uts through the noise of information being pushed out every second of every day. According to a recent Hubspot blog, an average US citizen co umes 100,500 digital words each day. Fifty one percent of professionals spend their time managing information instead of acting on it. And Issue 21the |power Q4of2014 rillion ads were served up on the internet in 2012. That’s not just noise – it’s a deafening roar. In B2B communications, storytellin s often forgotten or underestimated – particularly when we think about the sheer number of communications channels available to markete oday. We’re often faced with a dizzying array of opportunities to push out a message – from social media to media relations to digital marketin oo often we are mistake content generation and amplification for storytelling – but they go hand in hand. As marketing executives, we play i ortant roles as integrated storytellers, examining the elements of our messages and ideas and crafting a stirring narrative that can be leve ged across all communications channels. Here are five ideas on how we can go from message marketers to storytellers: 1 Envision the experien when we tell stories in our personal lives, often we focus on the reaction we want to evoke. We insert dramatic pauses, interesting details, pai isual pictures. Similarly, as corporate storytellers, we should envision the experience of our end reader – whether that person is a hedge fun anager, a CTO, or a corporate treasurer. If as marketers we want to prompt action, we need to create an experience that provokes one. For exampl n a recent project on behalf of a Cognito client, we shot a short documentary focused on how the client had brought jobs back to a rural Souther S town that had been devastated by economic recession. With one on one interviews and video footage of the town – what had previously been corporate message” was now a living, breathing experience. 2 Stories are not always told in words – interactive media have created new mediu y which corporate marketers can tell stories without using words at all. The rise of video, infographics, interactive sites – all have empower arketers to pursue visual storytelling. Visual stories can be communications gold when thinking across channels. For example, we’ve worked wi ompanies to leverage infographics across media relations, blogs, direct e-mail marketing and even as printed collateral at industry events reat stories have great characters – Every legendary story has legendary characters. Within financial marketing, and particularly with B arketing, we cannot forget the characters – the senders and receivers of the messages. We often challenge our clients to ask themselves, who a e really talking to? It’s one thing to say, “we’re targeting the top European banks” – but another thing to say, “we’re speaking to Antony Jenkin EO of Barclays.” And to take it further, putting the human back in the brand by having communications come from the CEO or Head of Sales ustomer Relations VP makes storytelling a highly personal experience. Once we figure out who our characters are, we can more carefully cra he message and medium. For example, “buyer personas” are good vehicles for profiling our target market and can be integrated across mediums reate conflict – When thinking about all the various channels available to marketers today, a common question that arises is often – how do ake our story resonate? A common gap in marketing today is lack of conflict, particularly in B2B marketing. Every edge-of-your-seat, page-tur ng story involves tension, conflict and resolution. In one of our recent client campaigns we built a story around a serious impending regul ory deadline and the risk compliance managers face by becoming inadvertently non-compliant by waiting too long to implement a solution. everaged that story across a dedicated social community, through premium direct marketing, a high-end physical event, and in media relation nd that consistency of conflict and resolution created a higher opportunity for engagement. 5 Be authentic – In today’s day and age of absolu nformation overload, the stories that resonate are the ones that are authentic. Even individuals within the B2B industry are exhausted by ma The Publication Financial Technology Communication eting jargon and the relentless pushing of messages. In order for to have a story and that compels, we as marketers need to tellProfessionals stories that we ourselv elieve in. We often ask our clients to say, “Tell me, in your own words, what the story is” and allow the ideas to flow. Given the number of cha els available to us today, having an authentic narrative that can be consumed in 140 characters or in 3 minutes on YouTube is the only wa arketers can consistently maximize the integrated opportunity. Ask yourself, what’s your story? The power of storytelling is on the rise, parti larly as communications channels proliferate. Having a single, compelling story that can be leveraged across channels impacts budget ROI, me age consistency and brand potential. We at Cognito are helping our clients think more holistically about their communications because we belie hat authentic, confident and creative storytelling can unlock much-needed latent potential in what firms are already doing today. The art torytelling is no longer reserved just for campfires or children’s bedtimes – it plays a crucial role in the future of marketing. Corporate st ytelling is about more than just marketing a message or disseminating content. It evokes action, emotion, empathy, even inspiration. It cu hrough the noise of information being pushed out every second of every day. According to a recent Hubspot blog, an average US citizen consum 00,500 digital words each day. Fifty one percent of professionals spend their time managing information instead of acting on it. And 5.3 trilli ds were served up on the internet in 2012. That’s not just noise – it’s a deafening roar. In B2B communications, the power of storytelling is oft orgotten or underestimated – particularly when we think about the sheer number of communications channels available to marketers today. We’ ften faced with a dizzying array of opportunities to push out a message – from social media to media relations to digital marketing. Too oft e are mistake content generation and amplification for storytelling – but they go hand in hand. As marketing executives, we play important rol s integrated storytellers, examining the elements of our messages and ideas and crafting a stirring narrative that can be leveraged across a ommunications channels. Here are five ideas on how we can go from message marketers to storytellers: 1 Envision the experience – when we te tories in our personal lives, often we focus on the reaction we want to evoke. We insert dramatic pauses, interesting details, paint visual picture imilarly, as corporate storytellers, we should envision the experience of our end reader – whether that person is a hedge fund manager, a CTO, corporate treasurer. If as marketers we want to prompt action, we need to create an experience that provokes one. For example, in a recent pro ct on behalf of a Cognito client, we shot a short documentary focused on how the client had brought jobs back to a rural Southern US town th ad been devastated by economic recession. With one on one interviews and video footage of the town – what had previously been a “corporate me age” was now a living, breathing experience. 2 Stories are not always told in words – interactive media have created new mediums by which co orate marketers can tell stories without using words at all. The rise of video, infographics, interactive sites – all have empowered marketers ursue visual storytelling. Visual stories can be communications gold when thinking across channels. For example, we’ve worked with companies everage infographics across media relations, blogs, direct e-mail marketing and even as printed collateral at industry events. 3 Great stori ave great characters – Every legendary story has legendary characters. Within financial marketing, and particularly with B2B marketing, annot forget the characters – the senders and receivers of the messages. We often challenge our clients to ask themselves, who are we real alking to? It’s one thing to say, “we’re targeting the top European banks” – but another thing to say, “we’re speaking to Antony Jenkins, CEO arclays.” And to take it further, putting the human back in the brand by having communications come from the CEO or Head of Sales or Custom elations VP makes storytelling highly personal experience. Once we figure out who our characters are, we can more carefully craft the messa • How aData Visualization is Seducing Journalism nd medium. For example, “buyer personas” are good vehicles for profiling our target market and can be integrated across mediums. 4 Create confli • Binna Kim channels Speaksavailable With Oracle’s Head of Marketing When thinking about all the various to marketers today, a common question that arises is often – how do we make our sto esonate? A common gap in marketing today is lack of conflict, particularly in B2B marketing. Every edge-of-your-seat, page-turning story involv • Is APAC new centre of global finance? ension, conflict and resolution. In the one of our recent client campaigns we built a story around a serious impending regulatory deadline and t isk compliance managers byFirms becoming inadvertently by waiting too long to implement a solution. We leveraged that story acro • face How can Optimizenon-compliant Their LinkedIn Presence dedicated social community, through premium direct marketing, a high-end physical event, and in media relations. And that consistency of co • Seven Tipsopportunity for Continental European Media – In today’s day and age of absolute information overload, t flict and resolution created a higher for engagement. 5 Be authentic tories that resonate are the ones that are authentic. Even individuals within the B2B industry are exhausted by marketing jargon and the r entless pushing of messages. In order to have a story that compels, we as marketers need to tell stories that we ourselves believe in. We oft sk our clients to say, “Tell me, in your own words, what the story is” and allow the ideas to flow. Given the number of channels available to oday, having an authentic narrative that can be consumed in 140 characters or in 3 minutes on YouTube is the only way marketers can consisten y maximize the integrated opportunity. Ask yourself, what’s your story? The power of storytelling is on the rise, particularly as communicatio hannels proliferate. Having a single, compelling story that can be leveraged across channels impacts budget ROI, message consistency and bran otential. We at Cognito are helping our clients think more holistically about their communications because we believe that authentic, confide nd creative storytelling can unlock much-needed latent potential in what firms are already doing today. The art of storytelling is no long eserved just for campfires or children’s bedtimes – it plays a crucial role in the future of marketing. Corporate storytelling is about more tha ust marketing a message or disseminating content. It evokes action, emotion, empathy, even inspiration. It cuts through the noise of informati eing pushed out every second of every day. According to a recent Hubspot blog, an average US citizen consumes 100,500 digital words each da ifty one percent of professionals spend their time managing information instead of acting on it. And 5.3 trillion ads were served up on the i www.cognitomedia.com ernet in 2012. That’s not just noise – it’s a deafening roar. In B2B communications, the power of storytelling is often forgotten or underestimat particularly when we think about the sheer number of communications channels available to marketers today. We’re often faced with a dizzyin
WOM Five Insights & Ideas Also in this issue:
Finance is Different
word of mouth
Welcome to another edition of Word of Mouth, Cognito’s newsletter for finance and technology marketing and communication professionals. I’m delighted to announce a host of world-class talent who have recently joined Cognito from a variety of backgrounds from around the world. These people (featured opposite) have a common mission to deliver excellent advice and results to clients’ businesses, but also to help ensure that Cognito maintains its place at the forefront of our profession - as a consultancy built for the future.
WELCOME Tom Coombes, CEO
Our industry is changing. Clients expect more from their creative partners now. Our ability to help transform their businesses has never been greater. New channels, programs and techniques complement our ability to offer solid and pragmatic advice. In this issue, we look at data visualization and PR, integrated storytelling, the European media landscape, social tools and the Asian market, as well as a case study with Oracle and updates from Cognito’s events around the world. We look forward to working with you and helping your business succeed.
WHAT’S NEW WITH COGNITO? 2014 has been an exciting year for Cognito. Not only have we embarked on exciting and innovative integrated campaigns with great companies, but we have also launched our refreshed brand, declaring “Finance is Different”. Late last year, we undertook a client survey designed to help us understand about what financial services firms are looking for in terms of marketing and communications support. The results of that survey are reflected in our new brand and embody the following core principles:
Integration
As the lines between earned, owned, paid and social channels blur, clients are seeking a more integrated approach to communications to better support their profile raising and business generation efforts.
Financial services expertise
Cognito is a specialist firm that truly understands its clients’ businesses. By bringing on-board top industry talent, Cognito’s expertise continues to grow.
Social media consultation and execution
Clients are looking for guidance on how best to navigate and take advantage of social media and use it to further their business objectives.
Better metrics and reporting
Across media relations, marketing, online advertising and social media, firms are looking for better intelligence and insight as to how communications dollars are spent.
Global support
Increasingly, the firms Cognito works with are looking for support in all the regions they operate in.
Check out our brand new website www.cognitomedia.com for more.
Word of Mouth • Q4 2014 Word of Mouth • Q4 2014
NEW COGNITO FACES
Cognito has recently brought on some great new talent globally. Take a look at the new faces that have joined your local team:
Tim Williamson, Managing Director Singapore
Tim has 18 years of experience in financial communications and journalism in the U.K. and Asia Pacific region. A former BBC and Bloomberg journalist, he has worked with clients including Reuters, HSBC, the Future Fund, Temasek, Franklin Templeton, BlueBay Asset Management, Bloomberg, St James’ Place and Promontory Financial.
Claire Currie, Account Manager New York
Claire brings over four years of media relations and social media experience at leading financial communications agencies, including Kreab Gavin Anderson. She has worked with major brands like UBS, MarketAxess, Fisher Investments, Avalon Bay and Windham Capital Management.
Jon Brubaker, Senior Account Manager New York
Jon brings over six years of experience working with a range of institutional and retail buy- and sell-side firms. He has worked with traditional and alternative asset managers, FinTech clients and banking clients. In his new role, Jon will lead innovative strategic campaigns for a wide range of firms.
Samantha Hannaford, Account Manager, Marketing Services London
Sam joins Cognito from RSM, a leading global accountancy and advisory network where she worked on key external marketing and PR campaigns and managed all internal communications. Previously, Sam completed her graduate degree before working as a researcher and analyst at a London based management consultancy.
Katie Kinnear, Social Media Manager London
Hailing from California, Katie worked at Clareville Communications before joining The Social Partners as a member of the strategy and insights team. Here, she honed her skills in social media strategic planning, community management and monitoring and analytics, working across client accounts such as Dairy Crest, Brother, HSBC and Allianz.
Nik Ekholm, Director London
With extensive asset management communications experience at firms like Goldman Sachs and Schroders, Nik joins Cognito’s London office to lead the development of an asset management practice.
PROMOTIONS We’re also pleased to announce that Binna Kim has been appointed to the role of Managing Director for our New York office. Binna has been with Cognito for eight years and has led multiple marketing and communications programs for some of the biggest names in finance. Jessica Kleinman is now a Senior Account Manager, Social and Digital in New York, where she helps to oversee the social media and digital strategies of the firm’s US-based clients. Ishviene Arora has been appointed Director in New York and Paul Bowhay and Verity Ramsden-Hare have both been appointed to Associate Director in London. Last, Miriam Forte has been promoted to Senior Account Executive in London.
www.cognitomedia.com • 3
NUMBER DATA
INFO QUOTE
PROOF STAT
How Data Visualization is Seducing Journalism
FACT
Written by Miriam Forte, Senior Account Executive, Cognito EMEA
Word of Mouth • Q4 2014
As enthusiastic participants or begrudging observers, we are constantly digesting a range of visual content. Social feeds are filled with cheeky “selfies”, pictures of food, and even pictures of people taking pictures of food. The “selfie” trend illuminates one side of our obsession with creating visual content for our social profiles. It is an easily digestible “snapshot” that makes its impact in an instant. The infographic, another visual content trend, has a similar, immediate effect on viewers. Its visual representation of data makes the complicated suddenly uncomplicated. It can abbreviate a 20 page report into a single page of pie charts and icons. It can shorten the story into a snapshot. But is a picture really worth a thousand words? The shift from words to picture was already clear to marketers trying to connect with customers and increase brand awareness—now, more than ever, it seems that this paradigm has extended to journalism too.
“The visuals of the infographic should simplify the data whilst maintaining the integrity of the data comparisons in charts and graphs”... The infographic as a creative visualization tool has been incredibly useful in content marketing, but this trend has now spread into a world where information is king: journalism. Data visualization in the shape of infographics has solved the primary dilemma reporters face when dealing with significant amounts of data— data can be really burdensome for readers, especially when reading time is limited. Infographics’ merit is to capture attention while still getting a message across. They make data more intuitive and appealing, bringing the information to life. If infographics are the emblem of a society where data is consumed and digested in a quick, sometimes bulimic way, doubts are now arising around whether or not
they are actually weakening journalism. Indeed, there is significant criticism over the overuse of this tactic, and arguments abound that infographics are more about style than substance. Observers are divided on this point: on one hand, we might consider visual content a great help on offering “coveted at-a-glance understanding of complicated topics,” making them accessible to a wider audience. Nevertheless, it’s hard to believe that images can act as a substitute for proper written text and its level of indepth analysis. Are they an easy antidote to readers’ and consumers’ shortening attention spans? Whatever the answer, publishers and reporters have to face this change in content consumption and evolve accordingly. The capacity to create infographics is just the latest in a series of skills editorial staff need. But it has no bearing on a journalist’s classic abilities. Traditionally, journalistic storytelling has based itself on content collected from experts and thought leaders to consolidate the writer’s angle. Nowadays journalists can’t merely rely on interviews, they must be proficient at uncovering a wealth of knowledge and information across countless sources and markets. But technology could also be a powerful ally, providing several platforms where reporters can create infographics for free, like Visual.ly (which also allows journalists, graphic designers, statisticians and more to come together) and Tableau. Moreover, professional roles for infographics designers are multiplying in order to meet demand from companies and publications. There is no golden rule to the perfect visual content and everyone can see that a poorly executed infographic can be just as disappointing as a badly written article or blog post. So, thorough preliminary research should be the first step of any journalistic use of infographics. A further best practice is to list all relevant data sources within the infographic and clearly state who produced the infographic. The visuals of the infographic should simplify the data whilst maintaining the integrity of the data comparisons in charts and graphs—in other words, an infographic is not an excuse to start comparing “apples to oranges.” Ultimately, to avoid oversimplification, infographics should always be supplementary to a proper text and can be used to further explain the significance of the data.
www.cognitomedia.com • 5
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Tips & Tricks
SEVEN TIPS FOR SECURING COVERAGE IN CONTINENTAL EUROPEAN MEDIA By Andrew Marshall, Managing Director, Cognito EMEA Cognito regularly secures coverage for clients in continental EU financial media such as Handelsblatt, Les Echos, Corriere della Sera, Börsen-Zeitung, Milano Finanza, Finanz und Wirtschaft and L’Agefi. Many of the same rules apply as in London or New York, but here are some tips to follow: • Localize your story – many journalists love comparisons between the major EU member states. But specialist beat reporters in areas like derivatives, private equity or debt capital markets are often thirsting to write broader European market stories just as the FT does – they just think the FT gets too many of the exclusives. • Most financial correspondents across Europe can, and will, do interviews in English if the story is important. A translated press release often helps, though less vital in northern/central Europe. But languages (we speak a few at Cognito) are critical for reading publications to understand who to target with what story. Journalists respond to your engagement and interest. Some publications identify reporters by initials only, so make sure you know the newspaper’s “Impressum” directory. Don’t assume you can check quotes, but if language or terminology has been tricky in an interview (especially on the phone), then offer to help to ensure accuracy. • Pitching by Twitter direct messaging can be a good alternative to overflowing email boxes. LinkedIn is often less popular for Word of Mouth • Q4 2014
continental journalists. Phone pitching is fine if you are offering something important and well defined – like a CEO interview – but EU journalists are as timepoor as any others. • Most countries have less specialized financial trade media than London, and have many national “players” to cover, whether banks, asset managers or central bank governors. Don’t pitch everything in
• London or New York correspondents can be a way to make your story work, but this is easier where there is twoman bureau with both a political and economics/business reporter (Handelsblatt has three, including one for finance and one for companies). Singlehanded foreign correspondents generally have too much broader news to cover many detailed financial stories. • Most major finance titles have correspondents in the EU press corps, with many of the financial regulatory stories filed from Brussels. While these journalists are by definition internationally minded, you need a very clear EU angle to catch their attention. They need to know
“Wir diskutieren, ob es Sinn machen würde, den Handel mit Bitcoins zu erlauben“, sagte Ed Eger, Chef von Oanda, einer Devisenhandelsplattform für Privatanleger.” an unthinking, carpet-bombing approach – it will just put off journalists. • If you have a credible spokesperson visiting a country, then it’s often best to go and see key media in their offices. But remember, in some countries (Germany, Italy), not all of the major media (or B2B trades) are in one place.
your views on regulatory issues; how something affects you or your clients. If you go to see them in Brussels, tell them what you’re lobbying on and who else you are going to see in Brussels. Beyond our own capabilities out of London, Cognito also works, as appropriate, with leading independent agencies across Europe on multi-country client programs.
Optimizing Your LinkedIn Company Page
HOW FINANCIAL SERVICES FIRMS CAN GET THE MOST OUT OF THEIR LINKEDIN PRESENCE By Jessica Kleinman, Senior Account Manager; Social Media, Cognito USA As we’ve seen over the last few years, the way we consume news and interact with brands has changed, as more and more people turn to social media as their go-to source for information. Within the B2B space, social media is increasingly playing a vital role in the purchasing process. According to a recent survey by IDC, “75% of B2B buyers and 84% of C-level/vice president (VP) executives use social media to make purchasing decisions.” Today, social media is no longer a nice to have, but a need to have. As such, the way a company presents itself across its social networks matters more than ever before. With over 161 million members, in over 200 countries across the world, LinkedIn is rightfully “the world’s largest professional network,” with 80% of its members wanting to connect with companies directly through the site. This presents tremendous opportunities for companies to reach and engage with their target audiences, but to do so, companies must first ensure they are getting the most out of the available features on their LinkedIn Company Page. While we could devote entire articles to each of these features individually, we wanted to share a few quick tips you can start doing today:
Banner Images: LinkedIn Company Pages serve a variety of purposes, primarily acting as a firm’s “digital storefront” on LinkedIn. LinkedIn offers two areas for firms to showcase their brand visually on the Company Page: a small box for a company logo and a much larger space for a banner image. This large space should be seen as prime digital real estate - why not take advantage of the opportunity to make your company really stand out by highlighting new products, accomplishments, events and even corporate culture.
Status Updates: Sharing timely and interesting content is a great way to raise your firm’s visibility on LinkedIn, drive traffic back to your website and position your organization as a thought leader. However, it’s not just about what you’re sharing but how often. Whether it’s your company’s own content or outside industry content, it’s important to post frequently and consistently in order to keep your Company Page followers engaged. With regards to status update content, we recommend the following:
• Use images or videos to further captivate and engage viewers • Include a call to action or question to drive engagement • Edit the default text pulled over when you include a link to customize it for your update Another great new feature of the status update is the ability to target specific groups of followers - for free! This allows firms to decide who within their current follower base they would like to target the update to, based on company size, industry, function, seniority and/or geography.
Analytics: Finally, now that you are consistently sharing great content to your network, the next step is to review the performance and how visitors are engaging with your Company Page and updates. LinkedIn Company Page Analytics provides a number of valuable insights about your Company Page Updates, including how many impressions/clicks each receives, as well as the reach and engagement over time. In addition, the Analytics tab allows you to view demographics of not only current Company Page followers, but visitors as well. www.cognitomedia.com • 7
s through the noise of information being pushed out every second of every day. According to a recent Hubspot blog, an average US citizen cones 100,500 digital words each day. Fifty one percent of professionals spend their time managing information instead of acting on it. And 5.3 llion ads were served up on the internet in 2012. That’s not just noise – it’s a deafening roar. In B2B communications, the power of storytelling often forgotten or underestimated – particularly when we think about the sheer number of communications channels available to marketers ay. We’re often faced with a dizzying array of opportunities to push out a message – from social media to media relations to digital marketing. often we are mistake content generation and amplification for storytelling – but they go hand in hand. As marketing executives, we play imtant roles as integrated storytellers, examining the elements of our messages and ideas and crafting a stirring narrative that can be leverd across all communications channels. Here are five ideas on how we can go from message marketers to storytellers: 1 Envision the experience hen we tell stories in our personal lives, often we focus on the reaction we want to evoke. We insert dramatic pauses, interesting details, paint ual pictures. Similarly, as corporate storytellers, we should envision the experience of our end reader – whether that person is a hedge fund ager, a CTO, or a corporate treasurer. If as marketers we want to prompt action, we need to create an experience that provokes one. For example, a recent project on behalf of a Cognito client, we shot a short documentary focused on how the client had brought jobs back to a rural Southern town that had been devastated by economic recession. With one on one interviews and video footage of the town – what had previously been a rporate message” was now a living, breathing experience. 2 Stories are not always told in words – interactive media have created new mediums which corporate marketers can tell stories without using words at all. The rise of video, infographics, interactive sites – all have empowered keters to pursue visual storytelling. Visual stories can be communications gold when thinking across channels. For example, we’ve worked with panies to leverage infographics across media relations, blogs, direct e-mail marketing and even as printed collateral at industry events. 3 at stories have great characters – Every legendary story has legendary characters. Within financial marketing, and particularly with B2B keting, we cannot forget the characters – the senders and receivers of the messages. We often challenge our clients to ask themselves, who are really talking to? It’s one thing to say, “we’re targeting the top European banks” – but another thing to say, “we’re speaking to Antony Jenkins, of Barclays.” And to take it further, putting the human back in the brand by having communications come from the CEO or Head of Sales or tomer Relations VP makes storytelling a highly personal experience. Once we figure out who our characters are, we can more carefully craft message and medium. For example, “buyer personas” are good vehicles for profiling our target market and can be integrated across mediums. 4 ate conflict – When thinking about all the various channels available to marketers today, a common question that arises is often – how do we e our story resonate? A common gap in marketing today is lack of conflict, particularly in B2B marketing. Every edge-of-your-seat, page-turnstory involves tension, conflict and resolution. In one of our recent client campaigns we built a story around a serious impending regulay deadline and the risk compliance managers face by becoming inadvertently non-compliant by waiting too long to implement a solution. We eraged that story across a dedicated social community, through premium direct marketing, a high-end physical event, and in media relations. that consistency of conflict and resolution created a higher opportunity for engagement. 5 Be authentic – In today’s day and age of absolute ormation overload, the stories that resonate are the ones that are authentic. Even individuals within the B2B industry are exhausted by maring jargon and the relentless pushing of messages. In order to have a story that compels, we as marketers need to tell stories that we ourselves ieve in. We often ask our clients to say, “Tell me, in your own words, what the story is” and allow the ideas to flow. Given the number of chans available to us today, having an authentic narrative that can be consumed in 140 characters or in 3 minutes on YouTube is the only way keters can consistently maximize the integrated opportunity. Ask yourself, what’s your story? The power of storytelling is on the rise, particrly as communications channels proliferate. Having a single, compelling story that can be leveraged across channels impacts budget ROI, mese consistency and brand potential. We at Cognito are helping our clients think more holistically about their communications because we believe t authentic, confident and creative storytelling can unlock much-needed latent potential in what firms are already doing today. The art of rytelling is no longer reserved just for campfires or children’s bedtimes – it plays a crucial role in the future of marketing. Corporate stoelling is about more than just marketing a message or disseminating content. It evokes action, emotion, empathy, even inspiration. It cuts ough the noise of information being pushed out every second of every day. According to a recent Hubspot blog, an average US citizen consumes 500 digital words each day. Fifty one percent of professionals spend their time managing information instead of acting on it. And 5.3 trillion were served up on the internet in 2012. That’s not just noise – it’s a deafening roar. In B2B communications, the power of storytelling is often gotten or underestimated – particularly when we think about the sheer number of communications channels available to marketers today. We’re en faced with a dizzying array of opportunities to push out a message – from social media to media relations to digital marketing. Too often are mistake content generation and amplification for storytelling – but they go hand in hand. As marketing executives, we play important roles integrated storytellers, examining the elements of our messages and ideas and crafting a stirring narrative that can be leveraged across all munications channels. Here are five ideas on how we can go from message marketers to storytellers: 1 Envision the experience – when we tell ries in our personal lives, often we focus on the reaction we want to evoke. We insert dramatic pauses, interesting details, paint visual pictures. ilarly, as corporate storytellers, we should envision the experience of our end reader – whether that person is a hedge fund manager, a CTO, or orporate treasurer. If as marketers we want to prompt action, we need to create an experience that provokes one. For example, in a recent projon behalf of a Cognito client, we shot a short documentary focused on how the client had brought jobs back to a rural Southern US town that been devastated by economic recession. With one on one interviews and video footage of the town – what had previously been a “corporate mese” was now a living, breathing experience. 2 Stories are not always told in words – interactive media have created new mediums by which corate marketers can tell stories without using words at all. The rise of video, infographics, interactive sites – all have empowered marketers to sue visual storytelling. Visual stories can be communications gold when thinking across channels. For example, we’ve worked with companies to erage infographics across media relations, blogs, direct e-mail marketing and even as printed collateral at industry events. 3 Great stories e great characters – Every legendary story has legendary characters. Within financial marketing, and particularly with B2B marketing, we not forget the characters – the senders and receivers of the messages. We often challenge our clients to ask themselves, who are we really king to? It’s one thing to say, “we’re targeting the top European banks” – but another thing to say, “we’re speaking to Antony Jenkins, CEO of clays.” And to take it further, putting the human back in the brand by having communications come from the CEO or Head of Sales or Customer ations VP makes storytelling a highly personal experience. Once we figure out who our characters are, we can more carefully craft the message medium. For example, “buyer personas” are good vehicles for profiling our target market and can be integrated across mediums. 4 Create conflict hen thinking about all the various channels available to marketers today, a common question that arises is often – how do we make our story onate? A common gap in marketing today is lack of conflict, particularly in B2B marketing. Every edge-of-your-seat, page-turning story involves sion, conflict and resolution. In one of our recent client campaigns we built a story around a serious impending regulatory deadline and the k compliance managers face by becoming inadvertently non-compliant by waiting too long to implement a solution. We leveraged that story across edicated social community, through premium direct marketing, a high-end physical event, and in media relations. And that consistency of conict and resolution created a higher opportunity for engagement. 5 Be authentic – In today’s day and age of absolute information overload, the ries that resonate are the ones that are authentic. Even individuals within the B2B industry are exhausted by marketing jargon and the retless pushing of messages. In order to have a story that compels, we as marketers need to tell stories that we ourselves believe in. We often our clients to say, “Tell me, in your own words, what the story is” and allow the ideas to flow. Given the number of channels available to us ay, having an authentic narrative that can be consumed in 140 characters or in 3 minutes on YouTube is the only way marketers can consistentmaximize the integrated opportunity. Ask yourself, what’s your story? The power of storytelling is on the rise, particularly as communications nnels proliferate. Having a single, compelling story that can be leveraged across channels impacts budget ROI, message consistency and brand ential. We at Cognito are helping our clients think more holistically about their communications because we believe that authentic, confident creative storytelling can unlock much-needed latent potential in what firms are already doing today. The art of storytelling is no longer erved just for campfires or children’s bedtimes – it plays a crucial role in the future of marketing. Corporate storytelling is about more than t marketing a message or disseminating content. It evokes action, emotion, empathy, even inspiration. It cuts through the noise of information ng pushed out every second of every day. According to a recent Hubspot blog, an average US citizen consumes 100,500 digital words each day. ty one percent of professionals spend their time managing information instead of acting on it. And 5.3 trillion ads were served up on the innet in 2012. That’s not just noise – it’s a deafening roar. In B2B communications, the power of storytelling is often forgotten or underestimated articularly when we think about the sheer number of communications channels available to marketers today. We’re often faced with a dizzying
Five Insights & Ideas
Written by Binna Kim, Managing Director, Cognito USA
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Cover Story The art of storytelling is no longer reserved just for campfires or children’s bedtimes – it plays a crucial role in the future of marketing. Corporate storytelling is about more than just marketing a message or disseminating content. It evokes action, emotion, empathy, even inspiration. It cuts through the noise of information being pushed out every second of every day. According to a recent Hubspot blog, an average US citizen consumes 100,500 digital words each day. 51% of professionals spend their time managing information instead of acting on it. And 5.3 trillion ads were served up on the internet in 2012. That’s not just noise – it’s a deafening roar. In B2B communications, the power of storytelling is often forgotten or underestimated – particularly when we think about the sheer number of communications channels available to marketers today. We’re often faced with a dizzying array of opportunities to push out a message – from social media to media relations to digital marketing. Too often we mistake content generation and amplification for storytelling – but they go hand in hand. As marketing executives, we play important roles as integrated storytellers, examining the elements of our messages and ideas and crafting a stirring narrative that can be leveraged across all communications channels.
Here are five ideas on how we can go from message marketers to storytellers: 1 Envision the experience – when we tell stories in our personal lives, often we focus on the reaction we want to evoke. We insert dramatic pauses, interesting details, paint visual pictures. Similarly, as corporate storytellers, we should envision the experience of our end reader – whether that person is a hedge fund manager, a CTO or a corporate treasurer. If as marketers we want to prompt action, we need to create an experience that provokes one. For example, in a recent project on behalf of a Cognito client, we shot a short documentary focused on how the client had brought jobs back to a rural Southern US town that had been devastated by economic recession. With one-on-one interviews and video footage of the town – what had previously been a “corporate message” was now a living, breathing experience. 2 Stories are not always told in words – interactive media have created new mediums by which corporate marketers can tell stories without using words at all. The rise of video, infographics, interactive sites – all have empowered marketers to pursue visual storytelling. Visual stories can be communications gold when thinking across channels. For example, we’ve worked with companies to leverage infographics across media relations, blogs,
direct e-mail marketing and even as printed collateral at industry events. 3 Every legendary story has legendary characters. Within financial marketing, and particularly with B2B marketing, we cannot forget the characters – the senders and receivers of the messages. We often challenge our clients to ask themselves, “who are we really talking to”? It’s one thing to say, “we’re targeting the top European banks” – but another thing to say, “we’re speaking to Antony Jenkins, CEO of Barclays.” And to take it further, putting the human back in the brand by having communications come from the CEO or Head of Sales or Customer Relations VP makes storytelling a highly personal experience. Once we figure out who our characters are, we can more carefully craft the message and medium. For example, “buyer personas” are good vehicles for profiling our target market and can be integrated across mediums. 4 Create conflict – When thinking about all the various channels available to marketers today, a common question that arises is – how do we make our story resonate? A common gap in marketing today is lack of conflict, particularly in B2B marketing. Every edge-of-your-seat, page-turning story involves tension, conflict and resolution. In one of our recent client campaigns, we built a story around a serious impending regulatory deadline and the risk compliance managers face by becoming inadvertently non-compliant by waiting too long to implement a solution. We leveraged that story across a dedicated social community, through premium direct marketing, a high-end physical event and in media relations. And that consistency of conflict and resolution created a higher opportunity for engagement. 5 Be authentic – In an age of absolute information overload, the stories that resonate are the ones that are authentic. Even individuals within the B2B industry are exhausted by marketing jargon and the relentless pushing of messages. In order to have a story that compels, we as marketers need to tell stories that we ourselves believe in. We often ask our clients to say, “Tell me, in your own words, what the story is” and allow the ideas to flow. Given the number of channels available to us today, having an authentic narrative that can be consumed in 140 characters or in 3 minutes on YouTube is the only way marketers can consistently maximize the integrated opportunity. Ask yourself, what’s your story? The power of storytelling is on the rise, particularly as communications channels proliferate. Having a single, compelling story that can be leveraged across channels impacts budget ROI, message consistency and brand potential. We at Cognito are helping our clients think more holistically about their communications because we believe that authentic, confident and creative storytelling can unlock much-needed latent potential in what firms are already doing today. www.cognitomedia.com • 9
View from Asia:
WILL YOUR NEXT COMPETITOR COME FROM APAC? By Tim Williamson, Managing Director, Cognito APAC A recent news story in a Singaporean newspaper caught my attention because it raised an interesting prospect. Could countries such as China, India, Indonesia and the Philippines bring the next wave of financial services innovation? Many western financial services companies have been focused on innovation in their own markets, not least in response to regulatory change, and exporting that technology to APAC. It’s easy to overlook that in other industries—ranging from laptops to cars to mobile phones—Asian companies have grown rapidly, in many cases rising to market leadership. The article, in Singapore’s business daily newspaper, The Business Times, reported on a conference paper presented by the researcher IDC Financial Insights which raised two fascinating themes. The first was the innovation required to capture the opportunities in Asia’s emerging markets. According to IDC, 40% of the Asia Pacific population has no access to traditional banking facilities. This is expected to drop to zero by 2020 driven by the entrance of internet and mobile banking systems and non-traditional banking players. These companies and platforms will transform the financial services landscape in rapidly modernizing and urbanizing regions. According to one survey, 85% of mobile financial services already originate from emerging markets. This leads to the second interesting point: the convergence of investment in new technologies by Asian financial services providers who understand the need to innovate to reach new customers and to respond to the region’s own particular regulatory challenges. Word of Mouth • Q4 2014
IDC expects IT expenditure on new technologies to account for 30% of Asian financial institutions already growing IT budgets this year. In a way, none of this should be surprising. Anyone who has seen the development of Shanghai’s financial district over the last 15 or 20 years, from a standing start to a modern Asian Manhattan, will understand the pace of change in the regions financial services industry. It is inevitable that this growth will lead to further innovation and change. It does, however, draw into sharp relief the growing importance for western companies to engage in a meaningful way in APAC. After all, this is a region which contains some 60% of the global population, was a driver of global growth during the financial crisis and, even with emerging headwinds facing its economies, is expected to grow significantly faster than the global economy as a whole. According to analysis by Danny Quah, a Malaysian born economist at the London School of Economics, this is resulting in a fundamental shift of the world’s financial center of gravity. Somewhere over the Atlantic in the 1980s this is currently somewhere over Turkey, inevitably moving east as generational economic modernization and urbanization occurs across Asia. The long term fundamentals suggest that western companies need to be in Asia to capture the opportunities the region presents. The IDC research suggests to me that there is much more to doing business in Asia than simply pushing the products that you have already developed. For companies seeking to access Asia, there is an opportunity to engage on a more strategic level, whether that be in how you communicate your business or your products, and to engage more broadly with the change and innovation that is occurring here. Ultimately, there may be the opportunity to be part of the next wave of disruptive financial services innovation, and it may well come out of this region.
Spotlight:
ORACLE TACKLES INTEGRATED MARKETING Binna Kim, Managing Director of Cognito NY, chats with Eric Dickmann, senior director of marketing for Oracle’s Financial Services Global Business Unit, about integrated marketing.
BK: Tell us about financial services marketing at Oracle and its place in the organization? ED: Oracle sells hundreds of products to multiple industry verticals. To market these products, we have several defined teams within the marketing organization. We have a large corporate marketing group which is responsible for creating our overall brand messaging and planning major events, a horizontal marketing team responsible for our cross-industry products and a field marketing group, which handles event logistics and account based marketing. And my team, which is part of the campaigns organization, is specifically responsible for marketing Oracle’s financial services solutions. We support the 13,000 employees in the financial services global business unit focused on banking, capital markets and insurance. BK: What’s the main challenge you face with respect to marketing multiple solutions?
ED: Oracle’s credibility and brand awareness opens a lot of doors for us. Our main challenge is that people have a narrow perception of what Oracle does. Despite the fact that we offer comprehensive, cross-industry and vertical solutions, people still think of us primarily as a database or ERP company. While potential customers take our company seriously, our challenge is to raise awareness around our products and services specifically for the financial services industry. BK: How do you define integrated marketing?
ED: Our goal is to leverage as many channels as we can and get the most bang for the buck using the assets we create. We have a limited budget, and marketing dozens of products across multiple channels is expensive.
We’re most effective when we implement an integrated marketing or layered approach over several budget cycles. In other words, we create some content, utilize the content in a webinar, for example, and then execute a follow-up email campaign. A big bang approach using many channels at once usually doesn’t work for us. Our target audience tends to be the C-suite. For example, buying a core banking solution is a senior executive decision, so targeted marketing is more effective. But we also need to make an impact with the influencers so broader awareness is still important. BK: What channels are the most powerful?
ED: It depends on the solution. One of the major products we’re going to market with now is our core banking solution. You’re talking about ripping the guts of a bank and replacing an aging system with something new. It’s the highest level decision. Other types of solutions may not be a board level decision. A bank might be able to implement a smaller, line of business solution for a quick ROI, and that decision might not require the same approvals. We can use a wider variety of marketing channels for those smaller, lower cost projects. Webinars are effective; we typically get a good turnout. BK: How can an integrated marketing and PR agency add value to Oracle?
ED: An agency can help us with some of the creative aspects of marketing. We created an expensive but fantastic asset recently. It was a card with videos and infographics. Our goal was to plant a seed by getting it into the hands of C-suite executives and introduce them to a product we’re not well known for. When the bank is ready, they’ll know Oracle is in that particular space. We want the agency to coordinate with our internal resources. We have strict rules about what we can and can’t do with press releases, for example. The same goes with advertising because we need consistency from vertical to vertical. If everyone was given free reign, the overall brand message would get diluted. Finally, an agency can help us cut through the noise. Other industries might be implementing new marketing ideas that we can leverage in financial services. My attitude is if you’re not failing, you’re not trying hard enough. You have to be willing to try new things. www.cognitomedia.com • 11
COGNITO ABOUT TOWN Cognito not only focuses on delivering creative campaigns to clients, but also brings those clients and friends together in various settings throughout the year. Every year, Cognito offices host Summer Executive Networking Receptions and quarterly “Breakfast Byte” roundtables, bringing together marketing and communications executives from a variety of financial and financial technology firms. This year’s events, held in New York, London and Singapore, saw impressive turnouts and helped peers connect “off the field.”
Our New York office also had the privilege of hosting New York Magazine writer Kevin Roose’s launch party for his new book, “Young Money.” Journalists from the FT, New York Times and others joined communications professionals, friends and family to celebrate Kevin’s achievement. For the fourth year in a row, Cognito worked with the American Cancer Society to promote its Financial Cares event. This year’s event honored Dick Vitale, legendary ESPN sports analyst and commentator, and raised two million dollars. Proceeds directly benefited the ACS and the Hope and Heroes Children’s Cancer Fund.
NY Breakfast Byte Panelists from Bloomberg, Truphone and ITG NY Summer Networking Reception speaker Liza Landsman, E*TRADE
Guests at Cognito’s London Summer Party
NY Summer Networking Reception special guest Betty Liu, Bloomberg
Guests at Cognito’s Singapore Summer Networking Reception
Word of Mouth • Q4 2014