Cleary Gottlieb
Reshaping a content series that helped win £1mn of business.
Cleary Gottlieb was by far Rostrum’s largest client. Half the agency worked on the account in some way, shape or form. I was responsible for its monthly Private Equity Wrap, personally positioned in-between Rostrum’s freelance writer and Cleary marketing. When the writer confided in me about repeating the same market story each month, I proposed a new format, received partners’ blessing, and Cleary renewed the series.
Sector
Private equity/law
Deliverable
Monthly Private Equity series
Role
Content strategist, editor
Audience
PE sponsors and dealmakers
RESULT
Around £1mn of business traced back to the PE Wrap
Cleary told us that a relationship which began through the PE Wrap had led to around £1mn of business. A reader had contacted the Cleary partner named on an edition, starting a conversation that developed into work for the firm. The Wrap was all about putting partner expertise on show. It was published monthly with around 2,000 words of partner insight.
Monthly
editorial cycle managed
£1mn
contract secured through the series
Retained
after a performance audit of agency work
The editorial problem
There was a growing problem with this content series, so I made changes
The specialist writer confided in me privately that he was struggling to find 2,000 words on private equity each month – not enough would change in the space. Indeed, a long snapshot regardless of how much there was to say was poor content strategy. He and I then worked together to come up with a new idea, and I presented this to the Rostrum and Cleary teams .
Original format
One long market snapshot
Harder to sustain when one month didn’t differ meaningfully from the last.
Revised format
One shorter snapshot and one deep dive
The snapshot would be no longer than warranted. And a second new topical deep dive would showcase the insights of Cleary’s specialist partners (the broader purpose).
The deeper feature could follow a subject that merited attention: French or Nordic private equity, GP-led secondaries, consortium deals or another trend. For each one, I worked with Cleary to arrange calls with partners who had the right expertise and we would set up the briefing the writer needed. We gave the series a new lease of life, and it was useful whether the market had changed dramatically or not.
My role
The work behind every monthly edition
The specialist freelancer wrote the first drafts following calls with Cleary partners. My responsibility comms, editing the draft, project management, and working with design. I made sure each edition had the right input and reached publication in good shape.
Managing the specialist writer
- Agreed scope, timings and rates
- Prepared him for partner calls
- Made sure requested revisions came back
- Protected relationships, as Rostrum’s biggest client depended on this experienced writer.
Securing the right partner
- For each deep dive, I worked with Cleary to identify a partner who knew the subject properly.
- Arranged the briefing
- Handled availability
- Made sure the conversation gave the writer enough material to produce his informed draft
Editing and checking
- Proofread the drafts
- Sense-checked the PE analysis
- Data-sourced market data and tables
The checking needed to match the standards of a leading international law firm.
Managing review and design
- Gave Cleary clear weekly status updates,
- Gentle nudges when reviews stalled
- Coordinated revisions and handed copy to design
- Marked the content design should callout
Selected work from the series
The refreshed monthly snapshots and deep dives
Here are some examples of the PE Wrap.
Secondaries
Rise of GP-led transactions reshapes private equity secondaries
The piece starts with market volumes, then explains why LPs were selling, how continuation funds worked and why GP-led deals were taking more of the market. The data and legal context had distinct jobs.
Read the article ↗
Consortium deals
Consortium deals provide options in a challenging market
Financing constraints led into a practical look at club deals, sovereign wealth capital and the points sponsors needed to consider when working with co-investors.
Read the article ↗
Dealmaking
Private equity seeks ways through dealmaking uncertainty
Instead of stretching a generic monthly update, the edition examined financing conditions, alternative deal structures and distressed opportunities as the market turned.
Read the article ↗Retained
through a wider review of recurring content and agency relationships
RESULT
An honest story: Retained after a stressful review
When a new marketing lead at Cleary used her handover into the role as an opportunity to review Cleary’s agency relationships, she asked for performance figures for content. Rostrum was not ready with this data. And I couldn’t help this. But given the agency’s dependence on the account, you could feel the pressure spread in the culture.
The PE Wrap was retained. Partners said they valued it continuing, and my revised format gave the series a clearer purpose in keeping readers up to date (snapshot) while deep diving into subjects where partners could get their expertise across.
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