As a global financial services firm with DE&I as a core value, Morgan Stanley challenged us to integrate diversity messaging organically and innovatively into mainstream media environments without just sponsoring special diversity sections or publications. Our audience, and especially our emerging female audience, seeks out companies that take an active and genuine role in keeping diversity at their core. We needed to differentiate Morgan Stanley in a time when all financial industries are saying the same things about diversity.

Morgan Stanley, who regularly releases research on the space economy, predicted the value of this industry to reach over $1 trillion by 2040. As the space economy booms, Morgan Stanley recognized this as the ideal opportunity to create conversation around equal access. Instead of merely spreading the message, they used their marketing budget to build the foundation of a more inclusive space program.

Given Morgan Stanley’s extensive work in space economics, we researched how diversity has played a role in the field. We learned that despite 60 years of human spaceflight, only about 11.5% of astronauts have been women. This is partially due to the lack of spacesuits that are tailored to fit a female body. In fact, in 2019, the first all-female space mission was delayed due to a lack of appropriately sized suits.

While other brands may have spread the messaging around the lack of female-sized spacesuits, we used our media budget to build the prototype for one.

We sought out a partnership with CNN, given their long-standing relationship with Morgan Stanley, their audience, their in-depth coverage of space, and, of course, access to some of the best talent. Together with CNN’s Courageous Studios, we gathered a team of experts, historians, and designers to generate a blueprint for the first inclusive spacesuit. The Access I was designed to better meet the needs of female astronauts, putting a spotlight on the brand’s commitment to making financial services accessible to all. In order to make the work discoverable, we included multimedia touchpoints.

We created an interactive site that explores the history of the spacesuit and leverages Morgan Stanley’s thought-leadership across space economy and DE&I. We also teased a countdown to a major event in New York’s Times Square, set to reveal the future of space equality.

We then produced the newly imagined conceptual suit lovingly known as the Access I.

In October 2022, the countdown culminated in a big reveal of the Access I, with the ability for visitors to project images of themselves in the Access I above Times Square. While visiting the interactive exhibit, they walked through a 360-degree experience of space with images taken from the James Webb Space Telescope and finished by getting up close and personal with the Access I. Visitors walked away with awareness of the importance of space inclusivity and Morgan Stanley’s role in creating a future of accessibility for all.

Over the duration of the campaign we saw:

19% increase in brand favorability

18% lift in consideration intent

17% above CNN engagement benchmark for digital

7% increase in brand awareness

96% of social interaction drove positive sentiment

The campaign generated earned media by numerous publications including MediaPost with nearly 1 million mentions.