Experian North America’s latest campaign to bring attention to a new credit-enhancing product is shining some light on the financial services giant’s 2.5-year-old in-house ad agency.
Experian, with North American headquarters in Costa Mesa, on Jan. 27 launched a campaign created by its internal agency The Cooler featuring actor and WWE wrestler John Cena to play up its Experian Boost product, which launched last year.
It’s the latest marketing push around the option, which lets consumers allow Experian to connect to their bank accounts for access to utility and telecom payment history that’s then added to their credit files. A spokesperson for the company confirmed 2.4 million people have connected to the tool since its inception.
Cena, the commercial’s star, leads a group of purple-spotted cows to enlighten a driver about using Boost to lift his credit score. The TV spot is set to air on cable and broadcast networks, along with digital channels, set to formats of 60, 30, 15 and 10 seconds. New creative, depending on consumer response, could be rolled out at a minimum of once a month, according to Kevin Everhart, vice president of consumer and brand marketing at Experian Consumer Services.
2016 Creation
Spend on this campaign is “consistent, if not greater than” past efforts, the executive said.
Everhart said Cena made sense for the commercials given the wrestler, actor and entrepreneur’s broad reach, calling him “relatable and recognizable.”
The latest campaign makes a good case for the in-house agency
The Cooler was created in 2016 and is led by Chief Creative Director Todd Miller.
“From my perspective, I’ve worked with big-name agencies for many years and have had tremendous success with big agencies.” Still, “there are challenges when you’re trying to optimize all of your efforts from a marketing perspective with external agencies,” Everhart said. “One of the issues is you deal with people who are dedicated to your account, but at the same time, they have multiple responsibilities on the external side.”
When an agency’s focus is one client, executives and staffers don’t have to worry about juggling multiple clients or growing their client roster, Everhart pointed out.
“They just have one focus, which is helping us improve our business. And, in order to make the model work, you do need the right talent and skillset in place,” Everhart said.
The Cooler currently employs 15 people, including copywriters, art directors and designers.
Lessons have been learned and erecting an agency comes with its own set of challenges, not unlike most startups. More specifically, access to talented directors, production companies and the like. Many are not necessarily motivated to work with internal agencies until a reputation has been established, Everhart said. This latest creative shows how far the agency has come. It tapped Director Gary Freedman of production company Reset—who shot Chris Pratt for Michelob Ultra’s Super Bowl spot in 2018 and has also done work for Nike, Ikea and Heineken—and Framestore for the commercial’s animation.
