Industry Insights

by Kevin Windorf, CEO, FCS; CMO, 2112 Communications For years, financial services marketers have treated Gen Z as a single audience: younger, digital-first, values-driven. That framing is convenient. It is also increasingly wrong. What Gen Z is really doing to financial services marketing is more disruptive — and more useful. This generation is fragmenting the…

On behalf of the FCS, my thanks to O’Dwyer’s for the opportunity to share my perspective on the importance of creative excellence during a time where financial marketing and communications is rapidly shifting. In my article, “Creative Excellence in an Age of Readiness,” I write that for years our industry measured excellence by how clearly we…

by Kevin Windorf, CEO, FCS; CMO, 2112 Communications For financial marketers, 2026 will not be about chasing the next shiny channel. Trust will remain the non-negotiable foundation of the customer relationship. What will change is how that trust is earned, signaled, and reinforced across a more fragmented, data-sensitive media environment. Recent research from AdRoll and…

Why the Brand Halo Matters by Kevin Windorf, CEO, FCS; CMO, 2112 Communications In financial services, brand reputation has always been a fragile asset. Something you’ve built, cultivated, and invested in over decades can be vulnerable to rapid and sometimes immediate erosion. Today, as AI reshapes how people discover, evaluate, and engage with brands, protecting…

by Kevin Windorf, CEO, FCS; CMO, 2112 Communications Artificial intelligence is transforming marketing. Content is faster, cheaper, and endless. But for financial marketers, the challenge has not changed. It’s still about trust. Clients aren’t craving more perfectly targeted product pages or algorithmically ranked articles. They want clarity in the products we offer. They want confidence…

How to ensure your best messaging reaches the field by Kevin Windorf, CEO, FCS; CMO, 2112 Communications In asset management, a strong brand is essential—but if your messaging doesn’t reach the advisors who sell your products, your brand’s value gets lost where it matters most. This is the brand-distribution gap, and it’s one of the…

How To Tell the Story Behind Your Marketing Data by Kevin Windorf, CEO, FCS; CMO, 2112 Communications In financial marketing, data is our default language. Site traffic, qualified leads, AUM lift, pipeline volume — these are the metrics we live by. But numbers alone rarely inspire. They inform, but they don’t persuade. And they often…

Is AI eating your traffic? by Kevin Windorf, CEO, FCS; CMO, 2112 Communications The value of traditional SEO is shifting – and fast. As AI-powered search tools and Google’s zero-click results become the norm, the playbook for driving organic traffic is being rewritten. For financial marketers and media pros, this is a fundamental challenge to…

by Kevin Windorf, CEO, FCS; CMO, 2112 Communications In today’s hyper-transparent world, corporate reputation and brand equity are parallel tracks that are quickly converging. Brand equity is the value consumers place on your product or service based on their experiences and perceptions. Corporate reputation is how the broader public—customers, investors, employees, regulators—perceives your company as…

by Kevin Windorf, CEO, FCS; CMO, 2112 Communications Trust has always been the currency of financial services. But in today’s hyper-fragmented, high-stakes environment, trust isn’t won by staying silent or safe, it’s earned through clear, consistent, and compelling brand behavior. That means it’s time for financial marketers to stop whispering and start speaking up with…

by Kevin Windorf, CEO, FCS; CMO, 2112 Communications In a crowded digital landscape, financial marketers aren’t struggling to be seen — they’re struggling to be remembered. Social media, once a scrappy experiment for most firms, is now an essential channel. But the rules have changed, and success today demands more than activity. It requires clarity,…

by Kevin Windorf, CEO, FCS; CMO, 2112 Communications In today’s high-stakes marketing landscape, the expectations placed on Chief Marketing Officers have never been greater, or more complex. CMOs are tasked with driving growth, optimizing spend, navigating an ever-evolving tech stack, and aligning cross-functional teams. For financial marketers in particular, the challenge is amplified by compliance…

by Kevin Windorf, CEO, FCS; CMO, 2112 Communications For asset managers who distribute exclusively through intermediaries (advisors, RIAs, broker-dealers), the disconnect between marketing and measurable sales impact is a persistent challenge. Without direct access to the end investor, marketers struggle to quantify the effectiveness of their advertising and content efforts. But that doesn’t mean measurement…

by Kevin Windorf, CEO, FCS; CMO, 2112 Communications Content strategy in financial services has hit a wall. We’ve outgrown the era of pushing out endless assets with vague goals. In 2025, content is no longer a “nice-to-have” — it’s an imperative. Content is how you connect brand, performance, and trust. And that connection needs to…