MAXIMIZING YOUR EVENT EXPOSURE Intelligently
Also in this issue: Taking a content marketing approach with WBR
Insights from the Editor of The Corporate Treasurer
The latest PR technology from Cognito Analytics
News
NEW TALENT ACROSS THE BOARD Cognito continues to grow in London, with the latest additions to the team being Ian Burge (@IanBurgePR) and Vivienne Hsu (@viv_hsu). Ian, previously at group external communications for Standard Chartered, has joined as a senior account manager, bringing strong top-tier banking media relationships.Vivienne joins in July as director of digital and social media, deepening our ability to deliver fully integrated, multi-channel support for clients.Vivienne was formerly business director at The Social Partners, the social arm of Grey London.
W E L CO ME
M a ki ng t he MOST OF A CHA NG IN G L A N DSC A P E Tom Coombes, CEO
As key global economies show solid signs of stability and growth, firms in the financial sector are inevitably more optimistic about the future. Their reputation, profile and sales performance are central to their success, and it is in these areas that Cognito provides its core value. The changing nature of the media, and the addition of numerous new channels and venues for dialogue, have meant that a broader set of media skills and experience is needed to execute effective campaigns. This changing landscape produces tremendous opportunity for cross-disciplined agencies like Cognito to really show their value. In addition to broadening our consulting capability across social and digital, Cognito has launched Comtela, a social PR platform, and extended our Cognito Analytics platform to offer editorial calendar information to financial firms via the ‘Opportunities’ function.
Earlier this year Tom Crow joined as senior designer in our marketing and design team in London.Tom has a wealth of B2B experience from working both agency-side and in-house at a leading law firm, where he led the company’s complete rebrand. Cognito London’s new Broadgate office continues to be a buzz of activity with frequent media training workshops, journalist briefings, video interviews and breakfast briefing sessions on topical communications issues. Over in New York , Jon Schubin joined late last year as an account manager from Walek & Associates, where he worked on a range of hedge fund accounts, and Divya Samtani began working at Cognito last autumn as a marketing associate account executive, after completing Cognito’s graduate program.
AWARDS SUCCESS Cognito was awarded the top prize in direct marketing at The Annual Financial Communications Society Portfolio Awards in NYC. Out of hundreds of participants, Cognito’s recent premium marketing campaign for SimCorp was selected for the Gold Award, in recognition of the agency’s innovative use of new video marketing technology in reaching a select audience. Meanwhile Ali Wells, Cognito’s creative director, was a judge at this year’s event, sitting alongside top marketing executives and agency directors in reviewing the all-important submissions.
This edition of WoM looks at how to get the most from your presence at the long established event that is Sibos, but our advice here can be applied to any of the many industry events on the financial calendar. We look forward to working with you all through a notoriously busy portion the year.
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Over in London, our Ian Burge has been asked to serve as a judge for the CorpComms’ Digi Awards, run by the UK’s CorpComms Magazine, with the awards ceremony which took place at the Museum of London in July.
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Driving an industry event to market leadership Working with Worldwide Business Research
Jo Bance, Head of Marketing for Worldwide Business Research (WBR) Financial Markets division, explains the significance of using a global agency and the importance of specialized knowledge of the finance industry to connect the right people in the community. TELL US ABOUT YOUR ROLE AT WBR I head up marketing for WBR Financial Markets, the newly established finance division of WBR, the global conference company, based in our London office, and am responsible for its events in Europe and Asia. WhAT iS YOUR GOAL FOR WBR ThiS YEAR? Our focus is on defining who WBR is and will continue to be. These can be summarized as three main goals that drive our everyday activity: being extremely committed to creating integrity within the finance community, providing tailor made platforms to connect customers with opportunity, and challenging unconventional thinking to foster innovation. hOW DOES PR SUPPORT WBR’S BUSiNESS OBJECTiVES? PR enables us to reach influential people - whether through content pieces, press releases or news bytes. We are very focused on customer service and ROI, and our communications have to work across social, print and online channels to deliver that at the end of a campaign. WhAT WERE YOU LOOkiNG FOR iN A GLOBAL COMMUNiCATiONS AGENCY? One of the main objectives for the new financial division is to be seen as creating integrity within the finance community. Therefore, utilizing Cognito’s knowledge of the finance industry is really important to support our purpose. We’re able to maximise our different ideas across all the regions Cognito operates in to create really cohesive and interesting Word of Mouth | Q3 2013
campaigns. We are always reassured by the team’s consistent standard across the three regions. HAS YOUR EXPERIENCE WiTh COGNiTO LiVED UP TO ExPECTATiONS? it definitely has. Two years ago we wanted to move from a more traditional approach to media relations to taking a more content marketing approach and really embrace social media. Cognito enabled us to make that shift, working with us as our campaigns changed and developed.The team also does a great job of capturing all types of press that come to our events - from influential bloggers and the broader business media to less capital markets specific press.
Utilizing Cognito’s knowledge of the finance industry is really important to support our purpose
AT YOUR EVENTS, HOW DO YOU ADAPT TO ThE iNCREASiNG REQUESTS FOR CLOSED DOOR SESSIONS WHILST ALSO ENCOURAGiNG PRESS TO ATTEND? it’s tricky, but our events will never be fully closed - that wouldn’t fit our model, which is very much around networking discussions and
bringing communities together. That being said, we do have a mixture of closed door sessions for the C-level, who are looking to facilitate dialogue among industry peers only.We respect this is what they want as we want to have press around to comment and publicize the conferences. Essentially, it is about adapting to a new PR model where you also have to focus on promoting peer-to-peer engagement and influencing others, so it is necessary to have a mixture of both press and closed door for all participants to get involved in the community the way they would like. HOW DO YOU MEASURE THE SUCCESS OF YOUR WORK WITH COGNiTO? We have kPi’s in place, and it’s important for us to try and keep as much of it as tangible as possible to help gauge what works and keep the program on track. We look at metrics such as web conversions from content promoted socially, the number of press on site at the events, as well as the amount of press coverage secured after the events. ABOUT: WBR is the world’s biggest large-scale conference company and part of the PLS group, one of the world’s leading providers of strategic business intelligence with 16 offices worldwide. WBR’s flagship event, TradeTech was held in London between 16-18 April 2013.
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Maximizing your event exposure - intelligently Industry events present opportunities to push investment as far as possible, whether exhibiting, sponsoring, or simply flying in senior executives for networking. This is never truer than at Sibos, SWIFT’s long-established forum for the global financial community. Each year, thousands descend on a different financial center to debate and collaborate around payments, securities, cash management and trading, at what is seen as one of the leading global banking events. This September, financial leaders, technology vendors, corporates, regulators and journalists will congregate in Dubai’s World Trade Centre. Cognito will be there too – it’s our 10th consecutive Sibos. Whilst we’re always learning, we’ve experienced what does and doesn’t work to maximize exposure at Sibos. For 35 years, SWIFT has honed the best ways to bring together participants to examine current pressing issues. Key themes this year are: • Regulation: Challenges of implementation and identifying new opportunities. • Operational excellence: Improving efficiency through innovation and collaboration. • Worldwide shifts: Changing global dynamics and regional trends. While the conference’s overall focus remains relatively constant, the dialogue is always new, as the market context evolves. For example, last year the LEI standard was only being drawn up and OTC derivatives regulation was still being finalized. Given SWiFT’s rich,
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thought-provoking program, the first thing for any company is to ensure you understand the agenda and make it central to your planning, messaging and activities. Many of the best media and marketing opportunities are still shaped by the official agenda, which reflects feedback from SWIFT members. Once this is in place, planning your activities should flow more naturally. Our other key pointers: • Meet the media: Build an active campaign, take time to meet the press and plan releases at the event. Understand how the local press will engage – it’s different in every location.
• Try new things: All delegates, whether exhibitors or journalists, are keen to try local customs. Don’t restrict conversations to the exhibition. • Engage with others: Leading industry analysts usually attend – a chance to kickstart your analyst relations campaign. • Be social: Sibos is now renowned for its ‘social’ activity, and even those with a small presence can become more visible. Leverage the traffic using #Sibos to gain share of voice.
• Be prepared: To maximize publications previewing Sibos, as well as the “on-theracks” editions, have press materials ready in advance. Sign off on news for distribution beforehand and book meetings with reporters writing the Sibos Dailies (they rarely agree to this without an embargoed press release). • Schedule ambitiously: Sibos is packed. Keep your stand busy and maintain a steady flow of reporters coming to meet you. • Seek multimedia opportunities: A camera crew at your stand creates buzz. Look for publications doing videos and invite them to do interviews. Then embed content and leverage socially.
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Randa Mazzawi, MD of communications firm Borouj Consulting in Dubai, talks to Cognito about how to deal with Gulf media. What’s significant about Sibos coming to Dubai? The event is significant for Dubai and the United Arab Emirates, as it’s a platform for the growing importance of the country as a regional hub for finance. Dubai is a center of business and finance in the Arab world. in January, the Emirate unveiled its vision to become the “global capital” of the Islamic economy and plans to create a global capital of islamic industry and finance.
advance if you want the media to talk to you. When talking to the press, remember that industry specializations don’t necessarily reflect what happens in London or New York.You won’t find a business reporter, like at the FT, specialized in writing on hedge funds only. Journalists can be covering five or six unrelated industry “beats”, and while very proficient in a couple, perhaps skim the rest - another reason to give journalists information in writing.
Top do’s and don’ts when dealing with Arabic media? Dubai’s standard of journalism ranges from world-class to average - sometimes within the same publication.
Be mindful that full-time journalists with one publication may also be freelancing for an international or regional one. So while you may think you are talking to a local newspaper, they may ask questions for two separate story angles: one local and one regional/international.
Remember the city is also a media hub. Most of the top international and regional media have a presence here. Business news released in Dubai is disseminated around the world in seconds, through journalists from newswires, such as FT, WSJ or CNBC.
What gets their attention? A controversial angle will always generate interest, but with good knowledge of how the media operates (hence the importance of media training) spokespeople can give a strong, positive story.
Communications should be in two languages: Arabic and English, Dubai’s business language.
Story angles should always have local relevance. The region lacks transparency, and hard figures are difficult to find, so give statistics about your business. Journalists use these opportunities to get figures pushing for estimates when official numbers don’t exist. Local reporters will expect the
The business beehive that is Dubai means journalists have always something to report. With media houses usually understaffed and competition for attention fierce, plan well in
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story line written in hard and soft copy, and translated to Arabic if you’re talking to Arab journalists. broadcast in Gulf? How important is broadcast in the Gulf? A handful of broadcast media cover business, including CNBC Arabiya, a CNBC franchise broadcasting in Arabic. BBC and CNN are here, but have limited business coverage with normally one weekly business program covering all 21 Arab countries. Regional and local channels, such as Al Arabiya and DM sometimes host English speaking executives, voicing over Arabic translation, but sometimes they prefer an Arabic speaker. Plenty of broadcast media will attend Sibos’ opening ceremony, some covering the second day too. “Official” channels (Abu Dhabi TV, Dubai TV, Sama Dubai etc.) normally cover official openings by the rulers. Radio is also popular and the Dubai Eye talk station has two good business programs. How did the Arab Spring effect the media? This depends whether you’re talking to an international or local journalist. international journalists always ask about the Arab Spring, whether an industry trend question or company-specific, whilst local media focus on different and relevant stories. www.boroujconsulting.com
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series
BYTE-SIZED BRAINSTORMING
This year saw another two instalments of our Breakfast Byte series. In London, around 100 people came to hear senior executives from hSBC, London First and SunGard addressing the importance of trust, reputation and values within financial services. Over in New York, the audience gathered to hear from Forbes, Bloomberg LP and SimCorp, who tackled the challenge of needing to measure and monetize communications to demonstrate the value of results. Cognito’s regular Breakfast Bytes offer comms professionals the chance to meet peers and discuss pressing issues of the day. To be kept informed of future events near you do get in touch.
JOURNALIST Q&A
Daniel Flatt, Editor, The Corporate Treasurer @danny_flatt
When and why did you begin your career and why did you begin career in journalism? journalism? i was drawn to business and finance journalism by a friend’s suggestion about seven years ago. The dynamic nature of it fascinates me. My first story was on global pensions - a topic not as widely discussed anymore. Who has been your best mentor? Who has been your best mentor? Tom Lamont, former editor of Institutional Investor News, insisted that standards and guidelines should be always upheld - these help build confidentiality and trust between journalists and interviewees. Setting straightforward reporting standards was quite critical in my progression, and I have followed those principles ever since. What has been your proudest moment in the past year? Starting a new publication and creating a brand is definitely a tough road to tread. We’re proud to have established The Corporate Treasurer magazine by producing high quality content and giving companies good reason to talk to us. The support of our dedicated journalists has helped get where we are today. Everyone has contributed to building the brand. it’s been a tiring but extremely fulfilling journey! What was the biggest challenge? Working on the plans, design and layout for the
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website and magazine was exciting as well as challenging. With everyone taking their cues from the magazine’s first edition the launch was really important. What in Asia’s What changes changes have have you you seen seen in financial industry in the last few years? financial industry in the last few years? Until 2008 business and finance journalists were blindly covering the moves of the financial markets. The current crisis has brought along a significant transformation; it dented the confidence of the industry, but for most journalists it was a knock on the head. Lack of probing and lack of transparency are aspects that a business journalist cannot afford anymore. What’s your advice to PR professionals and what gets your attention? Emails aren’t a waste of time but a more proactive approach often works better. i’ve also sometimes been frustrated by a lack of knowledge when I try to get more details about announcements. Just like other regions, in Asia it’s important for PRs to build good working relationships with journalists, and knowing their background is just as important as knowing the beat they cover. Responsiveness to requests catches my attention the most - turnaround time matters more than people think. Find out about The Corporate Treasurer at: www.thecorporatetreasurer.com
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Co g n i t o A n a l yt i c s Intro d u c es
O P P O R T U N I T I E S
Cognito is dedicated to using our specialized financial knowledge to drive sophisticated marketing and communications programs. Our latest product – Cognito Analytics Opportunities – applies this expertise to editorial calendars and forward features, a key factor in securing relevant media coverage. Opportunities is a different kind of editorial product, one created from the ground-up with the financial service professional in mind. Over the past six months, Cognito professionals have used their contacts at more than 100 publications with leading reporters and editors in asset management, financial technology, real estate and financial trading to identify and log feature opportunities.
PR has changed dramatically thanks to social media, the importance of digital and the use of video. Whilst all have had a significant impact, Twitter has emerged as the most influential, becoming a networking site, a conversation channel, a journalist hangout as well as part of a company’s voice. Financial services firms, traditionally behind the curve, now realize these channels are here to stay and that if they are to remain relevant in the corporate landscape, they need to actively participate and engage with their audience – whether via Twitter, LinkedIn,YouTube or other channels. Twitter has always faced an uphill battle in the B2B world. Many felt their customers weren’t there, no one was listening or it was a waste of time and resources. Companies now realize that key influencers are on Twitter, looking for thought-leaders and useful information, and it can be an efficient and effective communication
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here’s what separates Opportunities: • Exclusive focus on financial services – its narrow focus ensures absolute subjectarea mastery. Each individual listing is tagged using more than 50 quantifiers, ensuring you only see the results relevant to your unique business. New customers complete a survey, enabling the Opportunities search algorithm to present appropriate results. • Constantly refreshed data – Deadlines change and breaking news ruins the best-laid plans. Cognito updates articles throughout the year and sends out daily and weekly alerts about changes to selected or new relevant features.
• Workflow management – Never miss a deadline again. Opportunities allows you to see publication and submission deadlines, along with the ability to create an internal deadline based on your company’s needs. Automatic email reminders help keep you apprised of upcoming deadlines. • Our current clients have had access to this data as part of their monthly retainer, along with Cognito’s analysis and consulting on how to maximize placements. Now, Cognito Analytics Opportunities offers this data to all businesses on a monthly subscription basis for the first time. Find out more visit: www.cognitoanalytics.com
tool. The question most now ask is not “Should i join Twitter?” but, “Who do i follow and how do i measure it?” Comtela is the financial services industry’s first Twitter PR tool where users can find and follow influential financial journalists that cover industry news and events. Comtela helps users build an influential following to ensure their news reaches those that matter, those that their prospects and clients trust, read and respect. It also helps users see how much of their following is made up of key influencers, a metric that can be measured on a regular basis. Comtela is free and easy to use - simply log-in with your (or your company’s) Twitter handle at www.comtela.com. We look forward to hearing what you think. @Comtela_FS
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Next Gen Lead Gen:
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Your website as your gateway
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ith diminishing marketing budgets, increasing margin pressures and greater competition, marketers are focused on the age-old issue of lead generation now more than ever. While there are several elements of a brand that marketers look to generate leads, prime real estate for this focus is inevitably a company’s website. In the consumer space, websites act as a virtual storefront, displaying products and services that the visitor can easily purchase. In B2B however, the corporate website must display enough of a “hook” to pull in a potential buyer, particularly when some companies are challenged with sales cycles averaging between 8-12 months! Unfortunately for the B2B marketer, there is no instant gratification with website lead generation, i.e. an immediate conversion of a browsing user into a paying customer. So, what can you do to transform your company’s site into a powerful lead generating engine? 1. CONTENT IS (STILL) KING: In B2B, content still remains imperative, particularly as syndicated content channels continue to proliferate. Although the words “thought leadership” are over-used and often abused, firms must offer thought leadership valuable content, at the forefront of their websites. According to the Content Marketing institute’s 2012 study, 41% of marketers consider “producing the kind of content that engages prospects/customers” to be their
biggest content marketing challenge. Following that, 20% of marketers cited “producing enough content” a struggle. While content doesn’t necessarily need to be lengthy or involve in-depth analysis, quality and quantity are not only crucial – but important to capturing user engagement in an environment where visitors, on average, stay on a website for a matter of seconds. Ensuring content is valuable and relevant also increases the chance of its promotion, whether through social media or other websites. 2. CHANGE THE WINDOW DISPLAY: Most firms are inevitably sitting on fresh content that never appears online: an interesting staff memo, a recent press release, a great piece of coverage, or even upcoming event info. Firms should identify different types of content that can be published on a website to encourage visitors to return time and again. A dynamic website, with fresh and respected content, means improved SEO and repeat visitors. 3. MOVE BEYOND THE WRITTEN WORD: While many a manager may wish they could, video has become a popular and effective way of reaching users in a dynamic way. According to a 2013 B2B Content Marketing Benchmark published by CMi/MarketingProfs, 70% of B2B marketers were using video in 2012 – an increase from 52% in 2011. hosting content alongside a video can be a powerful mechanism to increase linger time among visitors and inspire lead generating actions (registration, click-throughs, etc). Dynamic content doesn’t have to involve movement – there are many types of static content, with various levels of
resourcing, that you can consider: infographics, white papers, research reports, Q & A’s, FAQs, tip sheets, or short blog entries. 3. TEST AND LEARN: Analytics are crucial. For a company website to be a powerful lead generation tool, firms must absolutely have analytics in place. How often are users engaging? Where are they coming from? What organic search terms drive them to the site? What pages or content are most popular? By regularly analyzing website performance, you can better understand how your users are interacting with the site and produce content that will resonate. Learning also means optimizing. By gaining insight about your visitor’s behavior you can utilize techniques to advance search engine ranking through paid campaigns and content generation alike. Very few B2B firms can afford to have a purely brochure-ware site, unless they’re deliberately staying under the radar. in today’s internet-driven age, most buyers will visit a company’s website as a first port of call. Although a website cannot and should not be the primary channel for lead generation, it should not be overlooked, undervalued or under maintained. Combined with a proactive, insightful content marketing program across paid, owned and earned media, a dynamic and engaging company website can move beyond being a dusty marketing asset to an engine for lead generation.
Cognito is a specialist integrated communications firm for the financial services sector. From offices in London, New York, Los Angeles and Singapore, Cognito works with financial institutions, investment companies and system/data providers to implement programs that help them improve their business’ profile, reputation, marketing and lead generation.
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