Optica Benchmarks Campaign

A dramatic launch that turned complex financial benchmarking into a story of clarity, confidence, and conversion.

Executive Summary

Cambridge Associates sought to drive awareness and trial among premium prospects for its Optica Benchmark tool—a subscription platform providing global private investment benchmarks. The campaign needed to communicate both the sophistication and accessibility of the product while emphasizing Cambridge’s leadership in private investment analytics. Through a dark, high-contrast design inspired by Apple-style product launches, the campaign used storytelling, data visualization, and precise messaging to elevate Optica’s perceived value and drive engagement across email and landing page touchpoints.

Goals

• Introduce prospective premium subscribers to Optica Benchmark’s features and value.

• Design and launch an email and landing page campaign integrated with the CRM.

• Create an explainer video and a printable fact sheet reinforcing the product’s differentiators.

• Set up analytics to track campaign engagement and conversions.

Discovery

Stakeholders envisioned a campaign that felt like the unveiling of a major innovation—something sleek, bold, and aspirational. We designed a dark palette and a forced perspective render of the application to evoke a sense of drama and precision.
Global reach and data authority were emphasized through motion graphics and selective callouts of benchmark differentiators. The creative direction focused on showing—not just telling—the power of Optica’s global data footprint and analytical capabilities.

Implementation

Wireframes helped define the visual and informational hierarchy for both the email and the landing page. The layout balanced storytelling with evidence—bold numbers, visual illustrations, and quick-scan callouts allowed us to convey complex content simply.
A donut chart highlighted client diversity, while blocks of facts and figures reinforced credibility and differentiation.
We tested multiple subject lines; although there was no statistically significant winner, the final line—“Benchmarking Private Investments is Complex. Cambridge Associates Has a Solution.”—achieved the strongest engagement among senior-level recipients.

Campaign Outcome

Month 1

• Email open rate: 16.0%

• Email click rate: 2.5%

• Landing page form completion: 35.9%

Month 2

• Email open rate: 16.5%

• Email click rate: 2.6%

• Landing page form completion: 35.8%

These results exceeded internal benchmarks for conversion rate and demonstrated strong engagement consistency across months one and two—signaling effective message retention and sustained user interest.

Metrics Snapshot

Landing page desktop design: