Reverse mortgage marketing can be an exacting process. Due to ongoing reputational challenges stemming from years (and loans) past, lenders have to consider the ways they can effectively recontextualize the product for some clients while broadening its appeal, compensating for misconceptions and acknowledging current realities around things like interest rates, retirement savings levels and access to equity.
While the performance metrics for the reverse mortgage industry so far this year have not been anywhere near record-breaking, this also breeds ambition for participants to focus on ways they can renew their messaging about the product. So far this year, two lenders have made eye-opening moves in their approaches to reverse mortgage messaging.
Finance of America brand consolidation
When Finance of America announced its intention to acquire then-industry leader American Advisors Group (AAG), the reverse mortgage industry initially reacted with cautious optimism. AAG had been a longtime leader not just in terms of the volume it was pulling in but also in the messaging of the industry through the employment of celebrity spokesman Tom Selleck.
While this year has come with its own challenges for the current industry leader, one way the combined entity will be moving forward is by consolidating its two core brands — Finance of America Reverse (FAR) and AAG — under the singular Finance of America umbrella.
“Americans are changing the way they think about and plan for retirement right in front of our eyes,” said Chris Moschner, FOA’s chief marketing officer. “Today, more of our customers find that their savings simply aren’t sufficient to maintain their quality of life as they age. A unified Finance of America brand means we can take a more active and focused role in this broader retirement conversation and demonstrate how home equity can positively impact people’s lives.”
Reverse mortgage industry participants explained in the past that AAG’s marketing apparatus was a big boon for the industry overall, even if an originator or other professional wasn’t directly affiliated with the company.
Kristen Sieffert, who ascended to the role of FOA president upon the completion of the acquisition, previously explained for HousingWire’s Reverse Mortgage Daily (RMD) that these marketing assets — and the services of Selleck — were an important element of the acquisition. And FOA is interested in carrying the baton formerly held by AAG.
“Our primary aim is to educate — to help reverse mortgages and our full suite of home equity solutions become a bigger part of the retirement conversation and ultimately the choice for many more homeowners in America,” Moschner said.
NAF: Telling new stories with ‘Old Wives’
Novelty is also a vehicle of value when it comes to bringing new reverse mortgage prospects into the fold, and that’s what New American Funding (NAF) sought to do with the creation of a new initiative called “Old Wives.”
There’s a lot to be said for the effectiveness of marketing campaigns and approaches that have worked for long periods of time, but trying to find new and novel ways to expand the understanding of the product category also has value.
Kevin Thomson, the company’s vice president and executive creative director who designed the campaign, was trying to find a way to create new connections with “Old Wives.“
“After speaking with the NAF reverse team and looking at the marketing landscape, it became clear we needed to shake things up,” Thomson told RMD in May. “We wanted to speak to this audience in a way that felt fresh and unique, but also echo their own point of view on aging.”
Myths and preconceptions, he said, are commonplace about the reverse mortgage product. Leaning into the idea of “old wives’ tales” helped to provide a starting point from which to develop the campaign further.
The campaign also makes use of data showing that the product category is often explored by single women. Taking the path to show that a reverse mortgage can be a tool to empower single women is one of the reasons the campaign has taken the form that it has.
“As for the future of the campaign, I’d love for this to potentially grow beyond the world of social and expand into new media,” Thomson said.
In one respect, the campaign already has made an expansion into newer media by employing generative AI in the creation of its visual materials.
Later phases of the campaign are planned to take on a testimonial format with real “old wives” who can talk more about their experiences with the product in retirement. But NAF reverse mortgage leader Shannon Robinson previously explained that the company wanted to first roll out the concept as imagined by the creative team.
“This was the first campaign that we’ve ever done where it’s completely artificial intelligence,” Robinson said. “[The team] is going to bring them to life next in short videos that we’ve already tested, and that will be the next release in the summer. You’ll start to see these women talk through this and have some fun with the concepts.”
