QuickClose Product Branding and Introduction

The campaign was designed to support the introduction of the company’s QuickClose Program, a package of financial services that provides lenders with the backroom support to write mortgages quicker and for less money.  This combination of services had never been bundled together before in the industry.  That meant that the campaign had to educate the target audience on what the package would do and why it was important to them. 

Research and a day-long brainstorming session among the company’s management and sales people indicated that the target audience valued the ability to close loans quicker than their competitors over all factors.  Often, antiquated technology was the reason that lenders could not deliver the speed they needed to close loans before their competitors

The campaign was aimed at the top 150 largest mortgage lenders in the country.  The brand platform was built around the impact that slow back-end technology has on the ultimate processing of a loan.  It positioned QuickClose as the process that can mobilize the latest technology to allow lenders to process more loans quicker and faster, giving them the jump on their competition.   

Once the brand platform was in place, we used a combination of public relations, trade shows and direct marketing.  All print materials were built around the visual of a mismatched car, with the antiquated back-end (represented by an old car) slowing down the progress of the updated front-end (represented by a sports car).  To tie-in with the sport car branding, we dubbed the product, “The QuickClose Performance Package.”  The campaign included: a brochure, presentation folder, note pads and mailing labels. 

Since this combination of services had never been packaged together in this industry, research indicated that it would be met with some level of distrust.  The direct mail campaign was designed to deal with this.  As the campaign progressed, each member of the target audience received a copy of the book Who Moved My Cheese, a management book that deals with peoples’ need to adapt to change, accompanied by a personal note from sales people.  The mailings were done in phases to specific target regions, enabling sales people to make qualified sales calls to interested lenders in one region at a time.  All mailings were followed up with phone calls designed to secure face-to-face sales visits. 

The QuickClose Performance Package was introduced at the mortgage lenders’ biggest trade show.  Campaign materials at the show included:

• A display using the same graphics as the brochure
• The brochure
• Matchbox car imprinted with “QuickClose”
• Reprints of an article from the Risk Management Association’s monthly magazine, The RMA Journal, entitled “When Technology Outpaces Workflow”

Contacts at the show generated adoption of the QuickClose Performance Package within months of the show.  

The PR campaign was designed to support both the product introduction and the attitude changes needed to establish the product.  It included:

• Feature Story – “When Technology Outpaces Workflow.” 
• Press release – Product release on the new process
• Cover story in the company newsletter.

Summary of Results

The campaign was been very successful.  Within 18 months of the product’s introduction to the marketplace, over one million home equity loans were closed using the product.  From a public relations point of view, interest was also enthusiastic.  Most major trade publications used the release and feature story, resulting in over 200,000 impressions.

Click here to view full story in PDF format.