Surge of Activities at the FCS

What do Super Bowl commercials, Baby Boomers, CEO firings, tuxedos, Chief Life Officers and the Internet have in common?
The FCS, of course.  Read on to find out why.

On Thursday, February 23, the FCS will welcome Nick Utton, CMO of E*TRADE, as the featured speaker at our monthly luncheon. Nick will be on hand to present a review of the legendary E*TRADE Baby commercials and to discuss how a super Super Bowl strategy has been a touchdown for E*TRADE year after year.

Our first Tuesday Breakfast Club event of 2012 will be held on February 28th. Join us at the New York Yacht Club for a very engaging presentation and discussion on “Communicating Critical Events: CEO Transitions and the Risk to Enterprise Value.” Research will be presented by FTI Consulting’s Bryan Armstrong, Managing Director & Head of Capital Markets Research, followed by a panel featuring his colleague Elizabeth Saunders, Americas Chairman of the FTI Strategic Communications Practice, as well as Matt Hickerson, Head of Corporate Communications & Marketing, Macquarie, and Jeanne Branthover, Head of Global Financial Services Practice, Boyden Global Executive Search. The panel will be moderated by Franceso Guerrera, Editor, “Money & Investing,” The Wall Street Journal.

On Thursday, March 22, Michelle Peluso will join our monthly luncheon to talk about Citi’s global marketing strategy for 2012 – the bicentennial year for the bank. As the bank’s Global Consumer Chief Marketing & Internet Officer, she’ll talk about how a digital strategy is a key component for Citi’s marketing approach.

In April, we have two main events. On the 11th, we’ll stage the FCS Executive Education Summit at 3 Times Square, home of our host, Thomson Reuters. The very compelling topic will be, “Baby Boomers… or Bust: How to Market to and Influence the 50+ Consumer.” The full-morning agenda will feature presentations by Joe Coughlin, who founded MIT’s AgeLab, and Brent Bouchez, co-founder of Five-0, an agency dedicated to marketing to baby boomers. We’ll have two panels, moderated by journalists from Ad Age and our presenting sponsor The Wall Street Journal. Panelists from leading financial companies will discuss how they’re overcoming the challenges of reaching the 50+ consumer, including the implementation of effective and perhaps surprising digital tactics.

Our monthly luncheon in April will take place on the 19th and feature Dave Wozniak of Lincoln Financial. Dave will report of Lincoln’s new “Chief Life Officer” campaign.

All of this activity is leading up to the “Egg McMuffin” of FCS’ events: the 18th Annual FCS Portfolio Awards. This year’s black tie gala dinner and awards presentation will be held on Wednesday, May 16th at Terminal 5 in NYC. But, at this point, the far-more-important date is Friday, March 16th. That’s the deadline to enter this year’s competition. Whether you’re a marketer, an agency pro or a media rep, you should be thinking about the great advertising, collateral and public relations work executed in 2011 and get your team – or your clients – to enter. Digital media (online ads and websites) continue to grow as one of the most competitive categories. And remember, we also give out trophies for Return on Investment. And, there’s a Best in Show award for Multicultural work. To download the Call for Entries form, just go to our web site and click on the Portfolio Awards tab.
As always, we invite you to get involved in the FCS. As the biggest event of the year, Portfolio has the biggest to-do list and needs the biggest committee. But you don’t have to take on the biggest task. There’s always a way to help, no matter how big (or how limited) your involvement can be.

And of course, we’re always looking for Programming ideas and support, from luncheons and breakfasts to cocktail receptions and special events.

Give me a call (212-413-6044) or drop me an email (kevin@fcsinteractive.com) to talk about how you can get more out of your FCS membership.