Reverse mortgage lender hires former news anchor in new marketing push

HomeEquity Bank, Canada’s leading reverse mortgage lender and a federally regulated bank, recently announced the hiring of former Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) news anchor Peter Mansbridge to serve as its strategic communications consultant.

Mansbridge served as the lead anchor for CBC News’ “The National,” its flagship broadcast, from 1988 to 1992, and then from 1995 until his retirement in 2017. His hiring is designed to refresh communications related to the bank’s reverse mortgage offering, available to Canadians at or over the age of 55.

“The intent of the collaboration is to help HomeEquity Bank refresh the conversation about the CHIP Reverse Mortgage by taking into account how consumer preferences about retirement have changed in recent years,” the bank said in an announcement. “In a new campaign from HomeEquity Bank launching Jan. 8, Mr. Mansbridge takes a turn at answering some of the biggest questions about retirement.”

In a 30-second TV spot, Mansbridge takes a stage to answer questions from an audience resembling a press pool. In a twist, the audience is made up of various copies of himself, reacting and responding to his own words.

“Most Canadians prefer to age in their homes. As home values have increased, this product can give people more choices than ever before – including to leave funds to their heirs, to continue to live in their homes, to afford the support they may need over time, and to enjoy the travel or other pursuits they care about,” Mansbridge said in an accompanying statement.

Mansbridge previously collaborated with the bank in 2021, interviewing HomeEquity corporate officials about reverse mortgages and retirement.

“Peter is helping us shape a great dialog with Canadians 55 and better,” said Vivianne Gauci, SVP, customer experience and CMO at HomeEquity Bank. “The conversation is helping us understand and reach more people, and helping Canadians make the best possible choices for themselves.”

HomeEquity Bank’s reverse mortgage advertising has previously gotten the attention of the American reverse mortgage industry. After initial reporting on RMD about some of its television ads targeting Canadian seniors, company officials presented some of its work to U.S. industry practitioners at an industry event in late 2019.