... with an advertising campaign that kicks off today, Wednesday.  The firm's taking it to the people," explaining (in plain English) to average citizens how the company makes such enormous amounts of money what the company does.  A spokesperson said, “Effectively, what we’ve seen and a lot of other people have seen is we need to give them a better understanding of who we are and what we do.  This is meant to help do that.”

Full-page advertisements will be featured in today's New York Times and Wall Street Journal.  They'll also have print ads running in national, regional and local newspapers, and banner ads on various Web sites.  The campaign is scheduled to run into next year.

Today's advertisement consisted of a photograph of several wind turbines next to a close-up shot of a smiling, hard-hat-wearing worker standing at the base of a turbine.  Split across the photographs was the caption: “How a plan to help a renewable energy company grow ended up creating more than just megawatts.”   Below the tagline “Progress is Everyone’s Business,” the advertisement included an explanation of what Goldman meant:

Harnessing an important resource like wind requires a lot of capital.  So when a renewable energy company came to us, we found investors to help them grow.  Because investing in a clean energy future is not only good for the environment, it’s good for local businesses and communities.  And for local employees, who have a new way to put their energy to work.

Future ads will highlight different types of work that Goldman has done for a range of clients, including corporations, municipalities, institutions and individuals.  Goldman's spokesperson noted that the firm has run previous national advertising campaigns.  Shortly after it went public in 1999, Goldman began what was estimated as a $10 million campaign that promoted Goldman's capabilities as an investment bank and feature the tagline: “Unrelenting Thinking.”    [NYT Dealbook, 9/29]