Becoming the go-to brand expert for a legal finance brand.
Client name:Esquire Bank
Central idea: Creating trust & cultivating presence to capture an audience.
I had my hand in:
Website copy
Brand storytelling
Service naming
Voice, tone & style guidance
Lead-gen content
Social & digital ads
Esquire Bank is a brand I’ve worked on since the beginning of my time at Park & Battery. In many ways, they were a refreshing client because their super prescriptive feedback on copy helped me nail down their style. Everything changed when I started working on their campaign work, but more on that elsewhere.
In terms of brands I’ve written for most consistently, Esquire Bank certainly gives Thermo Fisher Scientific a run for its money. It was a welcome pivot from biotech, but the work itself was no less important. The more time I spent with the brand, the more I respected their mission to help fund contingency fee law firms. I was no law and/or banking expert (yet), but it wasn’t difficult to understand the need for companies like Esquire Bank. And that understanding creates the foundation for all effective marketing, regardless of industry.
Off to the races
Whether it was planned or not, I slotted into the Esquire voice perfectly. I think it came down to two major reasons: 1) the clients themselves didn’t hesitate to allow us creative freedom, and 2) I could sense the opportunity, and I was eager to own it.
This more or less teed me up to solidify my expertise on writing for their brand. Fortunately, the work was steady as I began working on all manner of projects: creative campaigns, emails, case studies, eBooks, sales materials (decks, flyers, scripts, etc), social media posts and ads, direct mailers, blogs, web copy, and more. I even worked on renaming a few new and existing Esquire products. So, over the course of many months, writing for Esquire became like a second language – and any copywriter will tell you, that’s a fabulous feeling.
Familiar territory
My familiarity with Esquire bolstered my reputation at the agency, because suddenly, I was the living embodiment of the brand voice. I was relied upon in more ways than stringing sentences together. So with an equally capable team at my back, we became the litmus test for ideas and/or language client would love.
So far, we’ve built several creative campaigns for Esquire Bank, ranging from overarching brand campaigns, to emotionally driven campaigns, to clever service campaigns. We’ve also positioned the brand as industry experts through a bespoke content hub. But perhaps my favorite project to-date was coordinating an Esquire customer success event in New York City, where we got to see our various campaigns intersect meaningfully – and celebrate the work (and client relationship) that had been years in the making.
