After stints at some of the world’s biggest financial services brands, including Standard Chartered and Deutsche Bank, Katherine Lee joined GFT Technologies as head of marketing in June 2022 with a clear brief: build the firm’s brand in the US.
GFT positions itself as a one-stop technology partner, combining consulting and delivery to help banks, private equity firms and other financial institutions advance their technology.
Despite a long history in Europe, the company was still relatively unknown in the US when Lee joined, leaving her with a clear task to change that.
But the challenge ran deeper. Much of GFT’s most impactful work can’t be publicly attributed, making it harder to showcase credibility. It’s the equivalent of Lee applying for the role without being able to reference Standard Chartered or Deutsche Bank on her CV — the experience is there, but the names that make people stop and listen are missing.
Building credibility without names
For GFT, marketing is about proving value without leaning on big names. While the firm works with many tier-one banks and asset managers, NDAs and competitive sensitivities mean Lee is often unable to reference clients publicly, even when the work itself is substantial.
“We’re not allowed to publish these quick stories with their names attached to it because then everyone will be interested in what we’re creating and would probably want us to create the same thing for them,” she explains.
That restriction shapes how the brand shows up in the market. Without client names, familiar tactics such as account-based marketing and success stories become harder to execute, as both rely heavily on credibility and proof. Without a recognisable name attached, it becomes more difficult to show that the work is real and that the outcomes can be trusted.
To bridge that gap, Lee often turns to data. By focusing on results rather than brands, she can frame the value of GFT’s work in concrete terms. This includes highlighting percentage savings or posing questions such as “how interested would you be in talking to us if you’d save €500 million on our project?”, which do tend to resonate more strongly.
“When we look at our performance in our digital marketing efforts, be it the CRMs or social media, there’s a spike when we do use the numbers,” she notes.
But data alone isn’t enough. What really underpins GFT’s approach is a 360-degree marketing strategy, which is designed to ensure every activity reinforces the next and builds momentum over time, rather than operating as standalone tactics.
“There is the overall strategy, from that strategy you pull the campaign. From the campaign, you pull the ABM with the CRM,” she explains.
“From there, you have the conferences that fit into the target audience that you want to be in front of based on the topics that you’re discussing. And then on top of that, you will host your own in person roundtables and workshops.”
Within this framework, in-person events play a particularly important role. At these events, GFT brings together technology partners, such as Google Cloud, AWS, Microsoft or Salesforce, alongside the client whose project is being showcased.
Lee explains that when everything is aligned, workshops and roundtables become the point at which engagement turns into leads.
By this stage, GFT does not need to push its credentials outward. Instead, potential clients arrive already informed and engaged through the wider campaign.
“If they [prospects] have been paying attention to your digital marketing, and they’re sitting there hearing from the horse’s mouth ‘oh wow, this is the project that I’ve been reading about, and this is the client’ then it validates the work,” she says.
Lee emphasises that this approach does not deliver quick wins. These deals are built over time through continuous relationship-building by repeatedly showing up, staying in front of the same audiences and regularly inviting them into in-person discussions.
Those peer-to-peer leadership events, where CIOs and CTOs sit side by side and openly discuss the challenges they face behind closed doors, allow clients to talk candidly about how GFT supported them. In doing so, the firm can build trust and credibility even without leading with client names in its marketing.
The work behind a 360 approach
For the 360 strategy to succeed, Lee stresses it has to operate as a coordinated whole. Every touchpoint – whether reaching a new lead or reconnecting with someone previously out of reach – needs to reinforce the same message. And it requires a long-term perspective, with each campaign viewed as part of a broader calendar of consistent engagement.
At the heart of it, research is what makes the approach effective. In-person events only attract the right audience if they feel relevant, and that relevance comes from knowing exactly what the target audience cares about, she notes.
To achieve that, Lee makes it a point to stay connected to everything happening in the industry. She reads widely, listens constantly, and keeps her finger on the pulse of trends and conversations.
One tool she relies on is what she calls “junk mail.” Anyone who’s ever signed up for conference marketing knows the flood of emails that follow. But Lee reads through them carefully, looking for recurring themes from organisers and speakers. These repeated topics indicate what’s hot in the industry and what will resonate with her audience.
“That will tell me that this is the trend because the conference organisers are listening and hearing from attendees. They will often follow up with speakers and sponsors to get their gauge on what they are discussing. Then I will make sure my ears are on the ground in terms of what we need to focus on,” she says.
She also works closely with the sales team to check that these trends align with what prospects are actually talking about to create a consistent, informed approach across all touchpoints.
But staying on trend isn’t enough, she notes, stressing that GFT also needs to stand out. “What unique factor can we talk about?” she asks. The 360 approach only works if the message rises above the noise, giving the audience a reason to pay attention and engage.
When executed consistently, this is exactly what 360 marketing achieves. By connecting every touchpoint across digital campaigns, conferences, roundtables and workshops Lee can build credibility even without naming clients. Each interaction reinforces the next, showing prospects the impact and expertise behind GFT’s work.