Optimal Market Technologies was preparing to launch into a crowded, fast-moving options market with a nuanced, differentiated model: an options wholesaling business backed by leading market makers, plus an institutional-grade ATS and execution services. The goal wasn’t just to look legit on day one – it was to land as a serious, high-performance player with a crisp story about how its approach improves outcomes for both retail and institutional desks. Optimal engaged Forefront to build its brand and website and support a successful entry into the market.
Early in the process, we coined an ownable idea that could serve as the backbone for the entire brand: Competition for Order Flow. Optimal’s wholesaling business routes retail options orders among a set of Primary Market Makers (PMMs) and scores these firms on execution quality at the end of each month. That monthly analysis determines future allocations – so better execution earns more opportunity, and weaker performance earns less. We also developed a deep understanding of Optimal’s institutional business, creating a positioning framework that instantly captured what makes them unique.
We combined this with a deliberate media strategy: secure one high-profile pre-launch feature to support early awareness and pre-sales, then concentrate launch outreach on a small set of trusted outlets to keep a nuanced story from being misinterpreted.
“Our top priority for this launch was creating awareness with the people who matter – market makers, retail and institutional brokers and the broader trading community – and Forefront helped us do exactly that.”
— Brian Donnelly, Founder, Chairman and CEO, Optimal Market Technologies
We delivered an end-to-end launch foundation: a new brand, a new website and a full go-to-market push. Visually, we built a distinctive, competition-forward identity anchored in a checkered-flag-inspired logomark and supporting motifs – reinforcing the “competition for order flow” idea across every touchpoint. Digitally, we launched a dark, modern website with vivid gradients and punchy, performance-oriented messaging. And to drive early attention, we managed launch PR end-to-end, including an exclusive pre-launch story with Bloomberg and a coordinated press release and outreach effort that resulted in pieces from Risk.net and Global Trading.
"Forefront made the entire process feel turnkey, managing everything from the brand and messaging to launch PR and coordination with our investors’ communications teams, so we could stay focused on building the business.”
— Brian Donnelly, Founder, Chairman and CEO, Optimal Market Technologies
Optimal launched with a unified market narrative and a brand built to scale across web, PR and future collateral. The company entered the market with clear differentiation and early visibility through targeted trade-media coverage, creating momentum for business development and partner conversations immediately following launch.
