March 10, 2025
March 10, 2025
Throughout the year, Mission North has the pleasure of hosting our Communications Turning Point Dinners in collaboration with Axios’ Eleanor Hawkins. The purpose of these events is to invite communications and marketing leaders to come together for an off-the-record conversation about the challenges and opportunities shaping communications today.
At our fourth Turning Point Dinner, hosted by our Financial Services practice in January, we convened communicators from Betterment, BNY, Marqeta, Jefferies, Brex, Public, Current, Empower and Tomo to explore the paradox of progress facing fintech and financial services innovators. For financial services brands of consequence, the fight to build and maintain relevance has become increasingly fraught. From ongoing pressure to demonstrate sustained innovation to navigating a shifting political, policy and regulatory landscape, many communications and marketing leaders are left wondering: what are the risks worth taking?
The conversation did not disappoint. We exchanged insights on overcoming ‘FOBO’ (Fear of Being Obsolete) as the fintech industry grows up and legacy brands seek reinvention, striking the right balance between innovation and values-driven leadership and navigating a fragmented and ever-shifting communications landscape to make an outsized and lasting impact on audiences in the attention economy. Here are the five key takeaways for financial services communicators in 2025:
1. Simplicity wins.
Among this group of financial services communicators, simplicity was the largest consensus. The clearest, most distilled message is the most effective way to break through in a noisy market. Focus on the problem you’re solving and the benefit you’re delivering to your customers.
2. Do the work before seeking validation.
Understand and act on what your customers care about before thinking about media. Let your customer base be your first point of validation. If you build real customer value, earned attention will follow. Driving customer evangelism can be just as much if not more powerful than earned media.
3. Not every trend or issue is yours.
Be selective about when and how you engage. Brands don’t need to jump on every trend or discussion, and in fact, they shouldn’t. Authenticity and consistency is credibility—build trust by staying true to your culture and convictions while balancing the expectations of your employees, customers and investors.
4. It’s an “and strategy.”
“Go direct” is not a complete strategy. Each channel has a purpose, and the correct blend of platforms for your audience will likely include both traditional and non-traditional earned and owned strategies. Focus on targeted, personalized delivery to meet your audiences where they are—whether that be on LinkedIn, Discord, Reddit or the Wall Street Journal.
5. Sustained business performance earns you a platform.
A strong business foundation gives you the authority to take bolder stances. Until then, stay focused on your business and what matters most to your employees and customers.
I’d like to thank all our incredible participants for bringing your perspectives, candor, and curiosity to the conversation. The energy in the room was a testament to the passion and expertise of the group, and we look forward to continuing these discussions in the future!
