Eiler Success Stories

InterFirst Wholesale Mortgage Lending

Client Background

InterFirst Wholesale Mortgage Lending, headquartered in Ann Arbor, is a division of the ABN AMRO Mortgage Group, Inc. Interfirst is consistently one of the nation’s top wholesale mortgage and correspondent lenders. ABN AMRO Mortgage Group, Inc. is a member of ABN AMRO North America, Inc., a bank holding company with assets over $167 billion. Its parent company, ABN AMRO N.V. is one of the world’s largest banks, with more than $500 billion in assets.
Situation

Time is crucial when mortgage brokers are locking in an interest rate. Interfirst recognized the potential the Internet held in helping to reduce the time it takes to lock in a rate on a mortgage and developed a solution. Its product, Mortgages Online At Interfirst (MOAI), offers mortgage brokers a more efficient way to access loan information and quickly lock in rates via the Internet. With limited in-house public relations initiatives in place, InterFirst was eager to brand itself as a leading innovator with emerging technology through a comprehensive public relations program with Eiler Communications.
Strategy

Because InterFirst did not have any existing media relationships to draw upon, we selected a key industry tradeshow to showcase MOAI. The focus was twofold: to generate press coverage for InterFirst and MOAI and to initiate important relationships with influential media.
Tactics

Eiler developed comprehensive media materials highlighting the benefits of MOAI and positioning InterFirst as a technology leader in the mortgage lending industry. Focusing the announcement on a major industry tradeshow, Eiler maximized resources and pitched key industry media to secure meetings with the press attending the conference.
Results

Eiler succeeded in securing meetings that have extended over many years with all key media and InterFirst was able to begin important media relationships. The resulting exposure led to editorial placements in publications such as Mortgage Press, Secondary Marketing Executive, Origination News, National Mortgage News, Mortgage Originator and Mortgage Technology.