Cantor Fitzgerald: Work With Us
Cantor Fitzgerald | Awareness Campaign |2002
Sr. Copywriter | Bartle Bogle Hegarty, NY
THE CHALLENGE
Early one September morning in 2001, I was at my desk at BBH New York, polishing headlines for Cantor Fitzgerald, a Wall Street bond-trading powerhouse. I was scheduled to present them later that morning at their office on the top floors of One World Trade Center.
It was September 11. By the time of the meeting, the world had changed.
Cantor was at Ground Zero of the worst foreign attack on American soil. The firm lost two-thirds of its New York staff that day: 658 people.
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In the aftermath, the survivors rebuilt with ferocious determination. Their CEO, who lost his own brother in the attack, pledged 25% of future profits to the families of those who died.
To make good on that promise, Cantor had to thrive again. They asked the team at BBH to create a campaign to raise awareness, and bring in business.
But how do you ask for business when your firm’s name is synonymous with tragedy?
THE SOLUTION
This wasn’t a time for “advertising.” It was a time for honesty. What made Cantor remarkable was its people, and their will to keep going.
So we told their stories.
Oscar-winning documentarian Errol Morris filmed the survivors against a green screen. We tried adding backgrounds. They looked false. The raw footage refused embellishment.
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The print campaign followed the same ethos. I wrote directly from the gut. Headlines that acknowledged the grief. Stories that honored the grit. Images that captured the numb clarity of shock.
Cantor rebuilt and made good on its pledge: five years of profit sharing for victims' families. Ten years of healthcare.
Every September 11th, I still watch those ads. And in the YouTube comments, I see others doing the same. That’s enough.
