Walking the Line: How financial services comms pros navigate partnership messaging

In an era where financial services partnerships are becoming increasingly complex, communications professionals face a sophisticated challenge: coordinating messaging across multiple stakeholders while preserving authentic brand voices and maintaining strategic clarity.

We spoke with members of Tearsheet’s monthly PR/Comms Working Group and with some of their clients and partners about their approaches to navigating this delicate balancing act.

Starting with curiosity, not copy

The most successful partnership communications begin long before any messaging is drafted. Laura Cullen, Director of Communications at Happy Money, emphasizes that effective partnership messaging starts with understanding stakeholder motivations.

“Being a communications professional requires learning the art of the balancing act, particularly when it comes to managing multiple internal and external stakeholders with different goals, sensitivities, and definitions of success,” Cullen explains. “The most successful partnerships hinge on curiosity and nuance. Asking smart questions and listening to understand are two superpowers of strong communicators.”

This foundational approach involves getting “a firm grasp on what our stakeholders care about and what questions or concerns they’re likely to have” before crafting any messaging. Only then can communications teams practice their craft of “shaping messaging that mitigates potential friction points and proactively speaks to the hearts and minds of our various audience segments.”

Anna Kragie, Account Director at The Fletcher Group, reinforces this behind-the-scenes focus: “Strong partnership messaging starts behind the scenes. We bring stakeholders together early to align priorities before a single word goes public.”

Treating partnerships like product development

Jackie Wylie, Head of Marketing at Middesk, brings a distinct perspective to partnership communications by applying product development principles to messaging coordination.

“We approach co-marketing the same way we approach product development,” Wylie explains. Because Middesk often serves as infrastructure behind partners’ platforms, they “don’t force-fit a single message. Instead, we start by aligning on what success looks like for our partners, their customers, and us.”

This approach involves co-developing “a joint messaging framework grounded in shared goals, clear product value, and thoughtful brand boundaries.” Through work with over 500 customers and dozens of partners, Wylie’s team has learned that “the strongest partnerships balance structure and creativity.”

The operational discipline this requires extends beyond messaging. “Whether we’re collaborating with a highly regulated bank or a fast-moving fintech, we establish clear roles and responsibilities, discuss timing and sensitivities early, and build a plan that everyone can stand behind,” Wylie notes. “That kind of operational discipline builds trust, and it also creates room to take creative risks.”

Maintaining authentic voices without cacophony

One of the most delicate aspects of partnership messaging involves preserving each brand’s distinct voice while creating a consistent narrative. Kragie addresses this challenge by ensuring “each brand’s voice is respected, and the story still feels cohesive.”

“It’s crucial to give each partner the space to maintain their own voice — so the message holds together without sounding forced,” she explains. This balance requires focusing externally on value rather than internal complexities, using “industry data and practical examples to ground the story in something meaningful.”

Ashley Jones, Head of Financial Narrative, emphasizes the collaborative nature of this process. While her organization “typically leads on messaging,” they treat it as a collaborative product. “Our partners contribute actively and approve every public-facing component,” she notes.

Preventing stakeholder surprises through transparency

One of the most critical elements of successful partnership messaging is preventing partners from being caught off guard. Jones makes this a core principle: “The worst thing to do is to put a fellow communicator in a position where they’re caught off-guard by a message or an implication, so transparency and expectation setting are our guiding principles.”

This transparency begins early in the partnership process. “When we’re working with a new partner, messaging is always part of the up-front conversations,” Jones explains. “We’re transparent about any areas of sensitivity from the start and make space for candid conversations before a single message is drafted.”

Cullen demonstrates how this proactive approach works in practice. When Happy Money announced a major partnership with two private credit firms, they recognized potential concerns from existing funding partners. “We developed tailored messaging for our partner-facing teams to help them contextualize the announcement one-on-one,” she explains. “The message was clear: this deal isn’t about replacing or deprioritizing existing partners; rather, it’s about growing the pie for everyone.”

Using data to resolve messaging conflicts

When partners bring competing priorities to partnership communications, data becomes a crucial tool for resolution. Kragie’s team uses data to move the conversation forward when conflicts arise, quickly weighing “what matters most to the audience and making clear-eyed decisions about what to lead with.”

This data-driven approach extends to emerging tools as well. “Brand voice GPTs often help consolidate messaging between stakeholders,” Kragie notes, helping keep “messaging sharp, on track, and effective.”

Building for internal and external success

Successful partnership messaging requires coordination across both internal and external audiences. Jones emphasizes the importance of internal clarity: “Our team needs to understand what’s happening, why it matters, and how to talk about it.”

This internal focus extends to coordination with partners’ internal teams. “We also ask our partners to share their internal rollout plans so we can stay in sync,” Jones explains, so that “upcoming announcements are coordinated, well-timed, and reflect a shared narrative.”

As Cullen puts it, “That’s the beauty of the balancing act. When done effectively, this kind of layered strategy allows communicators to navigate the push-pull between various stakeholders, help audience-specific messaging land as intended, and protect the integrity of their core narrative.”

The communications professionals in Tearsheet’s Working Group demonstrate that successful partnership messaging isn’t about finding the perfect compromise — it’s about building frameworks that allow authentic voices to harmonize around shared value propositions.

This article features insights from members of Tearsheet’s monthly PR/Comms Working Group serving the best professionals in financial services and fintech. Contributions came from both in-house communications leaders and agency executives who represent major players in the financial services sector.

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