Avant
Brief
Avant is a credit-first financial technology company that responsibly serves non-prime consumers, providing access to innovative financial solutions, including personal loans and credit cards. Avant sought increased media exposure but faced headwinds including negative past experiences with the media, mischaracterizations and negative perceptions among the public and media, and messaging focused on Avant’s products rather than the role the firm plays in the financial industry.
Approach
Vested worked closely with Avant to establish a media engagement process that prioritized control and improved spokesperson comfort. The team also coordinated messaging sessions and mock interviews with each executive to help them differentiate their stories, and identified one executive to play the role of customer advocate. Vested then developed a customer message, illustrating what it is to be non-prime in America. This message helps Avant executives with talking points that show the company’s impact in addressing a critical need impacting 35% of Americans.
Results
Anecdotally, internal comfort with media engagements improved, and interviews and coverage of Avant focused more holistically on the company’s values and customer-centricity. Further, Vested challenged Forbes’ decision to decline Avant, saying that in omitting Avant was validating and perpetuating an economic structure that systematically excludes more than a third of the American population. Forbes reversed their decision, inviting Avant CEO Matt Bochenek to the Finance Council.