Ally Bank is an online bank that offers savings tools and some of the best interest rates in the industry.

They wanted to create a social campaign to communicate how these features help customers grow their money. But interest rates aren’t a hot topic on social media.

So we went to Reddit, a social platform where 430 million users don’t just “like” or “heart” things, they award them with a unique form of currency. And we helped them grow it.

Ally r/Bank is the first bank to accept Reddit Gold. A first-of-its-kind use of the Reddit platform, the bank was created through a post. Users awarded the post with a Gold award, and in return they got back a higher-value currency called Argentium, yielding a massive ROI on their “deposit.”

A little hack turned a traditional social post into a bank, giving users a way to “invest” their Gold and watch their money grow, the same way it does in a savings account at Ally.

By leaning into Redditors’ obsession with their own currency, we created something irresistible that they not only engaged with, but specifically sought out. In just 48hrs, Ally r/Bank got more Gold than any post on Reddit in 2020, and 45x more Gold than any promoted post in Reddit’s history.

In 2020, Ally ran a TV campaign about how their savings tools and competitive interest rates help your money grow. They wanted to create a social component that would spark conversation. So instead of just running cut-downs of the videos, we set out to bring Ally’s features to life with a demonstration that people could engage with. A simple way to show that your money grows faster with Ally.

We found an opportunity in an unlikely place - Reddit, a social platform that’s obsessed with its own currency. By giving Redditors a way to grow their coveted Reddit Gold, we resonated with them in a way no bank ever had. Showing that when it comes to growing your money online, all you need is an Ally.

Ally r/Bank appeared in Reddit users’ feeds as a promoted post. But this post was a little different. It gave users a way to “invest” and grow their Reddit Gold, explaining how with a video.

Redditors utilized the “Award” button that exists on every post on Reddit to make “deposits” in the form of Reddit Gold. They were prompted to leave a comment, which we awarded back with Argentium (a higher-value Reddit currency worth 40x Gold), giving them a real-time return on investment.

Redditors were skeptical at first, since nothing like this had ever existed. But as the first few users took the chance and confirmed it was real, engagement picked up and Reddit users even started posting in other subreddits looking for the Ally r/Bank.

The bank was meant to be active for two weeks, but Redditors claimed every available award in just 48 hours.

Ally r/Bank was the most Gold-Awarded Reddit Post of 2020, out of 303.4 Million posts. It also received 45 times more Gold awards than any promoted post in Reddit History, leading Reddit to describe it as “Amazingly Successful” and a new benchmark for how brands should engage with their audience.

In a Reddit Brand Study, the campaign showed extreme favorability towards the Ally brand post-exposure. 95% of Reddit users who were exposed to the campaign expressed Brand Favorability and agreed that “Ally is the bank for me.”