Copy & editing that yield results

Fitch Ratings branding case study


Carpenter Design Group undertook a branding campaign for the world’s #3 bond rating company, Fitch Ratings. As sole writer of a corporate identity brochure, advertising campaign and internal mission statement, Susan Campbell worked with the agency's senior editor and senior designer, drawing on extensive interviews with company executives to develop an overall positioning statement and one-word identifiers for the firm’s seven business areas. Print ads for each area were produced for institutional investment publications.

The corporate brochure was so well received that the human resources department at Fitch Ratings used it as a recruiting piece. The closing line of the brochure, "Talk to Fitch. First." intrigued executive management. Plans to create a second ad campaign around that tagline did not come to fruition, although the original seven identifiers continue to be integral to the firm's marketing.

Fitch Risk branding case study

An executive at Fitch Risk once described its relationship with Fitch Ratings as a "distant cousin that you only see on holidays." Desiring an identity brochure of its own and very pleased with the work Carpenter Design produced for Fitch Ratings, the team was hired to develop a clear and separate identity for Fitch Risk and craft that image with copy by Susan Campbell.

Prospective clients are urged to put risk in their company's business equation with the aid of three entities at Fitch Risk. This brochure blended editorially the analytical and creative dualities of the firm that proved so successful with Fitch Ratings' identity brochure.

Ivy Funds branding case study

While senior writer for Thompson Becker International (TBI), Susan Campbell had the opportunity to help Ivy Funds, where she had managed marketing for several years, to re-brand itself after the small fund complex was purchased by a major Canadian financial services corporation. The campaign included writing all collateral for a newly defined literature system, from multiple product brochures to broker support materials, a press package, an annual report and a corporate identity piece, the latter of which was unfortunately never published.

Recommending a clear positioning statement for the client company, this positioning was integrated into marketing pieces for every audience, externally and internally. This element would portray Ivy Funds as a tech-savvy global investment leader. The chosen positioning, as well as Susan's tagline, "Embracing the World," was captured in a new logo executed under TBI's creative guidance.