NET2S Group (EuroNext – Euroclear: 7592), founded in 1996, is a leading
international e-business and technology consulting firm and a client of Cognito since 2006.
With offices in Europe (London, Madrid, Paris and Zurich) and in the United States (New York
and Chicago), and more than 950 employees, we spoke to Frédéric Ponzo to gain
a greater understanding about the organization and his role within it.
What is your history with NET2S?
I have been at net2s since 1998 when I joined as a consultant in Paris working
on the trading floor at ABN AMRO and Société Générale. I moved to London in February 2000 as part of the core team that setup net2s business in the UK. since that day,I have held various consultant positions, delivering projects to over 40 financial institutions, before becoming the Operations Director running business delivery. In September 2004, i became the managing Director of the London operations. I am very hands on and still get involved in client projects.
What does NET2S do?
NET2S is a business and technology consultancy providing solutions for banks, asset managers and hedge funds. Within our vision we cover three disciplines:
- Electronic trading platforms
- Risk and trade management systems
- Data management
Within these disciplines we carry out the following activities for our customers:
- Business and management consultancy
- Application development
- Support and implementation
- Infrastructure and information security
Why did you decide to work with a PR agency?
Prior to working with Cognito we did PR inhouse on a group-wide level. This
was cost effective but not very efficient – it was not easy to penetrate
the right publications in the right countries. Pr was low on the list of
priorities for sometime but then in 2006 we decided that we wanted to be
less anonymous in the City and so we started looking for an agency.
Why Cognito?
We had a shortlist of half a dozen agencies. What initially stood out from
Cognito was its focus on our market segment. Of the other six agencies
only two others had the same level of specialism. The winning factor was
the people. I do business with people and so I needed to know that i could
work well with the PR team – I am happy with the team that I work
with at Cognito.
What did you want from an agency?
For us it was primarily a branding exercise – we wanted to get our
name out and clarify our position in the market. Cognito is doing a good
job for us.
What value do you place on PR?
PR is valuable, however it is difficult to put a figure on it – it
is difficult to measure. As I see it there are three tangible benefits to
PR for NET2S:
- It gives credibility to our clients and prospects
- It is great for our employees. since working
With Cognito we have been in the Financial Times three times and have appeared in the Wall Street Journal – this provides good feeling among our team
- PR is a good tool in terms of recruitment – it helps us to attract some good people
What does the future hold?
We will continue with Pr and we are also looking into rolling out more marketing
initiatives such as seminars and round tables. We took the decision to stop
attending trade shows as this was proving ineffective and costly for us.
We don’t sell a product so it was proving difficult justifying the
expense. Yes the fear factor was there initially when we decided not to attend
but the only people that notice that we are not there are our competitors.
it is more effective for me to take my feet and walk the floor.
What do you miss most about France?
i used to live in Paris, which is a great city. i would certainly go back
to France to live because the quality of life is better but when it comes
to working in France I would be reluctant. In London there are more than
100 major financial institutions and in Paris there are about five. In
terms of customers i need to be here. Calais is not too far though so
about twice a year i travel by car to stock up with good quality French
wine.
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