The Exit Brand

GlobeOp Financial Services

Result
AuA (assets under admin) 71% to $187B. Revenue 41% to $221.3MM. Stock value 142%. $1B acquisition by SS&C.

Business Challenge
At 10 years of steady growth, GlobeOp leadership, including BOD, was not satisfied with its marketing-sales synergy…nor how it was positioned to maximize sales, market awareness and brand value for acquisition.

Customer Insight
Technology in this category was perceived as parity. All things being equal, it came down to a gut sense of who made them feel most confident. Who they could trust with such vast amounts of money.

GlobeOp’s CEO, at the start of my work, stated that their brand was “…in the business of Hedge Fund Information Services.”

But, after listening, really listening between the lines to customer, I presented the Q: “What Business Are You Really In?” and answered that GlobeOp was really in the business of “Providing Confidence” which was gold to the super-fast executional side of hedge fund services AND to the ultimate customer.

Brand Position/Strategy
Confidence. First and foremost, a Trust in GlobeOp, in its people, its brand, before an understanding of and respect for its remarkable technology. Every communication and experience, from the look and touch of the business card to the service “heat maps” featured in offices, triggered the emotional response of confidence before the more studied response of respect for its technological competence.

Brand/Marketing Creative
1. Mission, brand position
2. Brand ID, logo/styleguide
3. Website, brand and product videos
4. Office, event, presentation experiences
5. Sales materials
6. Business cards and swag
7. Index and Product Demos

“Remarkable Service” Customer Satisfaction Survey. GlobeOp’s COO asked “What can we do with all this — 40,000 data points — to make it more meaningful to employees and customers?” Jan saw it immediately. He came back a week later, having eliminated all the lines and text of the X and Y, changing the colors to the new brand style and adding two previous years to the survey. The result (below) is a triptych of art more alive and compelling than dry data. It powerfully, emotionally and immediately communicated the progress, year after year, of GlobeOp’s customer service. (Blue: Remarkable Service; Yellow: Satisfactory; Red: Unsatisfactory). Working with one of the few manual silkscreen artists in NYC, Jan had each piece hand-printed on canvas and framed. It became the emotional centerpiece of Jan’s branding launch of “Be Confident” to each global office, bringing home in every culture and language the meaning and purpose of remarkable service by remarkable human beings: The employees who, Jan said, were the true artists. One of GlobeOp’s most memorable moments.

$30bn Direct Sales Letter. How do you break through and set up a meeting with a $30B prospect during impossible-to-schedule holidays? It was a cold wintery day, first week back from Thanksgiving. Our sales team who went after “whales” (hedge funds with assets under administration (AUA) of $10B or more) had the same yearly complaint: no one was answering their emails or phones to schedule a meeting. Management said “keep trying,” which amounted to “keep annoying.” I said, “Let’s try donuts.” After the laughing subsided, I showed them the plan. A hand-delivered our prospects a holiday package , but something out of the ordinary. The personalized card designed in the form of a calendar month of cupcakes, with a handwritten note that invited prospect to choose a cupcake, make a meeting date! No human being, especially one sharing a box of these donuts with their staff, could resist a follow up call (and most proactively called the sales person to say thank you!)
Result? A bite, a reply, meeting scheduled and a $30Bnew-business win. Next management meeting after the holidays, the cynics laughed again. With me.

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