Ellevest was a six-person startup in stealth mode when Rhetorica Founder Phoebe Assenza wrote their first teaser campaign.

That short-term assignment turned into several years of developing, refining, and owning the brand voice across all channels, as well as building and leading a content ecosystem and creative team.

Our OOH campaign after the 2016 election is now part of Posterhouse Museum’s permanent collection. We were named one of Interbrand “Breakthrough Brands” in 2017.

Practically, Ellevest is “an investment platform for women,” but we needed a stronger message for launch. We coined the term “Financial Feminism,” to differentiate us from other robo advisers as well as products that are lazily repackaged “for women.”

Our rallying cry was that money is power, and women don’t have enough of it. So, finance is the logical “fourth wave of feminism.”

We used this strategy in our earned media efforts, owned channels, and paid advertising.