact on clients as well as reps.

What appealed to the bank about Flipboard?

We know that our audience is increasingly looking at mobile devices and tablets. That’s the place where they’re consuming content more and more. Our goal is to be in those places where people want to view our content and we did have lots of choices. But the things that attracted us to Flipboard, is that one, they have a built in audience. There are already a lot of people who use Flipboard, and use regularly. The other thing we thought is, it’s an engaging experience, the way you move through it. It’s not just words, it’s visually appealing.

How does this launch help advisors?

As clients, prospects and the general public move into this mobile first world where they’re going to devices before computers, we wanted our information and our content and our thought leaders ready and accessible and we felt Flipboard did that for us. So when we have Flipboard in front of our audience, we hope they get interested and it sparks a conversation with our financial advisors.

What do you see as the advantages of using Flipboard over an advertisement?

This isn’t just for prospecting. This is for our clients as well. We have a direct URL that takes you to the Flipboard channel that we promote on our web site, and to clients. It’s a two fold approach. We want our clients to view the channel, if they have a mobile device, as a great way to experience our content. From an advertising standpoint, we’re trying to get our brand leaders and thought leaders out there. I think the content we create as a whole is more effective for us than a simple ad that says ‘Hey we’re Merrill Lynch.’