Performance & Results > Internet Strategy Transformation

Internet Strategy and Branding

The Challenge:

Ziegler's former Internet strategy was a fragmented approach with a complex and long history including a site re-branding, multiple vendors, and an inconsistent and hard to use interface. The sites lacked content, both in breadth and depth. The sites addressed the minimum level of information in an attempt to meet very general marketing brochure requirements with no consideration for the type of visitor. To rectify this challenge, I created and executed a comprehensive 5 year Internet Strategy.

The Transformation:

Ziegler now competes within the Internet Space by focusing on the Health Care, Senior Living, Church and School, Registered Independent Advisor/Broker Dealer and Individual Investor customer segments. Ziegler further differentiates itself within these segments as a client intimate, full service provider of financial and investing advice and products, leveraging the firms underwriting experience, intellectual capital capabilities and best of breed product reputation.

Ziegler's competitive Internet position is controlled in part by Ziegler's Internet Branding Strategy. Ziegler's Internet Branding strategy has both strategic components that guide style execution and tactical elements that reinforce the strategic components.

To support Internet Marketing, the strategy incorporated Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Search Engine Registration (SER) best practices from the ground up; these elements were inherent within the sites' architecture and Content Management System.

To further support this competitive position, Ziegler has adopted a Client/Market Focus as its core strategy for site structure. This can be described as follows:

Build individual, targeted sites that encompass the intersection of our capabilities and our audience needs
Ziegler.com becomes a portal through which visitors access sites targeted to their specific needs. Individual sites are used within the marketing mix of our business units
Where practical, sites have a common “Internet Brand Presence” with shared functionality, common interfaces and content and leverage our core Internet technology base

The Result:

Ziegler, using a content management system as a foundation, has built an infrastructure for the deployment of client centric Internet sites and other Internet based opportunities. Ziegler is leveraging this infrastructure to help it achieve its business goals by seeking out opportunities to effectively apply the technologies to the needs of its stakeholders and business operations. Internet Marketing,Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Search Engine Registration (SER) efforts resulted in a highly effective Google Ball and Internet presence.

In additional to its Intranet, Ziegler now has over 15 Internet sites centered on the needs of its clients: