Just wondering, how come IB's commercials don't mention the fact that you can trade with practically no minimum.. just $1 / trade. ESPECIALLY options, no ticket charge, and just 75c / contract. Because honestly, you guys make the biggest point of the commercial that you can trade all kinds of products worldwide, but the majority of traders don't trade those products. Hell, I would've gone to IB sooner if the commercial shed some light on the $1 / trade minimum. I mean, when you do your penny option advertisement just toss in something like, penny options get our usual low commission of 75 cents / contract, $1 minimum per order. I think stating your ultra low prices on the commercials would, at minimum, double the effectiveness of them. 99% of people in the US probably don't care to trade forex/bonds/futures worldwide, but 99% of people do care about pricing on stocks and options.
Sure it is, for the traders they want anyway. A lot of people might like no fees, no catches like ameritrade advertises, but IB has the lowest commissions in the industry, and they should be pushing that as hard as they can. Sure, IB has some fees and catches, like you have to cough up $10 / month in commission, and another $10 for basic market data if you don't trade $30 worth of commissions. But that just keeps people who never trade out, to avoid having junk accounts that cost them money to maintain.
IB has never been interested in advertising to gain business. I think the commercials weve seen over the last year had more do with getting the IB name more widely known ahead of the IPO.
I think you missed the point; market position is about what position in the market you take as recognizable and defendable, the one point that distinguishes you from others. IB doesn't want to be known solely for it's low fees, because than it will lose market when others get lower. That is not a position you want to put yourself into, marketing-wise. Ursa..
To clarify, what I meant was: IB wants to portray a msg. of being the professional's choice.... access, leading edge products/technology, attractive financing to support trading, convenience of breadth in one account, and yes, competitive prices -- else it becomes a non-starter. To focus on price first sends a message that "we are the low cost commodity provider." Just my speculation. But I do recall TP saying in the IPO roadshow prez something along the lines of letting customers trade anything they want anywhere they want. That's IB's focus on the brokerage side. Price is a secondary necessity. And I am a loyal convert. I came actually for international market access w/o hassle, but agree that if the prices were not low, I wouldn't have signed up.
I went to IB strictly for the prices. $.75 / contract, and practically no minimum. Can't beat that. However, now that I have switched, I wouldn't switch back if someone gave me $.70 / contract. I love the trading platform. Web based garbage never again!
demoship, Thank you for the suggestion. I'll make sure it is forwarded to the appropriate people in our marketing department. Sal