Gragg Advertising, Kansas City, Mo., is working with an undisclosed partner on a marketing campaign to inform the public about the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage process and to generate business for reverse mortgage lenders.
In a press release, Gragg’s president, Darryl Mattox, said his company “is excited to partner with lending agencies in order to generate awareness about the HECM loans and to connect homeowners with qualified lending agents. We are confident that by connecting consumers to lenders, we will help provide a financial solution to thousands who are trying to recover financially from the economic downturn.”
Gragg is a direct response marketing agency that focuses on connecting clients with prospective business opportunities. By identifying key audience markets, lenders will be connected with potential borrowers in order to educate homeowners on reverse mortgage programs and provide them services to secure funding.
News of this partnership came out shortly after the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released its report on reverse mortgages, which among its conclusions noted that consumers needed to be better informed about the product.
It also came out after the
When asked if the backers of the Gragg effort were motivated by the CFPB report and why were they apparently working independent of NRMLA, a spokeswoman for the company said, “Partnering with Gragg Advertising was not in response to the CFPB report despite its encouragement. Our client did this independent of the NRMLA’s campaign because that specific campaign is designed to increase overall interest in reverse mortgage where our client is looking to increase their business.
“With the exit of large players, such as Wells Fargo, Bank of America and (most recently) MetLife, there are several smaller entities looking to increase market share in the reverse mortgage space that looks to get even more competitive in the next 12 months. Our client is looking to expand exponentially in the next year and increase their geographic footprint.”
The spokeswoman added that this marketing campaign would use “traditional” tactics as well as online ones. “While many reverse mortgage companies are admittedly late to the game in online, our client is well ahead of the curve and seeing great results from online marketing tactics that include search engine marketing, search engine optimization and affiliate marketing along with additional enhancement services provided by Gragg to optimize results,” the spokeswoman added.
