Macquarie goes after small fish

Macquarie has embarked on a $5 million print advertising campaign aimed at dispelling perceptions that Macquarie is only aimed at the big end of town.

The series of seven print advertisements depict ordinary people and their financial aspirations or concerns. It will run initially over four months.

Head of retail Tim Farrelly says the branding campaign is designed to portray Macquarie as "more approachable and accessible to the average investor".

Farrelly says the ads also reflect the new structure of Macquarie Bank, where all the retail financial services are housed within one division.

He says the ads are also designed to persuade consumers to seek financial planning advice.

"Our strategy is to build our multi-channel distribution network which relies heavily on third party financial advisers. People seeking advice from financial planners is good news to us," he says.

Farrelly says the target audience for the campaign is people with about $100,000 to invest who may not have considered seeking financial planning advice, due to implied loss of control.

"These are the people but like to do it themselves but have realised they don't have the time or the knowledge to invest successfully," he says.

"They are predominantly under 50 and typically professionals such as doctors."