MSQ wins global marketing account for CFA Institute

CFA Institute, a global organisation providing financial education to investment professionals, has appointed MSQ, owner of The Gate, Walk-In Media and MBAstack, to handle its global marketing account.

The marketing group will be responsible for developing a new integrated global marketing strategy, which will span across advertising, media, demand generation, customer experience and analytics.

The appointment was made following a competitive pitch in Q3 2021, overseen by R3, involving a number of global agencies.

CFA currently has more than 175,000 members and operates in 160 countries, including the UK. With the help of MSQ, the organisation plans to reach a new generation of investment professionals.

In addition, it plans to promote the CFA Program, a three-part exam that tests the fundamentals of investment tools, valuing assets, portfolio management and wealth planning, as well as its Certificate in ESG investing and other key programmes.

The win is the latest in a line of new business for MSQ as the group expands its international presence.

Other global appointments include Axa Investment Managers, Clarins, Juniper Networks and Visit Britain, as well as US appointments from Dartmouth, Spark Foundry, Laika and Canada Dry.

With support from its agencies in the UK, India and China, MSQ will run the new account out of its North America office. MSQ’s Walk-In Media opened its first overseas office in New York in February where the marketing group had begun to establish a presence last year.

It hired Deloitte Digital’s Aaron Lang as president and Justin Cox as chief strategy officer.

“CFA Institute is an organisation that provides its candidates and members with the very highest standards, and we’re delighted to be working with the team on defining its next chapter in marketing,” Lang said.

“At MSQ we offer a truly joined-up global approach to help brands get closer to their customers, and we’ll draw on some of the very best specialists working in the US, Europe and Asia to help CFA Institute do just that.”

Michael Collins, managing director and chief marketing officer at CFA Institute, explained: “CFA Institute and our stakeholders have an immense opportunity today to lead and influence financial education and professional standards. With this opportunity comes the exciting challenge of changing and evolving our organisation.”

Collins added: “The marketing team is energised and inspired by MSQ’s agile, integrated and customer-centric approach to our marketing strategy and execution and excited to realise the impact of our partnership.”

Peter Reid, global chief executive of MSQ, said he was “delighted” to have been selected by CFA.

He continued: “It is another great validation of how MSQ’s data and tech-enabled, integrated creative and media model offers businesses a more agile, flexible and, ultimately, effective approach for building a brand and recruiting customers in today’s digital world. We can’t wait to get going.”