Ally Financial

The objective

TikTok as a tool for financial wellness

Ally Financial, a leading digital financial services provider, is concerned about the number of Americans who have no idea how to make their money work for them. The company wanted to reach Millennial and Gen Z audiences in a fun, approachable, and engaging way while educating them about the complicated topic of personal finance. To accomplish this, they collaborated with TikTok music creators on a crowd-sourced hip hop track that could help people get smarter about money and ultimately improve the lives of young people.

The solution

Remixing the approach to money advice

Music is a massive part of the TikTok experience. Parody songs can go viral for months on end. (Remember #CornKid?) The platform has even launched the careers of several mainstream artists over the past three years.

That’s exactly why Ally Financial wanted to speak to viewers through custom music. They partnered with the TikTok team and Influential, a Managed Service Provider, to execute the campaign. The concept? Partner with TikTok creators on a custom track that could teach financial literacy through music.

Ally Financial began the process with @MoneyCoachVince, a financial advice creator, and @CharlieCurtisB, a TikTok rapper. They posted a song about saving money and asked the TikTok community what they’d want to hear about in a song about financial advice. The ensuing comments, in which viewers shared their financial habits and goals, helped inform the final lyrics for the final song.

As an added surprise, Ally Financial brought in rapper @TobiLou to add a feature to the track, which took the song to the next level and invited more audiences into the journey and momentum for the final release.

The end product was a song that spoke to many of the anxieties young people face when it comes to money: the desire to buy a house even when it feels out of reach; the proliferation of payment plan platforms; and the feeling that there’s nobody out there to give real, solid advice on how to feel in control of one’s finances. Not to mention, it was catchy.

The results

Chart-topping success

In addition to launching a video with the complete song, Ally Financial shared a series of videos that explored how the song came to life, and what the creative process was between @charliecurtisb, @tobilou, and @moneycoachvince.

The campaign uncovered new audiences where the content resonated, resulting in high engagement via comments, significant follower growth (53% increase) on the brand’s TikTok profile, and overall positive sentiment.

Ally Financial also received a wave of comments—6,300 total—and responded to over 200 people to keep the conversation going and maintain engagement with the TikTok community.