BNY Mellon is a legacy custodial bank that’s been an integral part of the global economy for 200+ years. And though they run a sophisticated operation, overseeing trillions of dollars in transactions a day, brand perception had changed from ‘trusted innovator’ to ‘outdated and dormant.’? We needed to reverse the trend in order to gain more familiarity and favorability. And we needed potential clients, many of whom are influential financial industry leaders, to consider us by providing a better understanding of what a partnership with BNY Mellon could mean.

Adding to the challenge, many of BNY Mellon’s competitors are well-known financial brands with large media budgets, who regularly spend tens of millions dollars in traditional formats. Any successful effort would require untraditional thinking and breakthrough execution.

In a world that’s increasingly siloed, where information and perspectives are often shared in a bubble, we positioned BNY Mellon as the financial firm who finds value in looking at things from every angle. In short, they ‘Consider Everything.’ And because a brand who considers everything doesn’t simply communicate like other brands in the financial space, we set out to find innovative and thought-provoking ways to reintroduce ourselves to the industry.

BNY Mellon’s clients are hard-to-reach business leaders, with specific lifestyle needs and content preferences. They have very little spare time, and crave daily content that keeps them informed on economic and market movements. Speed-listening gives them access to more perspectives in order to inform smarter business decisions.

To be sure they’d hear message, we placed it in The Economist’s ‘Money Talks’ podcast – a sophisticated program which offers deep, insightful analysis of the world’s most pressing financial topics.

We recorded a :15 second audio ad, stretched it out to :30, and placed it in the middle of The Economist’s ‘Money Talks’ podcast. By the time a ‘podfaster’ (or speed listener) reached the midroll point of the episode, the effect of hearing a normal voice at 1x speed felt very surprising. To heighten the effect, the voiceover copy was written in a self-aware manner that nodded directly to what the ‘podfaster’ was experiencing in that particular moment.

“For some, this may sound slow.

For some, this may sound normal.

Because at BNY Mellon, we consider everything.

Like how some listeners consume podcasts twice as fast.

Sound familiar?

Deeper insights.

Greater financial outcomes.

That’s BNY Mellon.

Now, let’s get you back up to speed.”

Ultimately this first-of-its-kind execution underscored BNY Mellon’s innovative approach to business by itself embodying an innovative approach to audio media.

It worked. We caught the attention of over 70,000 hard-to-reach financial listeners, as well as the press. Alongside other Consider Everything marketing activities, ‘Podfast’ reversed the decline in brand equity, contributing to lifts in familiarity, favorability and consideration – including that people are now 72% more likely to think of BNY Mellon as an industry thought leader.?

Results of brand study:

11-point lift “Safe, reliable, trusted” – 85% increase

8-point lift “Industry thought leader” – 72% increase

8-point lift “Highest value provider of investment services globally” – 72% increase

11-point lift Familiarity – 30% increase

13-point lift Favorability – 33% increase

16-point lift Consideration – 41% increase

By reaching an entirely new kind of audience in a way no one had ever considered before, Podcast was proof-positive that BNY Mellon truly does ‘Consider Everything.’?