Mike Weir featured in Dynamic’s new marketing campaign

(August 30, 2005) Dynamic Funds had Canadian golf idol Mike Weir on hand to tee off its new national advertising campaign on Tuesday, but it was Brennan Little, his caddy, who took centre stage.

It’s a role reversal for the pair and a seemingly unusual decision on the part of Dynamic to make the celebrity take a back seat. But the Toronto-based fund company hopes the relationship between Weir and his caddy will symbolize the relationship between Dynamic and financial advisors as well as the bond between the advisor and investor.

The new campaign features Little giving Weir pointers, above the tagline “Invest with Advice.” Dynamic will unleash the campaign on television, in newspapers and on billboards across the country right after Labour Day — and just days before Weir takes to the links at the Bell Canadian Open. And as for the rowing theme, well, that ship has sailed.

The rowing theme that has been part of the company’s brand since 1997 is being dropped, although Dynamic president David Goodman says they will continue to support Rowing Canada.

“We see this is a great opportunity to talk about how important it is to talk to an advisor,” says Goodman. On its face, the campaign is about educating investors and stressing the importance of seeking solid financial advice, but the underlying goal is to increase advisor’s knowledge about Dynamic while strengthening the brand.

“Advisors to want to deal with three or four suppliers,” notes Goodman. “It is very important for our brand to be seen as one that is recognizable.”

Goodman came up with idea for the campaign came when he played a couple of holes along side Weir during a charity golf tournament in Florida about six months ago. Endeavour Marketing took care of the details. While the spots will appear for up to 14 weeks, Goodman says he hopes this will be is a multi-year partnership with Little and Weir.

Off the course, Weir knows all too well how important it is to get solid investment advice. “You’ve got to have knowledge of the people you’re dealing with,” he says. “You hear things around the locker room that guys lost their money on certain things because they don’t know what at they are investing in and they don’t know the people they are dealing with.” Weir has since included Dynamic’s funds in his portfolio.

As for Little, he says he’s not used to this sort of attention. “It’s not often I get to do these kinds of things,” he says. During the campaign, Little will sport the new Dynamic Funds brand on his sleeve. Weir will appear in all of the marketing materials, but he will not wear the logo on or off the course.

Although Little joked he wasn’t sure how much of his advice Weir takes, Mike says he’ll take it more often now that this campaign is underway. Dynamic will be hoping advisors and investors do the same.

Filed by Mark Brown, Advisor.ca