RBC Wealth Management, part of the Toronto- and New York-listed bank, has embarked upon a multi-year global advertising campaign targeting high net worth individuals and their advisors.

The campaign is the first global one specifically targeting wealth clients for the bank, and will use both print and online channels to reach the high net worth market and their intermediary advisors, including lawyers and accountants. The pillars of the branding drive will be RBC's recent ranking as one of the world's top 10 wealth managers, according to Scorpio Partnership, its Canadian heritage, the range of services it provides globally, and integrity.

The positioning statement the firm has chosen to unify the campaign is "There's Wealth in Our Approach."

"Raising awareness of our brand globally is a crucial part of our objective to both increase our leading market share in Canada and accelerate our growth internationally," said George Lewis, group head, RBC Wealth Management.

Although global, the campaign will focus specifically on Europe, which Lewis said he felt was the right target market in the current environment, as the uncertainty there will prompt HNW individuals to look for wealth management providers that embody integrity and stability – traits the bank is emphasizing in its advertising material.

Alongside the print and online advertising, there will be a renewed focus on sponsoring activities such as golf and visual arts, and promoting sustainable water use.

As firms jostle to win wallet share in what is undeniably a challenging market environment on a number of fronts, branding and marketing strategy is being given increasing weight by senior management teams; one only has to look at increasing number of firms which now have branding and marketing represented at executive committee level to see that this function is increasingly driving strategy, rather than being the poor relation it once was.