Back in 2012, when MoneySmarts was a brand new program and I was a brand new writer at IU Studios, I was tasked with creating a few ad ideas for them—most of them pretty silly. Much to my surprise, they loved them, and we were off and running.
As the program grew, so did their marketing needs. Soon we were creating whole campaigns, wrapping buses, and designing and redesigning their website. The Notorious P.I.G. was born, and was later joined by his arch nemesis, the Debt Monster. They got into podcasts (long before they were cool), and together we created a whole library of financial literacy articles, interactive booths for student events, bulletin boards for residence halls, and more.
Through it all, their brand maintained its funny, friendly student voice brought to life by hand-drawn characters. Although every new campaign has the characters doing something new, the liberal use of pop culture references is a given and a healthy dose of snark is required.
TL;DR: MoneySmarts is one of my all-time favorite clients, and I am super proud to have been so instrumental in creating their brand.
