• by Fern Siegel , October 30, 2023

"Finance is Not a Bad Word."

That's the premise — and title — of Conn’s new marketing campaign. With more than 175 stores across 15 states and online at Conns.com, the home-goods retailer just rolled out new work on select digital channels. The company sells appliances, furniture and electronics.

Created by VMLY&R, the campaign features five digital video ads, in English and Spanish, as well as in-store, social media, email marketing and digital audio.

To make buying less intimidating, the campaign aims to make financing easier, helping customers pay for a large assortment of competitively priced, brand-name products.

"Our research showed that Conn’s has an opportunity to destigmatize financing. We want shoppers to know they can come to Conn’s and have an open conversation with our sales team about payment options, whether they have good credit or are building it,” Angela Minor, Conn’s chief marketing officer, told Agency Daily. “Financing is part of our DNA."

The campaign hopes to boost customer engagement, while highlighting the brand's virtues.

“We decided to take that dirty word ‘financing‘ and turn it into something light and positive for customers,” said Wayne Best, chief creative officer, VMLY&R New York.

Two weeks ago, WPP merged two of its largest agencies — Wunderman Thompson and VMLY&R — to create what it says is the “world’s largest creative company.” The combined entity will be known as VML.