• by Tanya Gazdik , April 20, 2010

iShares, a leader in Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), has launched an integrated, multiplatform marketing campaign, its first since the company was acquired by BlackRock in December 2009.

The campaign, which introduces the tagline 'Keep Evolving,' includes digital, mobile, print and TV as well as trade marketing support, a key audience for iShares, BlackRock's ETF business.

TV spots launch April 20 while print and online launched on March 29 in business publications including The Wall Street Journal, Barron's, The New York Times and WSJ.com, Morningstar.com, Yahoo Finance, and relevant trade sites such as seekingalpha.com. The brand is also a lead sponsor of The Wall Street Journal's iPad app. Media spending for the campaign was not disclosed.

The campaign includes three TV spots, airing on CNBC, Fox News and Bloomberg. One spot features the story of the silent, electric garbage trucks in England that are powered by the garbage they collect. The voiceover asks: "Transportation keeps evolving. Shouldn't the way you invest in it evolve as well?" The tagline relates to the nature of ETFs, which are innovative, next-generation financial tools, most of which are index funds, that allow investors to access a wide range of asset classes, sectors and emerging markets.

The TV spots will be available in a longer-form documentary style at ishares.com/evolve beginning April 22. iShares is the lead sponsor of the ETF center on WSJ.com, and is launching a new mobile site, created by IPG mobile agency Ansible, later this month. Digital ads have also been placed on Bloomberg terminals, a core resource for institutional investors.

The campaign will be integrated across a comprehensive relationship marketing program and financial professional communications, developed by MRM Worldwide for iShares ETFs. This includes digital and direct media, with plans for expansion to emerging and mobile platforms.

The campaign was developed by McCann Erickson and MRM Worldwide in San Francisco, and targets financial advisors and institutional investors. It is the first work from McCann and MRM since the agencies were appointed by iShares late last year. Media planning and buying, mobile site hosting, emerging media platforms, SEM/SEO, and integrated media sponsorships are handled by MEC.