Waterhouse Investor Services, the U.S. discount brokerage arm of Toronto Dominion Bank, plans to roll out a new television advertising campaign this week.
The campaign will run only on cable networks like CNBC, CNN, and MSNBC, said Randy Miller, executive vice president for marketing at New York-based Waterhouse.
The 30-second slots were created by Emmerling, Post Advertising Inc. in New York.
One theme is the ability to trade on-line with Waterhouse for $12 per 5,000 shares, said Mr. Miller.
"There's been a lot of price competition," said Duncan Gibson, executive vice president of Toronto Dominion's wealth management group. Discount brokers Fidelity Investments and Quick & Reilly cut their Internet trading fees to $14.95 last month.
The Waterhouse ads will also focus on the "human side" of trading, touting the ability to conduct business through a broker, which costs $45 per 5,000 shares traded, said Mr. Miller.
The ads are straight graphic pieces and do not use actors. Three types of ads will run, with three styles of music, depending on the age bracket targeted.
One will feature symphonic music for the older investor, while another aimed at a middle-aged audience will play jazz, said Mr. Miller. He described the third style as a "Generation X slot with pretty hard-driving music." He declined to disclose how much money Waterhouse is spending on the ads.
Waterhouse already has a print campaign running in personal finance publications such as Smart Money, Barrons, and Kiplingers.
The new TV ads will not mention Kennedy Cabot, the California discount shop Toronto Dominion is acquiring through Waterhouse. The acquisition, rumored to be for about $155 million, was disclosed last month and is expected to close by yearend.
Toronto Dominion, through its Canadian discount brokerage subsidiary Green Line Investments, has been in an acquisitive mode in recent years.
Green Line, which bought Waterhouse only last year, announced just two weeks ago an agreement to buy Australian discount broker Rivkin Croll Smith for about $17 million in U.S. dollars.
That deal is to be made through Sydney-based Pont Securities, which Green Line already owns; Rivkin Croll is also based in Sydney.
The purchase would double Green Line's active accounts in Australia, to 60,000, said Mr. Gibson.
"Individual share ownership in Australia has not been at the same levels as it has been in North America, but it's moving forward very rapidly," said Mr. Gibson. Share ownership is being boosted by privatization of major companies such as Qantas, the national airline, he noted.
