As the importance of Brand Reputation continues to grow in the financial services sector, the FCS and Lansons Intermarket, the New York-based arm of London-based reputation management firm Lansons, organized a July 30th breakfast to explore that topic.  The panel discussion, held at the New York Yacht Club, was moderated by Lansons CEO Tony Langham and featured four communications experts from leading Wall Street firms:

• Laura Burke, Head of Corporate Communication, Prudential
• Cheryl Krauss, Chief Communications Officer, Barings Asset Management
• John Peicuch, Head of Divisional Communications, S&P Global
• Susan Siering, Head of Wealth Management Media Relations, Morgan Stanley

Langham set the table for the morning’s discussion with a presentation on reputation management, drawn from the eponymously named book he authored on the subject.

Following the presentation, Langham began the question period by asking the panelists if they had recently worked with their clients on retelling their corporate story.  This is something Langham has seen grow more popular among his clients and it created a variety of interesting responses from the panelists.

Cheryl Krauss stated that making the employees “the engine” as they tell their own stories may have a huge impact in the era of brand reputation. This can often lead employees to take a closer look at their customers wants and needs, which, in turn, can create an impact throughout an organization.

Emphasizing the human element was one point that was stressed by Susan Siering. Turning it back to what the client would like to achieve and breaking down the goals to get to the finish line, rather than meeting a benchmark is most effective for a client.

John Piecuch spoke in depth about how gender inclusion has become a big issue in the field today and if we are to progress more as a society, women are going to need a bigger slice of the pie. The research his team had looked at showed how much larger the global economy would be if women were entering the and remaining in the work force at the same rate as men across the globe.

The event’s programming partner was Lansons Intermarket, who brought the discussion concept to the FCS and collaborated on seating the panel. In addition, Smartology, a key distribution channel for the world’s leading brands who seek to engage audiences via global premium publishers, co-sponsored the event.