Brave New Financial: A Best Practices Agency Consortium

Welcome To Brave New Financial.

Brave New Financial Is a Consortium of Forward-Thinking Agencies and Marketing Service Providers Established For The New Demands of The World’s Leading Financial Brands.

 

Brave New Financial is a best-practices consortium organized by The Gramercy Institute. The Institute also directs of The Financial Marketers’ Alliance (www.financialmarketer.com) and publishes of The Journal of Financial Advertising & Marketing (www.financialadvertising.com).

 

The consortium serves as a resource for senior marketers from major financial institutions. The essential value of BNF to the financial marketer is found in its distinctive philosophy-based membership structure.

 

● Brave New Financial is a Merit-based Consortium. Members are pre-selected and pre-qualified for excellence, forward-thinking, reliability and the highest ethical standards.
● Membership in the Consortium is Exclusive. Membership in the consortium is limited to twelve member agencies.
● Needs of Tomorrow’s Financial Marketer: Member agencies embrace a way of delivering value to customers and clients based on the Brave New Financial philosophy.
● Co-Opetition: The consortium exists as a synergistic “stable” of support service for leading financial services marketers. The consortium represents a variety of complimentary marketing disciplines.
 
Does Your Agency Qualify For Membership in Brave New Financial? Membership into the consortium is reserved exclusively for those agencies that meet the specific standards set forth by the consortium for financial marketing excellence for 2010—and beyond.
 
Brave New Financial consortium member agencies and companies are described as the following:
● Beyond the Status Quo: Open-Minded to Better Ways of Getting the Job Done
● Plugged In: Well-Networked and Open to Partnerships
● Resourceful: Highly Resourceful With Client Dollars—and Your Own
● Clarity: Clear, Concise in Communications (Internal & External)
● Transparent: Embracing of Transparency and “Demystification” of Financial Services
● Flexible—Yet True: True to One’s Core Principals
● Brand Conscious: Consistently Aware of the Brand and its Importance--Both Internal and External
● Reputation Savvy: Respectful of a Financial Brand’s Long-Term Reputation
● Self-sufficient: Able (and willing) to Get Things Done Quickly, Efficiently and with Minimal Friction
● Initiative: Proactive in Approach to Account Management
● Creative: Highly Creative in Offering Fresh, Unique--and Practical--Solutions to Clients
● Results: Results-Oriented in the Measurement of Success
● Digitally Forward: Believers and Versed in the Value of Social, Mobile and other Digital Channels
● Strategically Minded: The Big Picture Matters
● It’s About The Client: Client and Customer-Focused (Really!)
● Nice: Kind in Approach to Colleagues, Co-workers, Partners and Clients
 
About The Gramercy Institute:
Brave New Financial is organized by The Gramercy Institute. The company specializes in issues surrounding financial services marketing. TGI clients include Bloomberg Media, CNBC, Compete, Inc., Competitrack, Conde Nast, Crain’s, Doremus, Dow Jones, The Deal, Financial Times, Getty Images, Google, The International Herald Tribune, Investor’s Business Daily, Journal of Accountancy, Leadfusion, Microsoft Advertising, New York Times, The New Yorker, Nikkei America, Pearson Publishing, Pensions & Investments, TargetCast tcm, TIAACREF, Vibrant Media, Yahoo! Yellow Pages Association, The Wall Street Journal Interactive, Zillow.com and others.
TGI publishes The Journal of Financial Advertising & Marketing, a printed professional quarterly devoted to sharing expert opinions in and about the financial marketing industry. The company also manages The Financial Marketers Alliance, a network comprising over 1100 financial marketing professionals, worldwide and through it, GI hosts numerous events each year around financial marketing-related topics.
Based in New York, the company (www.financialadvertising.com), is separated into three distinct areas: Publishing, Network & Events, and Research & Consulting. The Gramercy Institute adheres to the highest ethical and professional standards and it demands the same with whom it works.
 
About Bill Wreaks, President & CEO, The Gramercy Institute, Director, Brave New Financial
Bill Wreaks is President and CEO of The Gramercy Institute, a consultancy focused on financial marketing, advertising and media issues. Wreaks is also Chief Analyst of The Journal of Financial Advertising & Marketing. Based in New York City, The Gramercy Institute hosts numerous events each year laser-focused on financial marketing-related issues. The company is separated into three distinct areas: publishing, conferences & summits and research & consulting. The company was founded 2002. Quarterly, The Gramercy Institute publishes the printed periodical The Journal of Financial Advertising & Marketing (JFAM). Written for senior marketers at major financial institutions, JFAM boasts a global circulation and is considered the leading authority in financial services marketing by many in the industry.
At the core of The Gramercy Institute’s work, is The Financial Marketers’ Alliance (FMA), a network of over 1100 financial marketing professionals worldwide (www.financialmarketer.com) . The FMA produces numerous thought leadership events in financial services marketing each year, including The JFAM Financial Marketing Summit: EAST in Philadelphia, PA, The JFAM Financial Marketing Summit: WEST in Torrey Pines, CA, JFAM: Live! Financial Marketing Conference in New York City (semi-annual), The JFAM Strategic Philanthropy Awards and The JFAM Media Strategy Awards. The FMA regularly hosts breakfasts and roundtables in Boston, New York, Chicago, San Francisco and London. The Gramercy Institute’s client list includes the world’s top agencies, research and media companies.
Bill is a veteran of the financial advertising and media industry. Prior to the formation of The Gramercy Institute, he served close to a decade in several a senior executive capacities with Omnicom’s Doremus Advertising. Wreaks served six years on the Board of Directors and two years as President of the Board of Directors of The Financial Communications Society (FCS).
He earned an MBA in International Business from the Katz Graduate School of Business at the University of Pittsburgh. This full-time program was conducted in the US, Prague, Milan, and Paris. He earned his undergraduate degree from The School of Commerce, Economics and Politics at Washington & Lee University. He is a graduate of South Kent School.

Wreaks’ progressive ideas about the financial services marketing industry have been published in leading national and international media outlets. Mr. Wreaks sits on The Board of Trustees of South Kent School and he is a member of the Board of Directors of the New York City Marble Cemetery