EARNEST

Debt & Dating

Turning proprietary research into a cultural campaign

THE INSIGHT

Debt isn’t the red flag.
How you handle it is.

We surveyed 1,100+ daters to uncover how debt shapes attraction, trust and relationships, then turned the findings into a cultural campaign that took Earnest beyond lending. Activated across PR, social, paid, lifecycle and organic, Debt & Dating connected money to a conversation people were already having and turned proprietary research into real brand and business impact.

My role

I led art direction and design across the campaign, translating proprietary research into a playful visual system that connected the report, landing page, six paid social concepts, and supporting creative across PR, lifecycle, SEO, and organic.

THE SYSTEM

A clear, playful system to make a serious topic more relatable

We created a set of custom illustrations and graphic elements that brought the research to life, blending familiar financial cues with dating culture and the visual language of the moment, from trending emojis to social-first references. The result felt approachable, current, and built to be shared.

I designed six paid social concepts that transformed Debt & Dating research into provocative, culturally relevant creative built to stop the scroll. The campaign reached 1M+ users, delivering a 5x higher CTR and 90% lower CPC than Earnest’s always-on student loan campaigns, with the cheeky “Size Doesn’t Matter” concept emerging as the standout performer.