Morgan Stanley Debuts First Major Brand Effort Under Global CMO

Morgan Stanley is unveiling a new brand campaign today that aims to showcase the firm's "real human" benefits, according to Lisa Manganello, head of integrated brand marketing at Morgan Stanley. The effort, out of Interpublic Group's Huge, highlights Morgan Stanley's impact on culture, technology and infrastructure. It also touts the firm's partnerships with big-name brands like Netflix, which it helps secure funding for projects, and Alibaba, which it took public. Following the financial crisis, the campaign seeks to show that Morgan Stanley creates positive change. In 2009, Morgan Stanley was a nearly $40 million dollar account, but the firm's spend on domestic measured media dwindled to $10.3 million last year, according to Kantar Media. "Capital Creates Change" is the first major brand effort led by Morgan Stanley's global CMO, Mandell Crawley. The company created the CMO role in October 2013, when it hired Susan Smith Ellis for the position, in order to improve its presence in the retail investor space, according to Investment News. Ms. Ellis left the firm for Getty Images nine months into her post and Mr. Crawley, who first joined the company as an intern in 1992, took up the helm in September. In January 2015, Mr. Crawley oversaw the redesign of Morgan Stanley's website to focus more on the people behind the firm. The content-heavy site aims to bring their ideas, advice and expertise to life, according to Huge, which worked on the website refresh. The new marketing effort follows strong growth at the company, which boosted net revenues by 10% last quarter from the same period a year earlier, according to an earnings release. "At a time of strong momentum for the firm, this campaign demonstrates confidence in Morgan Stanley's value proposition by reinforcing our commitment to clients and telling the story of how we harness the capital clients need to create change," said Mr. Crawley, in an email. A Morgan Stanley spokesman declined to comment on the budget for the push. The campaign includes broadcast, print, digital and social elements. Interpublic Group's BPN handled the media buy.

Morgan Stanley Debuts First Major Brand Effort Under Global CMO

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