Half-million dollar print advertising campaign promotes financial planning and CFP®

May 23, 2001, Toronto - This month, Financial Planners Standards Council (FPSC) launches its half-million dollar print advertising campaign educating Canadians about the merits of seeking professional financial planning advice from planners who hold the internationally recognized Certified Financial Planner® (CFP®) designation.

Under the creative direction of Richard Clewes of ByAssociation Inc. in Toronto, FPSC continues its "Take the Next Step" campaign in magazine and newspaper advertisements that convey in story format, the important role financial planning plays in both the professional and personal lives of CFP practitioners working in various segments of the financial services industry. The advertisements appear in May issues of Maclean's Platinum editions and will appear through to the end of February in consumer publications including ROB Magazine, MoneySense, National Post Business Magazine, Time, Financial Post and The Globe and Mail.

"With these ads, we're educating the public about the importance of financial planning and of seeking truly competent professional advice," says FPSC President Don Johnston. "We have built a sizable body of professional planners dedicated to and capable of meeting the financial planning needs of the Canadian public. The next step is to draw Canadians' attention to what the CFP represents and what professionals who have earned this professional designation can do for them."

"Our 1999 consumer survey suggests Canadians are still unsure of what financial planning is and the extent to which professional planning advice can help them achieve their life-goals," says FPSC Director of Communications Ann Bowman. "These new ads show the planner to be not only a highly skilled and dedicated professional, but also an individual who understands our desires to take control of our day-to-day lives and our futures."

The first advertisement to run tells the story of how a CFP professional and bank manager "cleared the way for customers who took the first step in financial planning" by shoveling a path to his office in snowy Erin, Ontario, this past winter. In another, an independent planner with the CFP credential plans for his own dream-home-theatre and the expanding needs and desires of his growing family, demonstrating an understanding of the importance of helping his clients to achieve their own dreams.

All FPSC's print ads direct Canadians to the FPSC website at ww.cfp-ca.org for more information on financial planning and the professionals qualified to advise them on it. The website also displays all of FPSC's current and past ads.

Financial Planners Standards Council is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to benefiting and protecting the Canadian consumer by establishing and enforcing education, examination, experience and ethics requirements for financial planners who choose to earn the CFP designation. FPSC is the Canadian licensor of the internationally recognized CFP certification marks used by 60,000 planners in 15 countries around the world. There are about 13,000 planners licensed to use these marks in Canada.