Credit One Bank is using humor to connect with shoppers and build brand awareness in a crowded landscape of financial advice, said Chief Marketing Officer Michael Coleman.
The financial institution’s most recent marketing campaign, dubbed “The Credit Wreckers,” uses four cartoon characters that embody common mistakes consumers make that hurt their credit.
For example, one character is “Cancelina” who cancels her unused credit cards once they’re paid off, which can decrease the length of her credit history and hurt her credit mix. Another character is “Max Out,” who uses his full line of credit, when he should only use up to 30% or else face a lower score.
“We’re really proud of it,” Coleman said. “We think it hits on all cylinders. It’s educational. It’s funny. It also has some heart.”
Goals for the campaign
While emotional messages may stay longer in a consumer’s memory, a humorous spot may be more likely to make an immediate connection with a consumer and have a higher likelihood of being shared, Coleman said.
The financial institution plans to market The Credit Wreckers on broadcast TV and social media through the end of the year, but depending on consumer reception, Credit One Bank may continue to use the characters, content and themes in the future. The bank will gauge its success by measuring whether there is an increase in aided and unaided brand awareness in its quarterly surveys, as well as an increase in brand sentiment.
The goal for all of its marketing campaigns together in 2025 is to increase brand awareness 5-10% year over year, Coleman said. Credit One knows that if consumers are aware of the bank, the more likely the are to apply for a card, which is why awareness is such a key metric.
Educating consumers about credit
Many of the members at the 40-year-old bank are looking to build their credit. And this marketing campaign, in addition to increasing brand awareness, aims to educate consumers about common credit mistakes and increase their knowledge of the best ways to use credit cards.
“With these characters we hope to de-stigmatize bad credit in these mistakes instead of making them seem dark and full of shame,” Coleman said. “A lot of people who have lower credit scores feel like, ‘Oh my gosh, I made this awful, horrible mistake.’ When we put it kind of in a more humorous light with these credit wrecker characters, we’re hoping to show, Hey, people make mistakes. You can move on.”
And part of moving on is knowing how to be better in the future. In conjunction with the campaign, Credit One released results from a survey of 2,007 adults (of whom 1,469 have a credit card) it commissioned with YouGov, which highlights the gaps in consumer credit knowledge. For example, 72% of consumers were unaware that a missed payment can stay on their credit report for up to seven years.
Since the pandemic, business and consumers have shifted more toward using credit cards and “contactless payments,” over cash. And because more consumers possibly need a credit card to transact with a business, such as for online shopping or for booking travel, there is a need for more information about “good” uses of credit cards. This is especially true for Credit One’s card holders, who are looking to build their credit, Coleman said.
“One of the biggest sentiments that we get out there from folks is that we took a chance on them when no one else would,” Coleman said. “Thirty percent of the folks that come to us that we give a credit card to, and this is millions of Americans frankly, don’t have a credit card. We offer them, I wouldn’t say it’s their first card, but at the time they don’t have a card in their wallet.”
Credit One Bank invests in content marketing
Credit One Bank has a dozen employees on its marketing communications team, half of whom are dedicated to producing content, such as YouTube videos and articles.
With social media, there is more information than ever before, and anyone can have voice for providing financial and credit advice. And some of the content out there is just wrong, Coleman said.
And with issuing nearly 40 million credit cards in the U.S., Credit One Bank is an expert in this area.
“We truly, truly, truly understand what can affect your credit score, what it takes to get a credit card, what it takes to build credit and where that credit can take you,” Coleman said. “We thought, hey, it’s really important for us to come and step up and help people and be a trusted voice in this area.”
Adapting to consumers using AI for search
Just like businesses always tried to figure out Google’s algorithm to rank highly in search results, businesses—including Credit One—are trying to determine how to have their content crawled and cited by algorithms. It is using agencies and trial-and-error to help get its content cited more by AI platforms.
“Our prospects and our card members and whoever is going to access this content, we know they’re using AI, chatGPT and other platforms and other tools,” Coleman said. “Our team is very careful about making sure that it’s structured in a way that the language that we use in it, that content structure can be digested by AI and served up into those platforms.”
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