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February 17, 1997 - Strategy Magazine

AGF reprises TV series: Addresses issues in 'easygoing manner'

by Erica Zlomislic
page 2

In a bid to capture a greater share of consumer investment dollars, financial services firms are venturing beyond straight tv commercials to extend their messages into infomercials and series television.

For the second year in a row, AGF Group of Funds, a division of AGF Management, is sponsoring an educational television series that deals with a variety of different topics from investing to estate planning.

The series Your Family's Money is geared toward "mainstreamers, a very broad-based audience, across all demographics," says Eric Grove, vice-president of marketing at Toronto-based agf.

He says the series covers a wide range of topics because "a young couple that's dealing with financial issues arising from the birth of a child may have very different concerns than an individual approaching retirement."

Grove says the series addresses financial issues in an "unassuming, easygoing manner" and will include commentary and interviews from various professionals, including lawyers, accountants, financial planners, and financial experts.

The series consists of six 30-minute episodes which will run Fridays beginning Feb. 21.

agf is running a banner announcing its sponsorship at the start of the program, together with 10-sec. tags and tails at the beginning and end of each segment.

TVOntario, one of several educational networks that is airing the series across the country, is promoting the series in its own viewing guide, while agf ads, co-created by agf and tvo, ran in The Financial Post newspaper.

Last year's series, entitled What the Rich Do: What They Have and How They Keep It, was highly successful, says Grove. Both were independently produced by Toronto's Re: Source Media.

Meanwhile, Altamira Investment Services is taking a different tack with its foray into television.

The investment firm has produced a 30-min. infomercial in the guise of a sitcom. Since Jan. 18, Your Money and Your Life has featured a typical Canadian family grappling with what to do with $5,000 it recently inherited.

Every so often, financial experts such as Ellen Roseman, business editor at The Toronto Star, pop in with suggestions on what the family could do with its new-found wealth. The infomercial focuses on retirement planning and is geared toward reaching viewers during this busy rrsp season.

"We're targeting people who really haven't started investing in rrsps and if they have, then they generally went into bank deposits," says Altamira Vice-President Francis D'Andrade.

"We found that preaching didn't work and this was a new, friendly way in which this information could be delivered."

In an added effort to make sure viewers tune in, Altamira has been running 10 sec. tv promos, supported by print ads in local newspapers and TV Guide. The program is appearing nationally on stations such as Vancouver's bctv, Montreal's cfcf and Ontario's Global Television Network.

The infomercial was prepared by The Wolf Group.

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