Ally Island

Objective

Ally Bank, a $172.9 billion-asset financial services company based in Detroit, aimed to address declining financial literacy rates among young people (18-34) by making financial education engaging and accessible. As a purely digital bank, Ally also sought more human connection points with customers to humanize its brand. The brand launched a branded gaming experience to showcase banking benefits through an interactive, entertainment-focused medium, positioning gamification as a strategy to teach complex financial concepts during the pandemic, when Animal Crossing: New Horizons debuted (March 20, 2020) and broke Nintendo Switch hardware sales records as lockdowns set in.

Solution

Ally created a custom island in Animal Crossing: New Horizons featuring minigames, Ally staff members as NPCs, and a turnip exchange offering competitive banking-themed prices (1,000 bells per turnip). The island showcased Ally assets including homes, boats, cars, a playable golf course, Jimmie Johnson's racetrack, and a 'Little Detroit' themed area, under the tagline 'Visit our island and see how to make your bells work smarter.' The launch was driven by a high-profile Twitch livestream featuring gamer KangGaming on October 23, 2020, which ranked as the 8th-most-watched stream on Twitch that evening; Kang first guided roughly 15,000 viewers around the island before it opened to the public, then hosted three separate streams over two weeks, each taking over Twitch's front page. Demand was strong enough that players faced hourslong waits and the island was eventually shut down early due to congestion. Ally amplified reach through social media promotion and digital ads on gaming websites including Wired.com and Fortune.com. Building on Ally Island's momentum, Ally later expanded its playable-marketing approach into a broader 'Ally digital universe,' including Fintropolis (a financial-literacy world built in Minecraft), Ally Arena (a branded Fortnite island with minigames co-created with the NWSL, NASCAR's No. 48 car/driver Alex Bowman, and the USGA), and sponsorship of the Rocket League Championship Series.

Results

Ally Island achieved 1.38 million views and 355 million impressions on Twitch, with an 8% increase in aided awareness, 87% social sentiment score, 12% growth in net new deposits, 124% growth in new deposits customers, and 320% more account openings. Its three Twitch streams over two weeks drew a reported 1.83 million viewers.