Crayola aficionados and applesauce superfans don’t typically express a strong interest in personal finance ads. But when you recruit Count von Count as a common denominator between inflation and early childhood education, the feasibility of a shared audience starts to add up. 

To promote its education services, NerdWallet is bringing consumers back to their childhoods with Sesame Street, and more specifically the fictional character who taught them how to count.

After becoming NerdWallet’s creative agency of record in February 2022, Deutsch LA has glorified the brand’s user-friendly approach to personal finance through messaging that is equal parts engaging and uncomplicated. “You Can Count On Us,” which first aired during the opening night of Marvel’s Ant-Man and throughout NBA All-Star Weekend, leans into the brand’s theme of lighthearted and accessible education. 

The Count, who is notorious for exhausting his colleagues by relentlessly rattling off numbers, narrates the descent of market value and the rise of mortgage rates, egg cartons and gas prices with charmingly-ignorant enthusiasm. But instead of being let down by a Wall Street finance bro, he is approached by a warm NerdWallet representative who is there to explain why numbers can sometimes be scary. But the brand argues that “when you know who to trust,” they don’t have to be.

NerdWallet consists of a newsroom of “nerds,” or subject matter expects from publications including Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal, who offer unbiased financial advice. The free content is monetized through affiliate commissions when readers move forward with that online brokerage or credit card recommendation.

After NerdWallet research found that 75% of consumers don’t feel confident in their personal finances for 2023, senior manager of brand marketing Erin Albertson worked with Deutsch LA to craft an inviting campaign that juxtaposes the historical inaccessibility of these conversations. This meant putting a “nerd” in front of the camera and directing her to address the monetary confusion of The Count, who is typically the one assuming the educator role. 

“We want our passion and expertise to come through while also remaining approachable,” said Albertson. “It’s also about connecting our brand to Sesame Street as a trusted place for education.” 

Calculating cultural relevance 

Ryan Lehr, co-chief creative officer and executive vice president of Deutsch LA, said the agency is focused on emphasizing NerdWallet’s status in bringing “excitement to the personal financial industry.”

“Sesame Street provided clarity to all of us growing up and continues to be a beacon of that,” he said. “The brand at its core is about supplying information, education and guidance. Using a character that is iconically optimistic, friendly and obsessed with numbers pays to assuage some fears.”

Lehr stressed that recruiting The Count approaches the topic with an inviting ethos that “lets people in past the gatekeepers of Wall Street.” During New York Fashion Week in September, the agency helped NerdWallet satirize streetwear—namely, those absurdly puffy jackets that have become a Manhattan staple, which the brand dubbed “inflashion.” The brand’s message? “Don’t let inflation deflate you.” 

NerdWallet is conveniently positioned to lean into the social media conversations around the state of the economy, which cope with uncertainty in lighthearted ways. Responding to discourse around what has recently been dubbed as “eggflation,” Lehr switched up production to focus on eggs instead of milk, which is typically the standard gauge of inflation. 

“We’re giving ourselves the opportunity to do some social listening and tap into the right things that consumers are worried about,” said Albertson. “When people are navigating financial decisions, we want to be able to say ‘We have your back’ and ‘You can lean on us’ without being too pushy or ‘salesy.’”