The Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards is coming to a cable TV channel, magazine, and website near you. The board last month launched the first wave in a four-year marketing campaign to promote the CFP brand to the public, at a cost of nearly $40 million. The targeted audience is the mass affluent (defined as those with $100,000 to $1 million in assets) between the ages of 35 and 64. The TV ad aired nationally on April 18, the IRS tax-filing deadline. There's also the letsmakeaplan.org website, which investors can use to find local CFP advisors and to link to CFP board consumer advocate Eleanor Blayney's Twitter site.
The goal is to build awareness of the CFP designation with investors who would prefer to work with an advisor. The 63,000 FAs with the CFP mark shouldn't expect a slew of new clients to start walking through their doors this year as a result of the campaign, Chief Executive Kevin Keller cautions; “It takes a long while to build awareness,” he says. But advisors can expect a $12 monthly increase in their dues starting this summer to cover the cost of the promotion.
