RiverRock Mortgage Investment Company is a relatively new firm. They opened their doors in April of 2014, providing an alternative lending solution for folks in Ontario that have difficulty financing their mortgages with banks.
Once established, RiverRock obviously wanted to grow. But growth meant more than simply building up revenue — in 2017, when they met us at Bannan Communications, it also meant change and adaptation to an increasingly digital world.
We’ve been growing our business year over year and Bannan Communications has been a key strategic partner in that growth — Nick Kyprianou, RiverRock President & CEO
The full communications suite
Our previous portfolio highlights focussed on a particular project, such as a global ecommerce overhaul or an animation/beautification build. For RiverRock, Bannan Communications handles nearly all aspects of communication, including non-digital. The following is a summary of the many highlights over the years.
The rebranding project
The brand is the foundation of all communications, so it should come as no surprise that this was one of the first things we helped RiverRock establish. We conducted a complete rebranding exercise with a focus on establishing the company as being “professional, institutional and a safe place to invest.”
This included a colour palette, tonality guide, logo redesign and a communications strategy to address both their target audiences: mortgage brokers and investors.
Website overhaul
With a new brand often comes a new online presence. The rebranding project drove the look, feel and functionality of the site:
- The comms strategy and target market considerations led to a more simplified site navigation layout
- RiverRock’s new colour palette is used throughout, often paired with matching monochrome photography
- The web copy is warm and approachable, but still maintains the professional vibe of a serious investment institution
- Visit the site here
Email marketing
The BannComm team deploys an email newsletter roughly every week to a growing list of mortgage brokers. The content ranges from simple product news to experimental contests. Since these emails go directly to RiverRock’s clients, the tonality is loosened a slightly to be much more personable, and we do not shy away from light humour and informal language.
- List growth has increased 36%
- 85% reduction in unsubscribes
- Average open rate of 40.5%, about double the industry average
Social media
RiverRock has a Twitter account as well as LinkedIn. We manage a central repository of content, reserving exclusive material for people who subscribe to the email newsletter. Social media drives users to either the mailing list or the website, with the chief goal of making more mortgage brokers aware of RiverRock’s suite of alternative lending tools.
Advertising and events
Over the years, RiverRock has appeared in numerous trade magazines and their respective digital versions. The ad units required range from simple big box ads to full page spreads. Other communication projects have included creating signage, business cards, letterheads… even speech writing and editing.
Partners in growth
As the new decade unfolds, we’re excited to build upon this success with bigger and better projects. It’s a win-win situation for both us and RiverRock.
“To grow your business strategically and profitably you need to find the right partners that understand your philosophy and business,” says RiverRock’s President & CEO, Nick Kyprianou. “We’ve been growing our business year over year and Bannan Communications has been a key strategic partner in that growth.”
