// Finance / Ogilvy
CFA Institute was my primary account at Ogilvy. The engagement started in public relations and grew into the global "Let's Measure Up" campaign, a six-part editorial series spanning six countries, two Wall Street Journal placements, and a complete rebrand of CFA Society Atlanta.
The Challenge
In the years following the 2008 financial crisis, public confidence in the investment profession was at a low point. CFA Institute, the global association of investment professionals, needed to defend the value of the CFA charter and make the case that the industry could hold itself to a higher standard. The "Let's Measure Up" campaign was their answer.
But when I came on at Ogilvy, the assignment wasn't creative. It was public relations: storymining sessions with C-suite subject matter experts, executive ghostwriting, bylines on financial regulation, and editing a consumer finance column at HuffPost. The campaign work would come later. The first job was learning the client's world well enough to write for it with authority.
My Role
I started as a PR writer developing thought leadership for CFA Institute executives and grew into the lead writer for global campaign content, long-form editorial, and the CFA Society Atlanta rebrand. The engagement covered every discipline: public relations, executive ghostwriting, campaign messaging, web copy, long-form editorial, event branding, social media, email drip campaigns, OOH, and a corporate sponsorship kit.
The Arc
The CFA Institute account was my bridge from PR into the creative department at Ogilvy. It started with learning the regulatory landscape of financial reporting standards, revenue recognition, and professional ethics. That foundation made it possible to write campaign copy, editorial profiles, and rebrand collateral with real credibility. The trajectory of the work reflects the trajectory of my career: from research-first PR to full-spectrum creative, on a single account that demanded both.
The Work
The PR foundation led to two Wall Street Journal placements: a feature on financial reporting and a major piece on the new revenue recognition standard that quoted CFA Institute's Director of Financial Reporting as a subject matter expert. These were among the most significant placements of the engagement and helped establish the client's authority on an issue that would reshape how companies report earnings.
From there, the work shifted into the "Let's Measure Up" campaign. The editorial centerpiece was a series of six long-form profiles published on letsmeasureup.org, each telling the story of a CFA charterholder whose work embodied the campaign's themes: ethics, transparency, diversity, innovation, and fiduciary responsibility. Some were adapted from regionalized video content. Others came from direct interview. All were developed in close collaboration with CFA Institute to ensure the stories reflected both the individual subjects and the campaign's larger argument that investment professionals have a responsibility to measure up.
Six profiles. Six countries. One standard.The Let's Measure Up Article Series
The subjects spanned the globe: Winston Ma on cross-border technology investment between China and the US. Nalin Moniz on founding India's first licensed domestic hedge fund. Ranji Nagaswami on pension reform as chief investment advisor to the Mayor of New York City. Sonia Villalobos on financial education in Brazil. Jenny Atout Ahlzén on venture capital and female entrepreneurship in Jordan. Andrew Canter on fiduciary accountability in South Africa. The microsite is no longer live, but the full text of all six articles has been recovered from web archives.
Article body layout from the Winston Ma profile on letsmeasureup.org
The Work
The work extended beyond the global campaign into CFA Society Atlanta and CFA Society Chicago. For Atlanta, I wrote integrated advertising campaigns, event collateral, email drip campaigns, social media creative, a corporate sponsorship kit, and a young professional recruitment campaign that ran across OOH and social.
The anchor was "Charting New Horizons," an event concept I developed for the society's annual forecasting dinner. "Charting" connected to the CFA charterholder identity. "Horizons" captured the forward-looking spirit of the event. The full phrase marked the society's new chapter under a refreshed brand. The 16th Annual Forecasting Event featured Dr. Janet Yellen and raised over $100,000.
"Charting New Horizons" event branding for CFA Society Atlanta
The 16th Annual Forecasting Event
Career Blossom recruitment poster
Social media recruitment campaign
Corporate sponsorship kit
"Let's Build a Better World for Investing" campaign print
"Boy did we wow not only the 600+ attendees, but our clients as well! From a jaw-dropping stage execution, to beautiful center pieces, we helped fully realize the total experience from the moment guests walked through the door."On the Charting New Horizons event
Impact
The CFA Institute engagement demonstrated the ability to start in one discipline and grow into every other. By the end of the account, I was the lead writer across global campaign content, local society rebrand, and executive communications.
Raised at the "Charting New Horizons" forecasting event
Revenue recognition and financial reporting thought leadership
Long-form editorial profiles for the global campaign