Quicken
Challenge
Quicken needed a way to consistently stand out in paid channels — not just produce more ads, but find genuine breakout performance in a crowded fintech advertising landscape, while keeping CAC under control across every channel and audience segment.
Goal
Build the creative pipelines, testing systems, and vendor relationships to triple output without losing quality — and find the specific creative formulas, hooks, and formats that could turn a standard finance ad into something people actually wanted to watch.
Solution
I built a high-volume creative testing engine spanning static, video, and creator content, directing outside agencies (Camp + King, Media Monks) on viral UGC hook strategy while building an internal team capable of independently outperforming those same agencies. I spearheaded company-wide adoption of a DAM system for creative asset management — accessible via API and MCP — giving leadership real-time visibility into what was working. I also set creative strategy for Quicken's AI-generated video program, building the always-on testing infrastructure that let the team maximize learnings against budget constraints across funnel stages, audiences, and product categories.
The result: performance creative output more than tripled within 6 months, with a 25% concept win rate against KPI benchmarks, and multiple concepts reaching multi-million view counts. I built the system; the team scaled it — and Quicken saw substantial CAC reductions across paid channels, company-wide.
Case Study
Capturing virality
Viral UGC direction — Outside agencies were briefed to optimize visual hook strategy around emotion, odd objects, and unexpected prompts. The resulting creative generated multiple videos with millions of views, including one that surpassed 5M impressions.
Focused alignment and vendor management — Trend-driven, channel-native creative — aspirational travel imagery, net-worth discussions, financial forecasting demos, and messaging dialed into affluent, finance-savvy audiences — drove massive CPA reduction on top-performing ads.
Optimizations through process
AI process and creative — I spearheaded company-wide adoption of a DAM system for creative asset management, building the cataloging, tagging, and reporting infrastructure — accessible via API and MCP — that gave leadership clear visibility into creative performance. I also set creative strategy for Quicken's AI-generated video program, including fully AI-generated spots like Candle, Dragon, and Frogs.
Always-on production
Following new creative briefs and rebuilt production pipelines, internal teams began independently discovering top-performing ads across multiple categories through audience segmentation and optimization — regularly outperforming the work of contracted agencies.
Feedback loops built between paid, organic, and marketing leadership teams unified brand touchpoints across every channel, driving stronger engagement, reduced CAC, and sustained spikes in site visits.
