YMC TALKS: Anatomy of a Winning Campaign

Recap

FCS held the third annual YMC Talks: Anatomy of a Winning Campaign on Tuesday, June 4, at returning host-sponsor People Inc. At this Young Members Circle-exclusive event, young professionals got a behind-the-scenes look at the strategy and creative of FCS Portfolio Award-winning campaigns. Insights shared at this event can inspire young marketers to develop their craft.

Onstage this year were YMC Talks first-timers Kelly Klapatch, SVP, Marketing, BNY Wealth; Alex Wolmart, Paid Media Manager, Prudential; and returning panelist, Nira Headen, Senior Marketer, Experiential + Sponsorship Marketing, Invesco. The panel discussion was moderated by Irene Huhulea, Senior Director of Content Strategy at People Inc.

After some networking and light bites, Kelly, Alex, and Nira took to the stage and dove into the campaigns that won their companies FCS Portfolio Awards at this year’s Gala.

BNY’s Mastering the Sale Digital and Business Transition Assessment

The first that Kelly and her team devised was the report Mastering the Sale, conducted by BNY Wealth in partnership with Harris Poll. It consisted of interviews with 127 private business owners to learn what they most need from a wealth advisor. The report and accompanying campaign positioned BNY Wealth as the go-to advisor for this group of prospective clients. It led to 100 MQLs (marketing qualified leads), and won the Silver 2026 Portfolio Award in the Collateral category.

The second campaign Kelly detailed was the Business Transition Assessment, a three-minute interactive assessment for private business owners considering a sale. The tool was designed to simplify decision-making for business owners by providing personalized advice that led to next steps like the option to set up a call with a BNY Wealth advisor. It generated interest among private business owners and signaled that BNY Wealth can help them with the next steps. The tool won a Gold 2026 Portfolio Award for Digital Media in the Apps and Tools category.

When measuring the success of BNY’s campaigns, Kelly cited sales-qualified leads (SQL) as the metric of choice because it signals the front office to start conversations with leads. Though the numbers are important, she highlighted that a campaign’s emotional power cannot be underestimated. Creative and strategy for both tapped into private business owners’ emotions about selling a business. This created an opportunity for BNY Wealth advisors to form a connection with these business owners and provide their services.

PGIM’s “No Spot? No Problem.”

Alex started by discussing PGIM’s “No Spot? No Problem,” a media strategy composed of high-impact media placements. He began by setting the scene: its Q4 2025, when credit markets and investors’ appetite for them was surging. PGIM wanted to capitalize on this moment, but the asset manager was between campaigns and the marketing team believed running the outdated TV spot wouldn’t be the move to best promote its convergent credit platform. Alex and his team let media speak for itself: placing it in high-impact environments like Times Square during New Years Eve, the Bloomberg Terminal (91% CTR), and the Prudential Center. Altogether, the strategy generated 100+ million impressions and a notable increase in engagement from institutional prospects and inbound inquiries. Plus, the strategy also won them a Gold 2026 FCS Portfolio Award for Media Strategy.

For “No Spot? No Problem,” Alex and his team analyzed a variety of metrics to measure its success because there were several points where specific metrics are more illuminating than others. Cost curves were useful for vanity metrics, lead volume for mid-funnel lead volume, lead quality for business partners, and conversion rates for booking calls with a PGIM advisor.

Invesco’s Invesco QQQ Recipe for Innovation Season 2

The campaign Nira walked the audience through Invesco QQQ Recipe for Innovation Season 2, a full-scale brand platform that utilizes culinary storytelling to raise awareness and consideration of the QQQ ETF among high-networth investors and financial advisors.

Nira and her team discovered that the best conversations these groups have are not about finance; instead, they revolve around food and culinary experiences. To avoid the oftentimes dry language used in financial marketing, the Invesco team led with a brand platform that educates as much as it entertains to attract investors and advisors. The comprehensive campaign included a video series dishes inspired by companies under the QQQ ETF, social content featuring the chef influencers who developed these dishes, and an activation at the New York Food & Wine Festival. The Invesco QQQ Recipe for Innovation Season 2 brand platform nearly doubled brand interest, and landed Invesco a Gold 2026 Portfolio Award for Advertising in the Influencer Marketing Category.

Measuring Invesco QQQ Recipe for Innovation Season 2 was tricky for Nira and her team because of the nature of ETF marketing. Considering this, Nira outlined that she and her team focused on top-of-funnel metrics, such as clicks off the landing page to the Invesco QQQ website and brand favorability. Nira cites the generation of warm leads as the most valuable, which she heard there were a lot of from Invesco’s partners in distribution.