Credit Karma - Here’s to Progress

While Credit Karma started out as a challenger brand by offering free credit scores in the credit and financial services category, the competition soon caught on. It wasn't long before the brand found itself in a sea of sameness. With a new portfolio of financial products to offer people beyond credit scores, Credit Karma needed a fresh point of view to stand out.

The US struggles when it comes to managing and understanding finances. The average American can’t come up with $400 to cover an emergency expense and roughly a third of the country can pass a basic financial literacy test. And yet the expectation is that people are supposed to figure it out on their own, which can feel stressful and daunting.

When we interviewed people who had made financial progress, they all admitted that it was overwhelming to think about where to start and what to do. They all spoke of the truth and beauty in the power of small changes that helped them improve their credit and achieve their goals. Making lunch instead of ordering it out each day. Getting a smaller apartment to save for a down payment on a home. Paying off student loans with a tax refund instead of taking a vacation.

And while the category was mainly depicting people who had already achieved their financial goals, no one was really talking about the small and sometimes difficult steps that were needed to get there. To stand out and get people to think of Credit Karma as a brand who champions financial progress, we highlighted the small but powerful steps that are needed to make real financial progress and how the brand could help people along the way.