Raising the marketing bar
Aggressive strategies have set the company apart from conventional wealth-management brands
Establishing a new company in SA’S established financial services industry, where large companies with a wide range of products and services and well-recognised brands dominate, requires a strong marketing focus.
Magnus Heystek, co-founder, director and lead investment strategist for Brenthurst, developed a deep appreciation for this at the start of his career as a journalist.
From the beginning, Brenthurst has reinvested 10% of profit into marketing. “Coming from journalism, you know that a brand is vital and to build a brand takes a very long time, a lot of money and a lot of care,” says Heystek. “In our business you are fighting very large companies with deep pockets.”
A lot of the marketing initiatives and brandbuilding of the early days of Brenthurst were driven by Heystek himself. He was a pioneer in reporting on personal finance issues in The Saturday Star and later through a long-running radio show on Talk Radio 702. The programme was on air for 11 years and was the front-runner for the popular The Money Show, which continues to this day.
His controversial views and conviction that unscrupulous investment practices and misinformation must be highlighted in the best interest of consumers, is something he’s known for. He is a popular guest every week on the public broadcaster station RSG’S Geldsake show, produced and presented by the Moneyweb team.
Though he was the public face of Brenthurst in the early years, the company’s marketing has expanded considerably to elevate the brand to the position it is in today, which saw it nab the Intellidex award for Best Boutique Wealth Manager in SA. The company has six offices countrywide.
“Our first additional office outside Johannesburg was set up in the Cape in Belville, followed by the opening of offices in Pretoria, Cape Town, Sandton and now also in Stellenbosch,” says Butchart.
Brenthurst marketing director and co-founder Sue Heystek says client communication is a key component of the marketing mix to build the brand and strengthen client relationships.
“We have developed a comprehensive, integrated marketing strategy which includes direct communication to our database, events and seminars, advertising, public relations, sponsorships and social media. These are all equally important to build the brand,” she says.
“Constant client communication provides clients a sense of comfort when markets are affected by upsets, such as the recent political issues we have experienced in SA — and around the world.”
In addition to purely investment-related seminars, hosted in association with companies included on the Brenthurst platform — the likes of Investec, Stanlib and Counterpoint Asset Management — the company devised a seminar series known as SA Quo Vadis?, which provides attendees with a broader view of different issues affecting SA and how these affect the outlook for investments.
“We started these seminars because we thought that institutional economists were not telling the truth about what is going on in SA. They are under political pressure to sanitise what they say and not rock the boat. Meanwhile, we were looking at the stats and the stats weren’t great,” he says, referring to, the country’s ballooning budget and current account deficits.
Brenthurst’s road shows are always fully attended, says Paul Hansen, director of retail investing at Stanlib, who has presented at these events. “There is a buzz with Brenthurst. They attract new clients and people are drawn to them,” says Hansen.
Brenthurst’s weekly radio appearances are a huge strength. That they have offices in Gauteng and the Western Cape is unusual, says Hansen. “Their staff members have been amazingly consistent and have been with them for a long time.”
Heystek has got strong opinions, is a deep thinker and a cautious investor for his clients.
Apart from the regular appearances, which include taking questions from listeners on RSG, the Brenthurst team has regular slots on other radio stations in the regions where it operates. In Pretoria, Burger is a regular commentator on Pretoriafm and in Cape Town, Butchart and Richus Nel present their investment insights on a weekly programme on Fine Music Radio.