How Fisher Funds uses emotion to cut through a rational market

You may know Fisher Funds as your KiwiSaver provider, or you may put aside a certain amount of your monthly savings into its Managed Funds – or perhaps you know it by its distinctive New Zealand kingfisher (kōtare) brand mascot.

Fisher Funds is one of New Zealand’s largest specialist wealth management companies and has been around for over 25 years, having been founded in 1998.

The financial services industry in New Zealand has changed a lot in that time, with new players and shifting cultural attitudes to money and investing, and Fisher Funds has evolved right alongside it. Though its mission has always been the same – to make investing accessible and enjoyable – it has transformed from a more rational founder-led company to a contemporary brand that is more equipped to create Future Demand.

Fisher Funds helps New Zealanders achieve their ambitions 💪

“The focus on brand marketing has been a recent shift for the company, and it’s come with the aim of differentiating ourselves in a highly competitive market,” Andy Havill, Head of Brand and Marketing at Fisher Funds, said. With over 30 players competing for New Zealanders’ retirement and investment savings, it was clear that Fisher Funds needed to cut through a sea of sameness – and resonate with customers on an emotional level.

Consumers these days are spoilt for choice when purchasing a product or service, whether that’s fashion, homeware, or an investment provider. When faced with such a plethora of options, consumers often fall back on their emotional connection to a brand to help in their decision-making process.

Daniel Kahneman, the father of behavioural economics, presents a theory in his book “Thinking Fast and Slow" which breaks down the way we make decisions into two ways: ‘System 1’ and ‘System 2’. ‘System 1’ covers the instinctual, subconscious way of making decisions, where we rely on our emotions, whereas ‘System 2’ rests on rational analysis.

We make 95% of our decisions using the System 1 way of thinking.

Fisher Funds supports people making informed decisions and wanted to tap into both the rational and emotional analysis people use when decision-making. It wanted to shift the perception of the brand to a contemporary one that would appeal to a broader audience and, of course, get them to emotionally connect with Fisher Funds.

Fisher Funds launched a new visual identity and used it within a wide-reaching brand campaign called “Ambition is…” anchored in the idea of exploring New Zealander’s authentic and varied ambitions, positioning the brand as a cheerleader of their biggest aspirations. This covered everything from a young girl wanting to get to the big stage, to an older man trying to hit the road for a once-in-a-lifetime journey with his furry best friend.

The campaign spanned out-of-home, digital and other audiovisual content with the tagline “Fund your ambition.”

This deliberate shift to brand building has delivered results 📈

After launching in July 2023, Fisher Funds saw an initial 4% lift in awareness in the first month alone, alongside a 2% increase in consideration.

Seeing this initial success, Fisher Funds continued to invest in brand marketing and, from July 2023 to September 2024, its awareness has increased from 48% to 62% (up 14%). If we’re talking about humans, that’s around ~277k more people who are now aware of the Fisher Funds brand.

In fact, all stages of their funnel have increased, including an impressive 6% increase in Consideration, 7% increase in Usage and 3% increase in Preference (the hardest metric to move).

For context, in Fisher Funds’ category, out of the 12 competitors it’s tracked against, only five other wealth management companies shifted Preference up in that time.

From a brand point of view, they’ve also successfully positioned themselves as not only more relatable to New Zealanders, but also as an expert in the field, scoring the highest amongst competitors as a provider which “offers expert advice” among those aware of the brand.

Continuing to invest in brand

“Investment in brand marketing is not only driving positive movement in our brand metrics, but we’ve also seen cost efficiencies in our performance marketing,” Andy said. “These outstanding results have resulted in reinvestment in brand this year.”

Doubling down on brand marketing, Fisher Funds has launched phase 2 of their ‘Ambition is…’ campaign, bringing to life authentic client ambitions through emotive storytelling. These have been rolled out across TV, VOD, and OOH. Phase 2 has seen some fantastic initial results with a further lift in brand awareness by 5% in the month these have been in the market.

“Consistency is key, both in how the brand shows up and in ensuring you’re in the market regularly to drive saliency,” Andy reiterates.

Fisher Funds are continuing to explore new channels to align with ambitious New Zealanders, finding them where they are. For example, Fisher has sponsored World of WearableArt in 2024, an annual design competition that sees these very New Zealanders and global designers bringing their creative flare for fashion to life through inspirational garments.