Embark on a journey into the dynamic world of marketing with “Marketing Champions,” where our host connects with media experts from coast to coast every week. Dive deep into compelling conversations that explore the latest trends, groundbreaking strategies, and transformative innovations driving the marketing industry forward. Today, our host, Howard Wolpoff, spoke with Katy Thorbahn.
Katy Thorbahn
President and CEO of Shiny
Website Address: https://shiny.agency
Short company description:
Shiny is a woman-owned strategic creative services agency focused on financial services brands.
We believe the biggest enemy of financial services is customer indifference. We help defeat that indifference through ruthlessly customer-centric creative that moves people to action.
We work across all mediums and financial sectors including banks, insurance, and loan companies, and both B2C and B2B.
What is the biggest marketing challenge that you will face in the upcoming year?
Answering this as Shiny, our biggest challenge is simply being in the consideration set as Clients think about which agency is right for them.
If you had one message to get across to future customers, what would it be?
If you need an agency that will challenge your assumptions, provide a range of strategically sound creative options, and is ruthlessly focused on delivering business results, plus want to work with people who make your life easier, give Shiny a call.
How did you get started in your field of work?
I grew up surrounded by advertising. My father owned an outdoor advertising business, my uncle directed commercials, and my older sister worked at agencies. That gave me the opportunity to see the business from multiple angles, which led me to feel confident in high school it’s what I wanted to do. In college I had two internships that confirmed advertising was right for me (but not copywriting! That’s what I thought I wanted to do until I saw what the job actually entails.) I’m been working in agencies ever since.
What differentiates you from the competition?
We have a deep understanding of financial services, coupled with a laser focus on creating ruthlessly customer-centric work that drives people to action. Shiny is built on what matters to our Clients: their time, brands, and bottom line results.
What is one tip that you would give when it comes to marketing?
Your customer is always right, meaning you need to speak with them in ways that matter to them.
The biggest change in marketing that you see coming in the next 5 years is?
I think it’s already here, which is how we continue to build meaningful connections with people when more and more they use technology to make purchase decisions for them.
What is your favorite advertising campaign that you have created for a client or particiapted in?
We worked with a private student loan company who came to us with a name and a logo. Leveraging research with students and their parents we learned that there was a real lack of understanding about the space and a craving for transparency and clarity on what they were actually getting themselves into when they take out a loan. With that insight we created a positioning for the business based on radical transparency and clarity of what goes into paying off a student loan. From there we created a visual and verbal identity and a website through which people could use a natural language flow to build their own loan. The site then let them play with different levers, like loan duration or paying anything during school, to see how it would affect how much they paid over time. People who went through the natural language flow were 6X more likely to apply and get approved. We paired that with the first mobile-focused application flow in the space, dropping completion time from 15 minutes to 3 minutes. and the new application almost doubled completion rates.
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