OppenheimerFunds digital campaign targets advisers

OppenheimerFunds Inc. is moving away from traditional print ads and brochures to focus on new digital marketing strategies aimed at financial advisers. The fund firm has started placing QR ads in magazines targeting advisers. These ads include codes which readers can scan with their smart phones to view online commentaries from portfolio managers. Oppenheimer launched the QR campaign promoting its Rochester municipal bond funds in September and hopes to expand the campaign early next year to include its global offerings, said Martha B. Willis, chief marketing officer. The new ads are part of Oppenheimer's push to make digital a main component of its marketing toward advisers, she said. “Digital used to be Pluto, but now it's come to the center of our marketing solar system,” Ms. Willis said. Oppenheimer reorganized its marketing department last spring, laying off about 20 employees and creating a division dedicated to providing clients with investment commentary and research. The shake-up came months after the firm settled lawsuits with Oregon and Illinois over allegations of how the firm managed the states' Section 529 college savings plans. The states claimed that Oppenheimer turned its Core Bond Fund into a hedge-fund-like investment that took speculative risks. As part of the marketing shakeup, Oppenheimer now is focusing more on new social media such as Twitter and LinkedIn, as well as on posting portfolio manager commentaries on YouTube and through a partnership with Thomson Reuters, Ms. Willis said. “In the past we used to create brochures for the sales teams, but through digital I can reach more people,” she said. Overall, 20,000 people have viewed OppenheimerFunds' portfolio managers' commentaries through the various outlets, Ms. Willis said. She could not say how many have scanned the QR ads. So far this year, Oppenheimer has seen 100,000 advisers sell its funds, a 35% increase from last year. The firm expects at least another 20% increase next year, Ms. Willis said. Using online portfolio manager commentaries, particularly ones highlighting its global and muni expertise, makes sense given those are two of the firm's strengths right now, said David Kathman, an analyst at Morningstar Inc. “OppenheimerFunds has made a lot of changes since the whole debacle with the Core Bond Fund,” he said. “People are still wary of them, so this is a good way to get their message across.”