Positioning BlackRock as a thought leader in financial well-being.
BlackRock is the world’s largest asset management company, but they operate differently than their competitors. How? By providing thought leadership and taking steps to improve the well-being of their employees, their investors, and society at large.
They wanted to reinforce a communications strategy and message around well-being with communications research that would help them better understand what financial well-being means for people all over the world, fueling action both internally and externally.
To help BlackRock fully leverage its investment, we designed our global study to produce thought-provoking talking points while accommodating for cultural nuance across the diverse international markets we spoke with and surveyed.


Conducting thorough research in 13 countries.
We employed expert interviews, semiotics and digital diaries to conduct 120 qualitative research conversations and fielded a 13-country quantitative research survey that elicited 27,000 responses.

Bringing insights to life with digital creative.
Because activation is key to the success of any internal or external communications strategy initiative, we worked closely with BlackRock to develop assets that would help with communications messaging development, placing emphasis on the key message behind their findings and building their credibility as a leader in financial wellbeing.
Our deliverables included a global report, which was used to create an interactive microsite an engaging internal presentation with a video featuring consumer voices, and other tools and data to illustrate varying perceptions of what financial well-being means for people across cultures.
Driving brand positioning and awareness through media coverage.
Through our global report and microsite, we achieved BlackRock’s goal of amplifying the company’s brand purpose in the public sphere, generating substantive media coverage from prominent news outlets as a result of the project — including features from CBS, CNBC, Business Insider, Market Watch, and Plan Advisor.
This exposure went on to shape BlackRock’s brand positioning as a driver and thought leader in the financial well-being space, all while increasing opportunities for them to attract new business.
Meanwhile, the internal presentation materials we developed helped BlackRock accomplish their other primary goal — to increase internal awareness of the company’s differentiating focus on well-being.
One study, multiple communications strategies — and a significant impact.