Advertising for global equities.
Financial advertising is hard enough in one market. Try doing it across three — simultaneously, across different regulatory frameworks, cultural contexts, and time zones.
The Context
Working alongside global marketing teams and a London-based design partner, I collaborated on print and digital ads for three newly launched Columbia Threadneedle equity products across EMEA and Asia-Pacific markets. Each ad required navigating its own set of creative, regulatory, and cultural considerations — and all three demanded copy that could move international investors without running afoul of the rules governing what financial advertising can and cannot say.
The collaboration itself was a logistical exercise. With my design partner and regional marketing specialist both based in London, our working window closed around noon eastern time. Every round of feedback, every iteration, every approval had to be tight, intentional, and worth the turnaround time it consumed.
The Ads
CT (Lux) Sustainable Outcomes Global Equity
Of the three ads, this one required the most careful navigation. Responsible investing language is governed by stringent regulations. The line between implying genuine ESG commitment and making claims you can't substantiate is narrow, and crossing it carries real consequences.
Working closely with our EMEA marketing specialist, I developed copy through multiple rounds of iteration in both language and design to find a line that could carry the weight of the message without triggering regulatory concern.
The line we landed on: "Your returns shouldn't come at the expense of your values."
It threads the needle: emotionally resonant, values-forward, and deliberately framed around the investor's perspective rather than a product claim. It says what it needs to say without saying what it can't.
CT Japan Equities
This ad was both a product launch and a strategic signal — one supporting element in Columbia Threadneedle's broader push to expand its presence in Japan. Getting it right mattered beyond writing a good ad.
I worked with the same EMEA marketing specialist, who liaised directly with the portfolio team to collect feedback and navigate cultural nuance. The creative had to feel relevant to the product’s Japanese roots while remaining consistent with the broader Columbia Threadneedle brand — a balance that took iteration to find, but one that ultimately aligned with the region's expectations and the company's expansion goals.
CT (Lux) American Smaller Companies
The brief here was to promote investment in American small cap companies to an international audience — which meant channeling the spirit of American entrepreneurialism in a way that didn't feel provincial or exclusionary to the investors we were actually trying to reach.
The ad’s creative leans into the ambition and upward momentum inherent in small cap investing — the sense that these are companies on their way up, not established giants coasting on legacy. For international investors evaluating exposure to the American market, the framing was designed to make that opportunity feel energetic and accessible rather than foreign or risky.
This ad was co-led creatively with my London-based design partner — a collaboration that (once again) required us to find common ground across time zones, creative sensibilities, and investor audiences on both sides of the Atlantic.
The Bigger Picture
Across all three ads, the through line was the same: find an expression that serves the product, respects the audience, and survives the regulatory environment it's entering. None of them were first-draft home runs. All of them took several rounds of review, creative collaboration, and a willingness to kill good lines in favor of better ones.
That's international financial advertising. The constraints don't go away — you just get better at working within them creatively.