Reframing investment as a force for good

We were appointed lead global strategic & creative agency in 2021 and we were tasked with creating a global campaign for their new brand strategy & positioning following their controversial merger and name change from Standard Life Aberdeen to abrdn. The business wanted to take the opportunity to position itself as more progressive, ESG focused and culturally aware.

The campaign introduces a new brand platform ‘The Power of Investment’, which sets out to reframe investment as a force for good as well as reflecting the simplification of the business with more ways to help people plan, save and invest for their future. 

Research from abrdn found more than half of people (54%) didn’t realise that their money can have a positive impact on society. The new campaign aims to challenge this and change perceptions of investment from a pursuit that is only about financial return, to a power for positive change. 

The campaign aims to show how positive investments can create a better future for individuals, companies, countries, the climate and ultimately the world, taking us beyond pure financial return, to social return: jobs created, technologies developed, medicines discovered, and solutions unearthed.

Across a series of B2B, B2C + Internal communications, we positioned abrdn as a progressive investment firm. Importantly, we re-steered the business, asking investors to focus on the value the rebrand will bring to them and their portfolios versus the vowels that had been removed from the brand name. Amongst a very critical Adviser Vector audience (IFAs), we played a significant role in reversing the negative reaction to the transition. And for the broadest audience of all – Mass Affluent Consumers – we cemented abrdn as a reputable, future-focused brand in a category that is overwhelmingly skeptical. 

The integrated campaign went live across TV, OOH, radio, press, digital advertising, social and PR in November 2021 and in 2022 continues to be rolled out globally in Singapore, Hong Kong, Germany & Switzerland.