How we helped Natixis Investment Managers launch its global brand into the Australian market

Problem

Despite being the 17th largest fund manager in the world, Natixis Investment Managers’ brand equity in Australia was near zero.

While Natixis IM has a strong global narrative, and some affiliated managers were known locally, the story had not been articulated for the local market to give a simple and complete picture of Natixis IM’s brand personality and voice.

Natixis IM needed to create and raise a new profile within the complex Australian investment landscape: institutional investors, influencers, and the financial media.

Solution

The key was to raise and optimise Natixis IM’s brand profile in the local market. We did this through multi-channel content and commentary initiatives, by:

Developing a tier-one media relations program
Packaging Natixis IM’s existing global thought leadership to meet the appetite for quality market commentary and content
Localising global themes such as Brexit, OPEC, FOMC meetings, and the US elections
Making leaders available to the media for opinion and comment

Results

High profile, multi-channel coverage of Natixis increased brand recognition and trust. Results included:

787 individual pieces of media coverage in 2019
Regular business media commentary in outlets like ABC, The Financial Review and The Australian
Scheduling themed roundtables with influential trade media and names like Bloomberg
Placing op-eds in influential titles, such as Superfunds Magazine, Firstlinks and Financial Standard 's specialist super and wealth titles

A global presence

Natixis Investment Managers serves financial professionals with more insightful ways to construct portfolios. Powered by the expertise of more than 20 specialised investment managers globally, we apply Active Thinking® to deliver proactive solutions that help clients pursue better outcomes in all markets. Natixis Investment Managers ranks among the world’s largest asset management firms1 with more than $1 trillion assets under management2 (€906.0 billion).

Headquartered in Paris and Boston, Natixis Investment Managers is a subsidiary of Natixis. Listed on the Paris Stock Exchange, Natixis is a subsidiary of BPCE, the second-largest banking group in France For additional information, please visit Natixis Investment Managers’ website at im.natixis.com | LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/natixis-investment-managers.

Starting from scratch

Despite being a well-established global brand, Natixis Investment Managers had an extremely low profile in Australia, partly due to a tightly-held local fund management market.

Our job was to help Natixis IM break into the market, developing the brand for the local audience and using the assets it already had: a sterling global reputation, a rich library of global insight and an array of media-savvy executives and fund managers.

Coaching for the market

Using our in-depth media knowledge we quickly identified the media outlets that would be the most effective messengers for the Natixis IM brand, that would reach and engage the critical audiences.

These weren’t just the big-hitting channels like Bloomberg and CNBC, but also the smaller, more exclusive investment trade media.

The key was to understand the needs of each media outlet and to angle Natixis' offer to meet that need.

We formed a strong relationship with Natixis IM’s spokespeople, coaching them for the local market and securing opportunities for op-eds and commentary for the media channels we selected.

To personalise and enrich Natixis IM/media relationships, we enabled local media influencers to meet and get to know Natixis IM’s CEO and MD in Australia through a series of one-to-one briefings.

Global content, local angles

Natixis was already known for global thought leadership on international issues such as Brexit, and OPEC and FOMC meetings. We leveraged this international strength by developing the local angles that would engage our critical audiences.

We tailored content using Natixis’s four key quarterly surveys to support their local media engagement and build a higher profile among institutional investors and their partners.

Key stats

787

individual pieces of media coverage in 2019

45

pieces of coverage for just one of Natixis’ global surveys

22%

of media coverage featured quotes by key Natixis executives at launch

We’ve been working with BlueChip Communication since 2016 for support and expertise on market profiling, media relations, thought leadership, and strategic advice. We really appreciate the team’s guidance on our communication activity, and that they really understand the local media - which ranges from the small but crucial audiences of institutional trade titles, to international powerhouses like Bloomberg. They’re also financial services specialists. I would recommend them to other businesses looking for marketing, PR and strategy support"

Case Study: Profile