FIGURE TECHNOLOGIES “SAVING AMERICA BILLIONS”
High-profile fintech Figure needed to build lending volume in advance of a new funding round. As Head of Corporate Communications, Otto Pohl conceived and executed a data-driven campaign that helped increase loan volume 23%, to over $80m/month. Less than three months later, the company closed a $100m round at over 3x the previous valuation.
BACKGROUND
Figure is a rapidly-growing fintech founded by Mike Cagney, co-founder and former CEO of SoFi. In the summer of 2019, Mike was laying the groundwork for raising a round later that year that would catapult the company into unicorn status, with a valuation of $1.2B—over 3x the $380m valuation from February.
THE CHALLENGE
A key piece of justifying the valuation was showing that the lending business was growing quickly. At that time, the company’s only active lending product was a Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC), which is where a homeowner borrows against their home—essentially, a second mortgage. Figure needed more HELOC volume. The challenge was to come up with an effective, low-cost solution that the marketing department could use to drive awareness, market share, and loan volume.
THE CAMPAIGN
I wrote three foundational pieces for the campaign (search, display, social, press release, white paper, case study):
Press Release
Case Study
White Paper
THE RESULT
I researched government statistics that showed that unsecured consumer borrowing, like credit card debt and personal loans, was at record highs, while secured borrowing, like HELOCs, were declining year-over-year. At the same time, interest rates for unsecured borrowing were at record highs and secured borrowing interest rates were at record lows. To top it off, consumers owned a record amount of home equity. Why were consumers avoiding low-cost borrowing options while gorging on expensive debt? At first, I thought that maybe it was two separate groups—those without homes were borrowing while homeowners didn’t need to. Working with Figure’s data and analytics team, I led a project to analyze consumer credit records of every homeowner in America. The result was remarkable: It turned out that there were over 16 million US homeowners who both had substantial home equity and were carrying high-cost debt. We calculated that they could save over $100 billion in interest payments if they refinanced. We had our story.
MAGAZINE ARTICLES INCLUDING MONEY
The campaign resonated among the key target group of financial journalists. Earned media placements included an article on Money.com
TELEVISION INCLUDED:
Fox and Yahoo Business
Watch on Yahoo
Watch on Fox
THE BOTTOM LINE
The campaign launched in September. Figure HELOC volume increased 23%to over $80 million per month. Mike closed a $103m series C in early December at a $1.2B post-money valuation.
