Acorns wanted to expand their reach across paid social and streaming platforms with creative that highlighted how everyday people use Acorns to achieve financial freedom. The challenge was to design content that felt authentic and relatable, while tailoring tone and production value to each platform.

• Developed campaign messaging around Acorns’ four main USPs: holistic approach, Round-Ups, retirement accounts, and Acorns Early

• Wrote ad copy, interview prompts, and CTA language to guide authentic testimonials

• Directed the talent during shoots to ensure natural, relatable performances that aligned with brand tone

• Shaped edit strategy to balance native UGC style (TikTok/IG) with polished storytelling (YouTube/OTT)

• Oversaw modular asset creation for multiple platforms and formats

The Approach
We built the campaign around four core storylines, each tied to a key Acorns feature:

1. Holistic Approach → Showcased the all-in-one benefits of Acorns

2. Round-Ups → Highlighted the simplicity of saving automatically through everyday purchases

3. Retirement Accounts → Focused on long-term financial planning

4. Acorns Early → Emphasized how parents can easily invest in their children’s future

In addition to these feature-driven narratives, we created individual user testimonials to reinforce authenticity. On set, I directed the talent to ensure their stories came through in their own voices while keeping messaging tight and performance natural.

The edits were customized for platform:

• YouTube & OTT → Longer, polished storytelling for credibility and authority

• TikTok & Instagram → Short, native-style cuts that felt organic and in-feed

The campaign delivered a comprehensive suite of testimonial-driven ads for YouTube, OTT, TikTok, and Instagram. By blending professional polish with UGC-style authenticity, Acorns gained a versatile toolkit that built awareness, drove engagement, and reinforced its mission of making investing simple and accessible.