PTLN Advisory - Marketing & PR for Fintech and Regulated Finance

Question 1

What does an engagement look like?

Accepted Answer

Two shapes. Either I act as your fractional CMO and own the marketing function, or I take one area: content, PR, or anything that needs someone who already understands the product. Which one it is comes out of the first call. I don't sell packages. You get a proposal written for your situation, with scope and a price, before anything starts.

Question 2

Who is this for?

Accepted Answer

Companies without marketing leadership in-house. Sometimes that's a fintech that has been founder-led until now. Sometimes it's an owner-managed financial services firm that has never had anyone senior on marketing at all. Sometimes it's a larger business with a marketing team that has never had to sell a regulated product. If you already have a CMO who knows how these products sell, you don't need me.

Question 3

How is this different from hiring an agency?

Accepted Answer

An agency just follows a brief. I write the brief and then execute as well. Most agencies working in fintech are learning your product on your budget.

Question 4

Do you handle compliance?

Accepted Answer

No. I work inside your regulatory boundaries, I don't define them. I know what will survive a review, which saves you rounds, but your compliance officer signs off and I don't give legal advice.

Question 5

Is PTLN just you, and how hands-on are you?

Accepted Answer

Me and an associate. For craft work I bring in people I have worked with for years: designers, photographers, video editors, copywriters. What I don't hand over is the thinking or the words that carry it. I write the strategy and then I write the newsletter, produce the content for events and webinars, draft the copy. In regulated finance the person who understands the product needs to be the person writing the sentence. That is also why you get the person you met on the call rather than a pitch team followed by a junior.

Question 6

Do you use AI?

Accepted Answer

Where it makes the work faster or better: research, first passes, design ideas. Everything delivered is crafted by a person. AI can confidently confuse the details of how your product works.

Question 7

What does an engagement cost?

Accepted Answer

Every engagement is priced individually, because no two of these problems are the same shape. For context: a CMO in Germany averages around EUR 163,000 a year, with the top quartile above EUR 175,000, before roughly 20 percent employer contributions. In Australia the equivalent base sits around AUD 190,000 before 12 percent super. Either way you are four to six months into a hiring process before anyone writes a sentence.

Question 8

How long does an engagement typically last?

Accepted Answer

It varies. A bounded project runs four to eight weeks. Ongoing work usually starts at three months. My longest client relationship is seven years. I would rather start small and earn the next piece than sell you a twelve-month retainer on the first call.

Question 9

What outcomes should I expect?

Accepted Answer

Depends where you start. From a positioning project you get a position, the messaging that carries it and copy your sales people will actually use. From an ongoing engagement you get a marketing function that runs to a plan instead of to requests. What I won't promise is a number on your pipeline. Anyone who promises that before they have seen your funnel is guessing.

Question 10

Where are you based, and do you work in German?

Accepted Answer

Sydney and Berlin. I keep an office in Berlin and I'm in Europe three or four times a year, two to three months in total. Between visits the work is remote and the time difference means things land in your morning. German is my first language, so positioning, messaging and press work happen in either language.

Klarheit vor Aktion.

01 - Den Markt lesen

02 - Die Position festlegen

03 - Das System aufbauen

04 - Ausführen und belegen

Entwickelt für Finanzunternehmen – und alle, die an sie verkaufen

Erfahrung heißt zu wissen, worauf es ankommt.

Alles, was du wissen musst

Finanzexpertise.
Kommerzielle Perspektive.
Direkte Einbindung.