Obsessed Media for Acorns just launched “Show Your Potential,” a campaign that ditches the Wall Street bro playbook and puts real customers—single moms, side-hustlers, everyday earners—at the center. No flashy portfolios. No meme stocks. Just people investing spare change while they figure out life.
The work feels less like an ad and more like someone finally paying attention to who’s actually using these apps. And the numbers back it up.
The antidote to financial anxiety
“This isn’t about crypto moonshots or meme stocks,” said Kasia Leyden, CMO at Acorns. “It’s about real people—parents saving for their kids’ futures, single moms paying down debt, entrepreneurs investing spare change—most earning around $54,000 a year and watching their effort compound. Show Your Potential is a reminder that 92% of day traders lose money. But the patient ones? They win.”
The campaign kicks off with two customer stories. First up: Naseema, a labor and delivery nurse and single mother of three girls (ages 2, 6 and 11). When her oldest daughter turned one, she started educating herself about personal finance—a journey that led her to pay off nearly $1 million in debt by 2017 and start investing for her family’s future through Acorns Early, the company’s product for kids.
Then there’s Marissa, who once felt anxious about investing. Was she starting too late? Did she have enough? Through Acorns’ automatic investing tools, she found confidence and ease in the process.
Squirrel puppet and photo albums
The production approach matched the authentic tone. Patrick Figueroa, executive creative director at Acorns, and the team traveled across the country to capture these stories.
“This campaign was born from the stories our customers have shared with us about what investing really means to them—what it looks and feels like, and what it takes to keep believing in it,” Figueroa said. “We travelled across the country to sit with them (and our squirrel puppet!) and capture their lives as they opened their doors, their photo albums, and their families to help us tell their story. Featuring them was our way of pedestaling the people who live what Acorns stands for: belief that small steps have the potential to grow into big things.”
Breaking free from algorithmic bias
Obsessed Media, a media consultancy co-founded by Barry Dan and Danny Weisman (both Noble People alums), developed the campaign’s media strategy. The challenge wasn’t just placing ads—it was reaching an audience that traditional fintech marketing tends to overlook.
“Acorns is a fundamentally different kind of fintech brand, serving an audience that’s been largely overlooked by the category,” Dan said. “We had to break free from algorithmic bias and build a media approach specific to their audience, rooted in trust and quality. That meant choosing channels and partners that don’t just chase efficiency, but actually reflect the values of the Acorns brand.”
Long game, not moonshots
The campaign will expand through 2026 with more customer stories spanning different life circumstances and outcomes. The platform will come to life through creative ads, partnerships and brand activations—all building on the narrative that anyone can be an investor.
It’s a patient approach for patient investors. No hype. No shortcuts. Just real people and the small steps that compound over time.
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