Finance of America Brand Integration
The reverse mortgage industry initially reacted with cautious optimism when Finance of America announced its intention to acquire American Advisors Group (AAG), then the industry leader. AAG had been a leader for many years not only in transaction volume but also in getting the industry's message across through its hiring of celebrity spokesman, Tom Selleck.
While this year has presented its own challenges for the current industry leaders, one way the combined company will move forward is by consolidating its two core brands, Finance of America Reverse (FAR) and AAG, under a single Finance of America umbrella.
Chris Moschner
“Americans are changing the way they think about and plan for retirement before our eyes,” said Chris Moschner, chief marketing officer at FOA. “Today, many of our clients feel that savings alone are not enough to maintain their quality of life as they age. Finance of America's unified brand will enable us to play a more active and focused role in the broader discussion about retirement and demonstrate how home equity can positively impact people's lives.”
Reverse mortgage industry insiders have explained in the past that AAG's marketing structure has been a huge boon to the industry as a whole, even if originators and other professionals are not directly affiliated with the company.
Kristen Seifert, who became president of FOA after the acquisition closed, explained to HousingWire's Reverse Mortgage Daily (RMD) that these marketing assets and Selleck's services were key factors in the acquisition, and that FOA is interested in taking over the baton formerly held by AAG.
“Our main goal is education — to help make reverse mortgages and a full suite of home equity solutions a bigger part of the retirement conversation and ultimately an option for more homeowners in America,” Moschner said.
NAF: Telling new stories with “Old Wives”
Novelty can be a valuable tool when it comes to bringing in new reverse mortgage prospects, and New American Funding (NAF) has set out to do just that with the launch of a new initiative called “Old Wives.”
While there’s much to be said about the effectiveness of marketing campaigns and approaches that have worked over time, there’s also value in finding new and novel ways to broaden understanding of your product category.
Kevin Thomson, the company's vice president and executive creative director, who designed the campaign, was looking for a new way to connect with the “old wives.”
A sample from New American Funding's “Old Wives” reverse mortgage campaign.
“After speaking with the NAF Reverse team and reviewing the marketing landscape, it was clear that we needed to change things up,” Thompson told RMD in May. “We wanted to speak to this audience in a way that felt fresh and unique, but also reflected their own perspective on aging.”
He said myths and preconceived notions about reverse mortgage products are common, and leaning on the idea of ”old legends” helped provide a starting point to develop the campaign further.
The campaign also leverages data that shows this product category is popular among single women, which is one of the reasons the campaign took this form – setting a course to show how reverse mortgages can be an empowering tool for single women.
“Looking at the future of the campaign, we're excited to see it expand beyond the social world and into new media,” Thomson said.
In a sense, the campaign has already expanded into new mediums by employing generative AI to create its visual materials.
Later in the campaign, real-life “old ladies” will be invited to recount their retirement experiences with the product, but Shannon Robinson, head of NAF Reverse Mortgage, previously explained that the company wants to first roll out the concepts dreamed up by its creative team.
“This was the first campaign we've ever done that was entirely powered by artificial intelligence,” Robinson said.[The team] We are bringing them to life in short videos that we have already tested, and we are planning our next release in the summer, where you will be able to see women talking about this and having fun with the concept.”