WELCOME. MY NAME IS CHRIS DENNEY AND I AM CURRENTLY THE VP/DIRECTOR OF BRAND & CREATIVE AT ONEMAIN FINANCIAL.
Prior to joining OneMain, I was the Global Creative Director at Catholic Relief Services for four years and before that Creative Director then Executive Creative Director at Baltimore-based agency IMRE for eight-and-half years. Before moving to the Washington D.C./Baltimore area, I lived in New York working for Time Warner/Time Inc. as Creative Director. I began my career in creative marketing at Rodale Press/Men’s Health magazine, which was preceded by a few years as a professional photographer.
The following work samples are but a small sample of the brands I have helped, the teams I have inspired and the campaigns we created.
ONEMAIN FINANCIAL
My charge at OneMain is to help refresh a 100-year-old brand while leading a talented team of creatives and project managers to operate as an in-house agency.
OneMain Financial: online video spots
The 2023 OMF social strategy called for two online videos to be used on YouTube and the beacon for all content. The creative strategy that drove these spots was the idea that OneMain Financial understands how overwhelming financial worries can be, and OMF can be the solution to those worries.
You don't have to live your life through money.
OneMain Financial: Testimonials
Trust is huge concern for customers seeking financial help. The videos below allow potential customers to see themselves in the stories we tell and demonstrate that OMF is a trusted, non-judgemental financial company.
The short clips that follow are part of a larger content strategy in how we use this content across channels.
OneMain Financial: Rebrand
When I joined OMF in 2019, the company was in the very early stages of a rebrand. I was lucky enough to be part of the process to help influence the positioning and strategy around our voice and visual language, as well as the development of a new tagline. A year and a half since launch has proven how effective and galvanizing a properly executed rebrand can be.
CATHOLIC RELIEF SERVICES
As Gobal Creative Director of the top INGO that serves in over 100 countries, I was asked to help rebrand the company, position ourselves favorably to government lawmakers, run campaigns that drove both engagement and acquisition in the U.S. and do all of the same in the regions CRS works.
CRS: Ad campaign
The only advertising CRS did before I arrived was digital display for fundraising. I was able to convince the executive team of the effectiveness of top-funnel advertising and was given a small budget for a two-city regional test. After year one, our budget doubled. As it did the next year. I managed all creative in-house and media strategy/buying with a partner agency. Below are samples of the award-winning creative and the channels we ran in.
CRS: Be Unafraid campaign
CRS wanted to run a bunch of campaigns around fundraising and to support program work but also wanted a central, high-level theme to ladder them up to. Migration became that theme, as so much of what happens to the people who suffer around the world are either victims of migration or are caused to migrate due to conflict or other challenges. We knew at the time that a lot of NGO's were creating stories to help humanize refugees, but we wanted to do something different. After thought-provoking brainstorms, we landed on the idea to ask refugees living in the U.S. to sit down with people who did not believe that migrants should be allowed in the country and ask each other one simple question: "What are you afraid of?" We partnered with photographer Jeremy Cowart, a social influencer who has shot celebrities and general advertising projects, but now focuses his art on humanitarian work. We brought our in-house video crew to shoot along side.
IMRE
I spent 8 1/2 years as CD and then ECD at this Baltimore-based agency working for a myriad of clients from various sectors. Clients included:
Kwikset
Baltimore Orioles
John Deere
Pfizer
Travelers
Schindler Elevators
Home Depot
Glidden Paints
And much more
IMRE: Kwikset locks
Kwikset locks and home security has basically one competitor: Schlage. Our opportunity was to lift Kwikset above the feature-benefit messaging both companies used and connect more emotionally with audiences. We took the company through a full rebranding process and then executed on it.
