Financial Horizons Group
Credentials Package
Objective
Financial Horizons Group (FHG) is a Managing General Agency (MGA). Initially established in 1990 as a financial planning firm, it evolved to become a provider of life company products and services to 1000 independent Canadian brokers in Ontario and the Maritime provinces.
The firm made the decision to expand further by acquiring partners in Quebec, Manitoba, Alberta and British Columbia, becoming a dominant MGA with more than 4000 brokers across Canada.
The firm’s circa 1999 image was due for an overhaul to reflect its new position in the market. The brand needed to be refreshed with a new corporate identity and images that captured its persona for the business. FHG wanted to refresh its dated image without straying far from its origins.
Solution
Due to the nature of the business, the identity needed to work electronically as well as in print. The firm needed a multi-purpose pocket folder for all brokers and regional managers to package sales and training materials, contracts and documents. Since the sales kit would be broadly distributed, it was identified as the key tool for launching the new brand identity, focusing on the unique strengths of FHG as well as the business opportunity for recruiting new and younger brokers.
Impagination refreshed the brand’s logo and created a multi-purpose sales kit that ensured everyone – staff, clients and prospects – would all be clear on the value proposition and reputation that FHG has worked for so many years to build.
The logo is composed of the three colors based on the original logo – a dark blue at the base, glowing gold at the center that stretches from the horizon towards the light blue space above. The font used for the company name is contemporary yet rock-solid, grounding the sphere in the here and now. These elements combine to project a contemporary, clean and strong impression.
The sales kit is both a brochure and a folder. The cover features a fresh, full-bleed image of engaging young professionals. With a growth strategy that focuses on a younger demographic, it is critical to reposition the corporate image towards this goal. The luminous images and contemporary colors reflect the new identity. Building on the look and feel of the corporate identity, the sales kit embodies the full range of branded elements including images, fonts, message and style.
Impact
Financial Horizons Group unveiled its new identity and sales kit to its regional partners across Canada and its head office on April 3, 2013. Regional meetings reinforced the introduction of the new brand. New signage, along with a host of support material including business cards, pens, mugs, mouse pads, USB sticks, wallpaper, screen savers and notepads were delivered together with the new sales kits to each of 11 regional offices in an orchestrated launch.
Financial Horizons Group has embedded its new image into the minds and hearts of its broker clients, partners and regional offices. Within only a few weeks, the sales kits were reprinted as demand exceeded the supply.
“We designed our retired logo on a napkin in 1999, and today have a refreshed, exciting, and vibrant new brand that speaks to how much our business has grown over the past 13 years. Without a doubt, this new look allows us to reach new heights within the industry, by focusing on providing a consistent, original, professional and refreshed approach to our clients.”
– John Hamilton, President, Financial Horizons Group
“Deciding to refresh our brand was a major decision for our company. Since we have completed this major undertaking we have increased our visibility and professionalism across the country and have truly become a national brand. The feedback from our regional offices has been extremely positive in terms of the new look and feel of our refreshed brand. I can say that having the new broker sales kits has increased our clients’ awareness of our brand, culture, and the overall value proposition of joining Financial Horizons Group.”
– Darrin Stasso, Business Development Manager, Financial Horizons Group