Recap
On July 30 at The Harbor Rooftop in NYC, over 100 attendees beat the heat and gathered for discussion, drinks, and live music from DJ Chopps at a special summer FCS Cocktails with Content, presenting “Storytelling in Financial Services.” The sold-out event was an unforgettable send-off for the season.
The lively panel discussion featured Melissa Cavanaugh, Head of Content Strategy at Morgan Stanley, Nicole Huynh, Global Head of Client Marketing at BNY, and Franchesca Maddalena-Napp, Executive Director, Head of Solutions Marketing at UBS. Moderated by Gregory Yates, FCS Board Director and Head of Market, Financial Services at Goldcast, the panel delved into how financial brands can apply a storytelling architecture to build trust, create relevance, and drive meaningful engagement.
Some key takeaways from the panel included:
Structuring a Story Around the Client: Marketers of all industries are familiar with personas. These representations of important audience segments help marketers create a framework backed by research to create finely tailored content and campaigns that target their ideal customer or client. However, characterizing personas and storyboarding scenarios for them are activities that can border too much on the hypothetical. This can push the real-world customer to the wayside. The panelists emphasized casting the client as the main character of their campaign and utilizing storytelling to craft distinct, compelling messaging. Such a strategy allows the client feel heard regarding their needs or pain points, making for successful campaigns and stronger client relationships.
Attention is Fleeting: We live in the attention economy, where multinational companies and individual creators are trying to catch people’s eyes and grasp their focus. Hold onto it long enough and their attention will pay dividends. On average, marketers have seven seconds to capture the audience’s attention, and potentially only five seconds to get them to stay and hear what their campaign or content has to say. The panelists advised prioritizing short, impactful storytelling that gets the essential points across to audiences in an engaging way.
AI’s Role in the Story: When it came to AI, the panel aligned on how it should be one tool in the toolbox of financial services marketers. Melissa explained how she prefers AI to do the small tasks of her day-to-day that keep her from the more creative aspects of her job. She also prefers that AI be kept out of thought leadership, where conversations, interviews, and a human touch achieve greater impact with clients.
Another important aspect of AI is its status as intellectual property, especially when the source is an LLM internally developed by a company. Nicole expounded on how the marketing team at BNY has been interested in preserving ownership of their ideas and content when AI is incorporated into the planning process. Furthermore, she likes to view AI as the equivalent of a thorough analyst, providing information on a topic that only 25% of which will be used in the final product. The sales team will know the clients the best, and AI is not equipped to handle these relationships as it currently exists.
Where AI can be useful is in building a storytelling structure. Franchesca said the marketing team at UBS uses Copilot to jumpstart their thought process when identifying customer personas. She cautioned marketers against putting their full faith in what AI generates, as mistakes and hallucinations can happen and throw a wrench into the process. Using human judgment is paramount for success when marketing teams integrate AI into their storytelling.
Following the content-focus part of the event, the FCS audience toasted the night, enjoying hours more of music and conversation.
Special thanks to our sponsors: Goldcast, Prophecy, SmartBrief, FT, and Simpli.fi.
On behalf of our panelists, the FCS donated $1,000 to Gift of Adoption, a national charity which provides grants to complete the adoptions of children in vulnerable circumstances.
— reported by Juliet McAlee, FCS Admin/Comms Coordinator
This event is sold out. Please contact Juliet McAlee, FCS Administrative & Communications Coordinator, at [email protected] for inquiries.
Our July “Cocktails with Content” reception will be a special “Midsummer Night’s Dream Soiree” as we extend the content-event to celebrate the season from a NYC rooftop with a DJ and dancing. Join us on Wednesday, July 30, at The Harbor Rooftop, where we’ll kick off the event with a panel discussion on “Storytelling in Financial Services.”
Panelists include:
- Melissa Cavanaugh, Head of Content Strategy, Morgan Stanley
- Nicole Huynh, Global Head of Client Marketing, BNY
- Franchesca Maddalena-Napp, Executive Director, Head of Solutions Marketing, UBS
FCS Board Director Gregory Yates, Head of Marketing, Financial Services, Goldcast, will serve as moderator.
- Doors open at 4:30pm with the content program running from 5:15pm-6:00pm. Then we’ll toast the summer with an open bar and refreshments until 8:30pm.
- Specialty cocktails are sponsored by our Mixology Sponsor Prophecy.
- There will be music from DJ Chopps, who recently played at our Portfolio Gala and Holiday Party. Come ready to dance.
In gratitude to our lead sponsor, Goldcast, we will donate $1,000 to Gift of Adoption, whose mission is to provide adoption assistance grants to complete the adoptions of children in vulnerable circumstances—giving them permanent families and a chance to thrive.
If you’re interested in additional sponsorship opportunities, please contact FCS Board Director and event co-chair Gregory Yates.
