Fintech face off: PayPal, Klarna and Chime tap A-list celebs to win over shoppers and boost brand buzz

“The marketplace is cluttered with options,” said Tom Murphy, chief creative office for VML North America. “It helps to have a very defined personality, and I think celebrities are a shortcut to do that and to stand out.”

To that end, that’s the strategy that PayPal and Klarna seem to be taking. During the first week of this month, PayPal debuted what it calls its largest U.S. ad campaign to date, starring actor and comedian Will Ferrell. The campaign, which is expected to run through the end of the year, comes on the heels of the launch of PayPal’s new logo and brand identity.

Meanwhile, last week, Klarna, the buy-now-pay-later platform, inked a partnership with basketball legend and entrepreneur Shaquille O’Neal for a campaign touting its latest cash back offering. The campaign is global, launching across the U.S., Germany and Sweden, and features films and stills across out of home, digital, TV and social media, as well as shopping events hosted by Klarna. Notably, Klarna boasted earlier this year about using AI in marketing to help cut costs. (Take a closer look at how the fintech company is doing that here.)

A on Labor Day, Chime launched what it calls its “largest national brand campaign to date,” promoting MyPay, a cash advance product, with influencer partnerships with Twitch streamer Kai Cenat and TikToker Zach King. TV spots aired across major moments like the Emmy Awards, NFL’s opening night and U.S. presidential debates.

Seemingly, those efforts point to one thing: Fintech is getting more crowded and brands are feeling the pressure to move beyond product innovation and tap into more brand awareness strategies to be competitive and earn shoppers’ allegiance. (It’s unclear how much these companies are spending on brand awareness efforts, as all declined to outline spend figures.)

“We don’t have a problem with brand awareness. We’re one of the most famous brands in the world. What we have to do is activate that awareness, is get the brand back on the map because we’ve been a little bit behind the scenes,” said Geoff Seeley, chief marketing officer at PayPal. “It’s pointless having awareness if people aren’t choosing you. So this is about: How do we prompt you to choose PayPal?”

The hope is that this latest campaign from PayPal reminds shoppers of the fintech company’s capabilities. “The reality is PayPal has so much more in its locker than just being an online checkout button,” Seeley added.

At the bottom of any online checkout page, shoppers are met with several pay options, including Klarna, PayPal, Apple Pay, Stripe or an old fashioned credit card payment. The goal is to get shoppers to pick one checkout option over the other, according to Megan Gokey, head of B2C (business to consumer) marketing and brand partnerships for North America and the U.K. at Klarna.

“We’ve become much more known than we were, say, a handful of years ago. Right now in the U.S., we’re trying to build an even bigger presence,” Gokey told Digiday. “We’ve penetrated the market quite a bit more and it’s no longer just an awareness play, but getting our customers to really use us more.”

The push to stand out in a crowded marketplace isn’t limited to fintech companies. The conversation marking the shift from prioritizing performance to prioritizing brand has been building with marketers for a while now. Calling in a celebrity can be a way to build the brand, according to John Geletka, founder and chief experience officer of Geletka+, an independent ad agency.

“Bigger celebrities are actually a little bit more accessible and you get a lot more value out of them,” he said, noting that as these fintech companies mature, more marketing dollars may be available. “Now, I can get a partnership. I can get a year-long partnership. It’s expensive, but I’m going to get a lot more media value out of it.”