• by Larissa Faw , January 14, 2021

Vanguard is starting 2021 with a new agency partner after assigning media buying and planning duties to Razorfish. The Publicis Groupe-owned shop is tasked with developing a media strategy to effectively reach potential investors by supporting its message of “simplicity, low costs, and client focus.”

Razorfish declined to comment and deferred to Vanguard. The financial company did not respond to a request for comment.  

Vanguard’s last major ad campaign launched in 2019 and included its first-ever TV spot designed to reflect the company’s diverse membership base. According to an article published in the Philadelphia Business Journal to announce the new campaign, Vanguard worked with Brooklyn-based advertising agency Huge to develop a media strategy aimed at those looking to invest within the next 12 months. Then it formulated a campaign to reach them on television, social media, podcasting, digital and some print, according to the article.

One key insight was the discovery the desired audience liked to watch sports, resulting in several media buys on NBC sports, including regional networks such as NBC Sports Philadelphia. Other outlets airing the ads include USA Network and the Food Channel.

The “How Radical” campaign placed ads on financial websites such as Yahoo Finance and the WSJ, along with print ads in the New York Times and The Atlantic, reports PBJ. The company also focused on sponsoring podcasts, such as The Daily, the morning podcast from the NYT.