APPLE CARD x GOLDMAN SACHS
Translating Complexity Into Conviction Under Extreme Pressure
President & Partner, SWAT. Goldman Sachs brought SWAT in during the earliest stages of what would eventually become the Apple Card partnership. At the time, there was no finalized relationship with Apple. Discussions were evolving, but Goldman Sachs first needed internal alignment and board-level confidence around the broader consumer opportunity ahead.
Their traditional Agency of Record was not structured for the speed, ambiguity, or business fluency this assignment required. After months of work, the story still was not landing internally.
That is exactly where SWAT excelled.
A TEN-DAY STRATEGIC SPRINT
The first assignment moved at extraordinary speed.
Goldman Sachs needed a strategic storytelling package capable of translating an incredibly dense mix of financial, operational, and product strategy into a much clearer consumer-facing vision the executive team could immediately understand and rally around internally.
In less than ten days, we developed:
Consumer positioning and messaging
Strategic storytelling frameworks
Executive-facing sizzle reels
Launch campaign concepts
UX visualization directions
Creative designed to simplify and elevate the opportunity
The work helped bring the business strategy to life in a way that felt emotionally intuitive, strategically credible, and operationally exciting. The response was immediate.
3 days after the first presentation, Goldman Sachs called again:
“We need another package. This time in seven days.”
Bringing the Experience to Life
The second sprint focused on visualizing the actual consumer experience itself.
We developed additional work showcasing:
App functionality
Product interaction
Consumer features and usability
Expanded campaign thinking
Larger launch concepts, including Times Square visualizations
The work helped leadership communicate the opportunity internally with greater clarity and confidence as discussions with Apple continued advancing.
Goldman Sachs ultimately incorporated the broader strategic and creative package into the final approval process as momentum around the partnership accelerated.
That relationship later expanded into broader strategic work supporting Marcus by Goldman Sachs.
Takeaway
Some of the most important strategic work in business never becomes public-facing.
This assignment was less about advertising and more about strategic translation: taking an incredibly complex business opportunity and helping people quickly understand, believe in, and rally around what the future could become.
Projects like this is where I tend to operate best: inside ambiguity, complexity, and high-pressure environments where speed, trust, and clarity all matter simultaneously.