Asset Manager Blackstone Sees What Others Miss in Latest Campaign

What do group chats have to do with data centre demand?

What does pet care have to do with private credit?

What do new shoes have to do with warehouse space?

These are some of the questions that Blackstone, the world’s leading alternative asset manager with over $1T of AUM poses to advisors in its first brand campaign.

Called 'Making the Connection,' the campaign demonstrates how Blackstone – the first alternative asset manager to join the S&P 500, 4th largest employer in the US with 230+ portfolio companies and 12,500+ real estate assets – uses scale and data to see what others don’t and deliver for investors. Focused on widening access to private markets, an $80T market opportunity with a tiny fraction allocated to alternatives, Blackstone invites financial advisors into the category as an approachable and intelligent investment option for their clients.

Blackstone’s $240B private wealth business is larger than the next three competitors combined, driven by a first-mover advantage and world-class investment teams that deliver innovative solutions with exceptional service to advisors.

Built in partnership with Goodby Silverstein & Partners, Man vs Machine, FundamentalCo and Bully Pulpit International, the campaign centres around the strategic concept that “when you spot trends like we do, you see how it all connects”, and marries a macro trend to an investment strategy to create financial returns. In an advertising category that is typically conservative and sometimes generic, Blackstone aims to stand out by inspiring curiosity and enthusiasm for private markets and its own stature as a leader.

The viability of private markets comes to life in the hero video spot titled 'Fishbowl' via the metaphor of a fishbowl in the ocean. The spot showcases how most investors miss out by only investing in the 10% of companies that are in the public markets, while ignoring the nearly 90% of companies that are privately owned. In other words, an ocean of opportunity.

A second execution in the campaign 'Logistics' provides an example of how Blackstone sees what others don’t - illustrating how Blackstone saw an opportunity in the growth of e-commerce and demand for warehouse space to become the world’s largest private investor in logistics.

Whether spotting macro trends in industries like logistics, real estate, and private credit, or recognising untapped opportunities in private markets as a whole - the work positions Blackstone as a thought leader in the space. It illustrates their capabilities and also creates a sense of financial FOMO for those who might not have considered private markets as an investment option.

The campaign will include Blackstone’s first brand videos as well as a series of print and digital executions. It will debut this spring and run in print, digital and social placements across major financial publications like The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, Bloomberg, Yahoo, and CNBC.