aabalone[red]

What’s your position?

alec — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 15:52:13 +0000

At a recent conference, a pension consultant disclosed that surprisingly few money managers who present to him can articulate what makes them different or why they are special. In his words, they are not "positioned".

To some degree, consultants reap what they sow. After all, the "boxed" world into which consultants want managers to squeeze themselves fosters conformity. All the same, due to the importance of this distribution channel, failing to effectively differentiate your company before the consultant community significantly undermines your growth potential.

Based on the bland banter that many managers adopt, it may appear that there is little hope in finding robust differentiators. As with many things, however, the answer is often in plain sight. A modest survey, wherein clients and business partners are asked how they perceive you, often yields the crisp, definitive answers that are so hard to self-manufacture. Your clients will be pleased you asked and you will get a fresh understanding of your distinctive value.

Next time you present, you can present with conviction — confident of your positioning. You’ll achieve that elusive goal of giving that consultant something to remember you by.

Rockefeller & Co.

admin — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 13:40:58 +0000

Based on findings from family and staff interviews, a contemporized logotype and integrated marketing communications campaign, including the firm’s first website, repositioned the firm and signaled this change to the external high-net-worth market.

Roundtable Investment Partners

admin — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 18:42:59 +0000

aabalone[red] created a story, a name, and a crest that evoked the boldness, honor and brotherhood of King Arthur’s knights that was then used as a motif for custom-designed investor invitations, corporate stationery, PPT presentations and a website.

Pentegra Retirement Services

admin — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 22:03:28 +0000

Resulting from firm-wide interviews, we initiated a complete repositioning of the company built on demonstrative but ignored differentiators. This positioning prompted a new corporate identity, a branding line, new sales presentations, new corporate literature, design standards for internal staff, and the complete overhaul of the website on both the public and private sides.

Zephyr Management, L.P.

admin — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 18:45:02 +0000

Based on interviews, consensus building and a positioning brief, a fresh brand image and branding line were adopted, which were integrated into a corporate brochure, sales collateral for each fund, and a media-rich website with an updatable custom content management system.

Alec Wiggin

admin — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 17:00:47 +0000

Alec is the strategic thinker at aared; he has a natural ability to see both the forest and the trees. A problem solver, Alec finds thoughtful and rational ways for clients to more effectively communicate their differences (to the delight of their clients and the expense of their competitors). Somehow Alec finds time to stay abreast of trends in the asset management industry and to educate the rest of us on the intricacies of market neutral strategies or the taxation of carried interest. Alec oversees the consulting, positioning, editorial, client management and new business services of the firm.

Formerly a vice president at Bessemer Trust Company and an assistant manager at Brown Brothers Harriman & Co., he has a deep background in finance and marketing. As long as twelve years ago, Alec was speaking before audiences like AIMSE about the future of the web in asset management. Some of Alec’s commentary has been published in Pensions & Investments and Plan Sponsor.

Gail Wiggin

admin — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 17:00:42 +0000

More than twenty years ago, Gail founded aabalone[red] and remains its driving creative force. Her twelve years of experience in interactive design and deep background in corporate identity, print communications and advertising encompass a wide variety of marketing initiatives for corporate accounts.

Our Ignition director’s work has been recognized nationally by organizations and publications such as Communication Arts, the American Institute of Graphic Arts, SIGGRAPH, the Art Directors Clubs of New York and Connecticut, and the Advertising Club of Los Angeles. She has served on the board of the New York chapter of AIGA. While painting in Europe under a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship, her work was exhibited in the Mall Gallery, London and the Grand Palais, Paris. Despite her more tactile roots in painting, Gail’s more recent passions extend to UI architecture, interactive design, and technology.

Holly Hough

admin — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 17:00:55 +0000

Holly’s more of an analytic type who likes fresh marketing ideas that stem from research. With a background in sales and marketing in the consumer packaged goods arena, Holly’s experience includes market analysis and forecasting, managing test markets, the launch of dozens of new brands, special event and regional marketing, as well as local development, execution and project management of national strategies. In her sixteen years with The Coca-Cola Company she was responsible for growing corporate volume, share and profits throughout the Northeast.

Since 1998, Holly has been working at aabalone[red] with key asset management clients in the areas of strategic positioning, branding and communications planning. She’s a hard-core “multi-tasker” who likes to see the end result.

Claire Kluever

holly — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 17:00:32 +0000

Claire understands the complexities that affluent families face and firmly believes that preserving wealth shouldn’t be daunting or confusing. After working with the Family Office Exchange in Chicago for over 15 years in the area of member development and staying on top of wealth management trends by conducting industry benchmarking studies, Claire saw the need for more creative and systematic branding efforts within the wealth management arena. She works with family offices, wealth advisors and managers to articulate and communicate their offerings so that the benefits are clearly understood.

Claire is a frequent presenter on topics related to strategies for building a successful wealth management business, effective wealth management servicing models, compensation and recruitment, and family office trends and issues. She has spoken at The Institute for International Research Family Office Forum, Institutional Investor’s Women in Wealth Seminar, World President’s Organization, Metropolitan Circle, FOX Fall Forum, FOX Wealth Advisor Conference and many regional group and individual family office and advisor member meetings. Formerly an account executive for The Bankers Group in Chicago, Claire handled search assignments for major domestic and international banks in trust, accounting, operations, private banking, and capital markets.

Rick Vlaha

admin — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 17:00:58 +0000

Rick started with aabalone[red] years ago in Connecticut, but for some reason — he decided to pull up his roots and become a Texan. A hi-tech guy, he’s still in our offices but only appears on a computer screen. Rick brings to aabalone[red] expertise spanning many creative disciplines including design for print, interactive media, application interface design and database design. Rick’s experience in corporate and marketing communications environments brings a strategic component to his design, enabling him to translate client marketing objectives into effective design solutions that support and extend their brand and marketing strategy. Prior to joining aabalone[red], Rick designed corporate identities, websites, and e-commerce and application interfaces for clients such as Amex, AOL, IBM and Verizon.