This global firm – a leader in commercial, consumer and investment banking – has maintained a retainer relationship with Gargiulo + Partners since our founding. In that time, we have advised businesses across the organization, working on both the firmwide and sector-specific levels.

On a firmwide level, we assist in preparing shareholder communications.

For the investment bank, we advised on and developed a host of marketing materials for the Asia Pacific office. These included presentations introducing the firm's capabilities, both globally and throughout the Asia Pacific region, and a series of presentation modules describing the breadth and depth of investment banking products.

For the firm's private banking division, over the course of a three-year retainer assignment, we counseled on a host of client materials and led numerous training sessions for marketers. These included communications for the "day one" launch of the business resulting from a just-completed merger. We developed messages highlighting the benefits of the merger for private banking clients, which were then used as the basis for client letters and marketing presentations. We also developed CD-ROMs to educate bankers about positioning the merged firm's capabilities to clients.

We developed and led several communications training sessions fro the bank's marketing-support professionals, coverage bankers and merger and acquisition specialists.

We continue to receive new mandates from the bank as it expands in size and customer reach.

back to top

Over the course of a multiyear relationship, Gargiulo + Partners has assisted this global financial services leader in forging brand identities and thought leadership for a range of client segments, as part of the Private Bank's initiative to bolster its presence in these areas. In collaboration with the firm, we developed a strategy to brand and upgrade the marketing materials of its most established client segment and to develop segment-specific communications for other, more nascent practice areas.

In the established client segment, the Private Bank has long been the leader, thanks in part to unique industry research it conducts each year. However, internal and external research revealed that the firm's leadership position could become vulnerable, as competitors began emulating these research studies. To protect and advance the bank's position, we recommended that a brand name and logo be developed and trademarked for this suite of research products – a first for a private banking subgroup – and that the content and format of the materials be enhanced. In partnership with a branding and design peer firm, G+P created the name and logo. We then applied the new visual identity to a completely overhauled suite of client materials, including an annual industry survey, customized reviews of competitor financials, and quarterly industry snapshots.

In the course of this work, we not only branded but deepened the content of the group's two highest-profile annual pieces. We redesigned and expanded the annual survey, adding an executive summary that offers provocative analysis of industry trends. And we helped reinvent the customized reports, from static spreadsheets to message-driven, chart-laden presentations that encourage bankers to offer insights and draw clearer comparisons with their clients' competitors. The feedback from the firm's clients was swift and overwhelmingly positive. Our client fortified its leadership in the segment at a crucial time, just as other service providers were entering the market.

To sustain the group's thought leadership effort, we conceived and wrote pieces annually in collaboration with the bankers and helped create a new branded index for the industry. The annual pieces included the hallmark survey and a follow-up communiquÈ for the group's biggest conference, an offsite event attended by their top clients. In its first year since launch, the new index has been regarded as an emerging benchmark, cited in numerous articles in The Wall Street Journal and other publications.

After the Private Bank's success in cementing its thought leadership in an established practice area, we turned to other client segments, advising on and writing materials to support client development. We created brochures, letters, presentations and internal communications educating bankers about the marketing tools at their disposal.

back to top

In a retainer engagement encompassing both ongoing advisory work and deal-related assignments, Gargiulo + Partners has served as an out-of-house corporate communications department for this fast-expanding advisory firm with offices on three continents. We began working within two years of its founding and, over a multiyear relationship, have provided the founder and his growing team of bankers with marketing and client communications in multiple media. In the process, we have helped to shape the tone and direction of its brand in a competitive financial marketplace.

The firm first engaged Gargiulo + Partners to advise on its website and corresponding credentials materials. We restructured the website according to core brand principles being developed by the founder and his management team and wrote all-new copy for the top-level pages of the site. In subsequent years, we helped the firm restructure its credentials presentation around a story-driven framework, and we continue to provide new content for the website.

Simultaneously, the firm has turned to us to compose deal announcements for advisory transactions which, as the firm has grown, have increased in frequency from one or two per quarter to a similar number per month. These announcements combine publicly available deal details with marketing language specific to the firm, highlighting its expertise in certain regions, industries, and deal structures. As well, on a background basis, we have also provided occasional editing and advice on content for specific transaction communications.

As the firm expands both its team of bankers and its roster of clients, it continues to involve us in numerous communications-related aspects of its business – on both a macro level, advising on its general marketing direction; and on specific transactions and tasks.

back to top