Plenti's 'Destroy Your Dreams' blew up Pinterest boards into real plans

Plenti, Australia's largest consumer fintech lender but a young consumer brand, needed a cut-through brand campaign with creative risk for an affluent customer base — Howatson+Company's first work since coming on board in June 2021.

'Destroy Your Dreams': blow up the inspiration board — literally, in the hero film — so the renovation, wedding or car stops being saved and starts being done.

A hero film directed by James Dive of Scoundrel with Studio Dive, backed by a suite of product films and social assets and a Destroy Your Dreams consumer promotion tied to a customer competition.

Plenti's first major brand campaign and customer competition; CEO Daniel Foggo positioned it as proof of how the lender helps people bring big ideas to life. No performance figures were reported in the write-up.

In November 2021, fintech lender Plenti partnered with Howatson+Company to launch 'Destroy Your Dreams', a campaign built on a provocation: stop putting your big ideas on hold and make them real. It nodded to the wave of Australians using inspiration boards on Pinterest and Instagram to plan renovations, green upgrades, weddings and cars that stayed boards forever.

For Plenti, the campaign marked its first major brand push and customer competition. CEO Daniel Foggo said the lender had grown to become Australia's largest consumer fintech lender, and head of marketing Samantha Saunders said the brand was young and 'prepared to take risks with the creative' to resonate with an affluent customer base.

Howatson+Company ECD Gavin Chimes framed the insight personally: 'We all have that Pinterest board that's gathering digital dust. A dream reno, the perfect wedding. This campaign is about shaking people out of their complacency' — and, he added, it let the agency fulfil one of its own dreams, 'blowing stuff up in an ad'. The hero film was joined by product films, social assets and a consumer promo.

The insight targets inaction, not a competitor — boards full of dreams are the measurable symptom of loans not taken.

Literal destruction is the call to action: you cannot save and save again what you have blown up.

A risk-taking creative brief matched the challenger position of a big fintech with an unknown face.

The obstacle to your product is often a behaviour, not a rival: name the hoarding ritual, then give people permission to blow it up.

As of the November 2021 write-up the campaign was live with the hero film, product films, social assets and the Destroy Your Dreams consumer promotion; it was Howatson+Company's first work for Plenti since onboarding in June.