S&P Global
Impact Profiles
Following Derek's success working alongside The 199 to produce it's Purpose Day Programming (more below), S&P Global's philanthropic arm, the S&P Global Foundation, asked Derek to create films chronicling their partnerships with NGO's across the globe.
The first NGO, Per Scholas, is a tuition-free tech training program founded in the Bronx, NY that enables folks find careers in tech without the high cost of to a private or state school. The second partner NGO is the Hyderabad-based Mahila Housing Trust which focuses on housing rights and sustainable urban development in India. Derek worked as full-service production partner for S&P Global, pitching the creative and building the team across timezones to execute it.
The deliverables included one showpiece, a three-minute film that combined the two profiles, and two cutdowns, each featuring a single non-profit. hrough techniques such as cross-cutting and frame matching, the films illustrate how the S&P Global Foundation's efforts can help people and communities from disparate geographical and cultural backgrounds—told through the personal stories of two individuals positively affected by the partner NGOs.
"Purpose Day" Programming
In 2023, Derek joined forces with The 199, the in-house agency for S&P Global, the historic financial institution. Derek's collaboration began directly following the historic merger between S&P Global and IHS Markit. His work focused on bringing the companies together, particularly through their first annual "Purpose Day," which was a livestream event that focused on bringing the company together through a shared-purpose: to accelerate progress. Derek led all pre-recorded content, leaning on his background as a non-fiction storyteller to maximize budgets and create authentic narratives.
I Accelerate Progress
This campaign focused on two distinct businesses in S&P Global's divisions: S&P Global Market Intelligence and CARFAX. To inspire employees across all businesses, Derek highlighted individuals performing important and impactful work in their respective roles.
Derek conceived and pitched a docu-style campaign directly to the leadership of the S&P Global branded team that focused on creating the most value out the budget available. Leveraging The 199's resources, he conducted extensive remote interviews with each profile subject, utilizing Riverside.FM, the brand's podcast recording platform, to capture authentic and emotional voiceovers for storytelling. With the narratives in place, he built out scenes to be shot on-location via storyboards that would tie the story together in the most impactful way possible.
Next, he identified production partners to capture the footage. Rather than targeting established production houses with large overhead expenses, he sought individual filmmakers with a background in non-fiction storytelling. Together, they focused on lens choice and the effective use of available light to create footage with an elevated artistic quality.
In post, Derek collaborated with the brand team to tailor the content to align with the enterprise marketing framework of Seek & Prosper through the use of graphics and animation. All in all, the campaign was lauded by the Executive team and garnered praise across the entire S&P Global community.
Customer Conversations
S&P Global boasts an impressive portfolio of products and services across its five divisions that provide essential intelligence, data, and analysis to its customers. In short, S&P Global helps the companies that move the world forward operate efficiently. Not only does this help their customers maximize profits, but S&P Global also serves as an invaluable partner in improving connectivity, reducing emissions, and creating jobs across the world.
However, in such a vast organization, it can be difficult for folks within the S&P Global family to fully grasp how their work affects their customers. Derek proposed a simple solution: put a face to a name. He created a series of interviews with S&P Global customers, and their leaders, that illustrated the positive impact that S&P Global's products and services had on their businesses. These businesses ranged from tech to luxury to insurance and the impact was immense. Following the series' release during "Purpose Day", the People team saw a huge uptick in productivity across the S&P Global workforce.