Personal Within Corporate
The Cherry Creek Group is a financial services management organization operating within Morgan Stanley. This small group is located at the base of the Rocky Mountains in Denver, advising high net worth clients...each of these clients entrust an annual minimum of $5M to the financial team.
The VP of the group, Michael Brown, is a CFP with 20 years experience with Fidelity Investments, MainStay Investments and Banc of America Captial Management. He was named a 2012, 2013 and 2014 Five-Star Wealth Manager by 5280 Magazine (an award given to the top Denver wealth managers for client satisfaction based on the results of an independent survey of high net worth investors).
The Cherry Creek Group focuses on personal attention, and the team wanted a distinctive in-house brand and voice to more easily connect with their clients.
The bright, (cherry) red banner became the group's calling card, and the marketing tied directly to the group's Colorado location and affiliations.
In the Cards
After meeting and interviewing Mike and his team, I worked to find a look that not only echoed the group and their business philosophy, but one which also worked in conjunction with the Morgan Stanley brand management, and which would pass the legal department requirements. (Side note: the Securities and Exchange Commission is not known for their humor and whimsy.)
Because Cherry Creek is a desirable and upscale location, we kept the name and used the bright red to evoke the creek's namesake, and to easily draw the viewer's eye. The marketing collateral kept the outdoor/Rocky Mountain theme as well, with detailed photos of river rocks, pinecones, and golden aspen leaves.
Mike uses holiday cards as a touchpoint with his clients, sending personalized letters and annually-designed cards to his top 200-250 clients.
Beyond the Image
The team needed more than images to get their message across. My background in writing (from technical trade press to radio and TV scripting to newspaper to public relations) allowed me to work directly with the clients, to interview each senior member of the team and bring their core business values and goals out from under the heavy financial jargon, fine-tuning their message and bringing it to a more relatable level for their own clients.
