Brand Campaigns that Stand Up to CFO Scrutiny


Michael Rodov

March 12, 2026

Boutique agency for financial brands that combines precision execution and obsessive attention to data to drive business results.

  • Investment Discipline
    • Same rigor our clients apply to their AUM
  • Special Forces
    • Not a standing army
    • Agile
    • Financially fluent
    • Modern tools & human expertise

The Recognition Gap for Asset Managers

Marketing Contribution to AUM Is Not Directly Measurable

We have to Use Proxies

Media Metrics Are Easily Gamed

Go down funnel for proxies

Site Engagement is a better proxy

  • Connect ads to analytics
  • Check how real the traffic is

Brand Studies Are A Strong Proxy to the Core Business Question

Which is, of course, did this ad lead to AUM?

Let's Make This Real

Case Study: EQL Advisor Targeted Brand Campaign

  • 10-year-old ETF (~$500M AUM)

EQL ETF Media Plan

Measured via Brand Study

Display

Advisor‑targeted

  • Publisher 1st‑party data
  • Barrons, Bloomberg, CNBC, Investopedia, IBD, Marketwatch, WSJ
  • Aug 1 - Oct 31, 2025


Connected TV

"Big Three" Financial Media Only

  • Bloomberg, CNBC,

    Fox Business/News
  • Aug 1 - Oct 31, 2025


Digital Out Of Home

Premier Advisor Conference

  • Schwab Impact

    Nov 4-6, 2025

Consideration

“In the future, would you consider EQL – ALPS Equal Sector Weight ETF?”

Brand Familiarity

“How familiar are you with EQL – ALPS Equal Sector Weight ETF?”

Brand Preference

“Which of these brands do you prefer?”

EQL ETF Advisor Display Brand Lift

August 1 - October 31, 2025

How did we design this in a way that we and the client trusted?

Brand Studies Are Statistically Sound

  • Control Groups
  • Randomization
  • Varying levels of statistical confidence
  • Incremental Lift (proportion comparison)
  • Questions Asked In Standardized Ways

A Few Best Practices

  1. Maintain Targeting Consistency
  2. Design to Avoid Contaminating Results
  3. Plan Around Statistical Significance







1. Maintain Targeting Consistency

Brand surveys work with your audience targeting

  • 1st party advertiser data

    E.g.: Site pixel or CRM list
  • 1st party publisher data
  • Publisher allow list
  • 3rd party audience data

But mixing targeting in a study can bias results

  • Why we excluded the EQL CTV Campaign from the study

2. Avoid Contaminating Results

EQL Advisor-Targeted Display (Brand Study) Aug 1 - Oct 31, 2025
EQL DOOH Campaign (No Brand Study) Nov 4 - 6, 2025

Schwab Impact: Denver Airport

Direct Sponsorship with Clear Channel For All 3 Concourses and Programmatic Curation

Schwab Impact: Surrounding the Convention Center

Direct Sponsorship with Outfront Media and Programmatic Curation

Schwab Impact: Conference Kiosks

100% Share of Voice

3. Plan Around Statistical Significance

Rule of Thumb is a Minimum 5 Million Impressions For a Statistically Sound Study

Busting The Budget Myth for Awareness Studies

In practice, a good brand study can fit inside a ~$100K media budget.

The Trade Desk:

$0.45 CPM or 
$1,500 Flat Fee 
Plus DSP fees

YouTube (DV360), Facebook, Amazon DSP

 Complimentary

Brand Marketing ROI to be Proud Of

Advisor Brand Study

  • Likelihood to invest: +33 pts
  • Top-of-funnel awareness: +8.8 pts
  • Competitive strength: +12.4 pts

Media Scale

  • ~17.7M advisor‑targeted display impressions
  • ~1.3M CTV impressions
  • ~10.5M DOOH impressions at Schwab Impact

Media Cost

  • Under $400k including agency fees

But, what about creative?

Tastemakers Reign Supreme

Virgil Ablooh: Nike "The Ten" Collection

Wes Anderson: H&M's "Come Together" Ad

Pharrell Williams: Louis Vuitton Men's SS24 Runway Show

Fast Creative Is Table Stakes

Thank you!

If You Want To Consider AdNode For Your Brand

Presentation Slides: adnode.net/gramercy

Contact:

  • Mike Rodov, CEO: mike@adnode.net