14th September 2021
JUPITER ASSET MANAGEMENT IS THE MOST “WOKE” FINANCIAL BRAND IN UK POLL
● Jupiter Asset Management lambasted for being too “woke” over advertising gimmick involving a hermit crab and claims of sustainability
● Respondents criticised the company for “virtue signalling” and “pretending to be something they are not”
● Standard Life’s relaunch was branded “ridiculous”, “embarrassing” and “an act of corporate insanity”
London, September 14, 2021 - Jupiter Asset Management has come under fire for cosying up to woke politics in a survey of potential British investors.
InvestingReviews.co.uk asked 2,000 adults for their opinions on the brand image presented by the websites of the country’s best known investing platforms.
Of those who named Jupiter as the brand they disliked the most, 45 per cent complained it was “too woke” while 48 per cent accused the company of “pretending to be something they are not”.
Jupiter’s platform featured a hermit crab crawling along an ocean bed next to the strapline “Living and breathing sustainably”.
Further aquatic imagery found on the website includes a turtle swimming with a shoal of fish, while another tab takes you to a poem in support of the LGBT community.
Comments from respondents included "Obvious virtue signalling” and "It doesn't make any sense" and "I don't like the picture of the crab. I have a phobia."
A massive 41 per cent of those who disliked Jupiter based on their homepage said they found its presentation “insincere”. The fund manager had assets worth around £50billion last year.
The poll’s findings come amid a growing backlash against so-called “woke capitalism” and corporate virtue signalling.
Despite the criticism of Jupiter, Standard Life’s relaunch as abrdn was voted the worst financial brand overall in a poll of potential investors who ridiculed it as a “bland” and “uninspiring” marketing failure.
Around one in seven said abrdn was the website they disliked the most, with 65 per cent of those who singled it out saying it was “too bland”, and 55 per cent finding it “uninspiring”.
Today’s poll is the first published sample of potential investors since the company’s July 5 relaunch. Criticism from respondents included comments that the make-over was “ridiculous”, “embarrassing” and “an act of corporate insanity”.
The findings will come as a disappointment to chief executive Stephen Bird who has already been widely mocked on social media for dropping a name whose history stretches back 200 years - and replacing it with one that many of his own customers are unsure how to pronounce.
In an effort to end the confusion, bosses at the company have already clarified that the correct pronunciation is “Aberdeen”, adding they were prevented from calling themselves Aberdeen because the Scottish city of the same name has the domain rights, while Aberdeen Football Club and a similarly named funeral parlour business enjoy branding
rights.
In 2017 Standard Life merged with Aberdeen Asset Management before later selling much of its business to life insurer Phoenix. The new name abrdn now sees all the group’s five remaining brands come under one name.
The second most disliked website brand was Rathbones which respondents complained was too wordy, followed in third place by the noir-looking Baillie Gifford site which was found to be “sinister”, “creepy” and “menacing” by others.
|
Provider |
Worst (% votes) |
|
abrdn |
13% |
|
Rathbones |
11% |
|
Baillie Gifford |
10% |
|
Janus Henderson |
8% |
|
Moonfare |
7% |
|
Marlborough |
6% |
|
Jupiter |
5% |
|
Legal & General |
4% |
|
Fidelity |
4% |
|
Scottish Widows |
3% |
|
None of them |
29% |
Simon Jones, CEO of InvestingReviews.co.uk, said: “From hermit crabs to company names that no one can pronounce, the public is well and truly fed-up with corporate spin and marketing gimmicks.
“Standard Life’s relaunch as abrdn has clearly hit all the wrong notes and should serve as a salutary lesson for financial platforms everywhere.
“With all the millions that the big beasts of finance spend on their digital operations, they would do well to remember that customers are far more interested in making returns on their investments than they are with lame PR stunts.
“It looks like it’s time for the marketing gurus to go back to their drawing boards.”
ENDS