Creative Director, 2018-2021
Varo Bank is a fully digital, branchless bank redefining personal finance, based in San Francisco, California.
Varo’s mission of financial inclusion for all deeply resonated with me. The opportunity to be headcount #1 on creative was equally exciting, offering a chance to shape the brand from the ground up.
I proudly led the Varo Studio team for nearly 4 years, through fundraising rounds B-D, helping grow Varo 12x over. I was also lucky enough to forge life-long friendships with my then business partners. To this day, the Varo Dinner Club meets once a month. I haven’t missed one yet.
Campaign: A Bank for All of Us
At Varo, financial opportunity and inclusion for all was our mission, so it we knew our new brand campaign should be customer-focused. The "A bank for all of us" campaign reimagines money and puts modern American consumers at the very core.
Through a mix of digital, social, and experiential marketing, “A Bank for All of Us” underscores Varo’s vision of democratizing banking.
We hired artists to hand paint the artwork across major american cities.
We even built a Snapchat filter so our customers could envision themselves on some currency. I may or may not have snapped about 200 selfies.
August de los Reyes
”Ryan grew our design team from scratch and built relationships with trust. He is a gifted communicator and his leadership is felt across the entire organization.
A true renaissance man, his talent stretches far and wide, across many mediums. He is in a word, prolific”
Christine Deng, Brand Designer
“With Ryan as a mentor, I learned how to build integrated campaigns, strategize brand pitches, and examine visual storytelling as a form of brand expression. I was happy to work with someone as endearingly bold, yet humble and absolutely creative.”
Genine Lobo, Integrated Marketing
“Ryan’s natural ability to build rapport with employees across the company allowed us to accomplish so much during his tenure. With Ryan’s leadership, he pushed our creative limits to think bigger, to create marketing that was different from our many competitors, and to inspire the entire company to feel proud of the work with his clever storytelling skills.”
Campaign: Customer Voices
Our “Customer Voices” campaign featured real customers telling real stories about how Varo’s tools and features helped them navigate finance on a day to day basis.
We collaborated with Stefan Ruiz, renowned photographer, to document this series.
We put our customers out in front for this campaign:
- Web
- Print
-
Out of home
-
Paid & organic social
-
Connected TV
- Broadcast TV
Internal/HR: The History of Varo
Varo Bank reached a major milestone during my tenure, being the first ever digital bank to receive a National Bank Charter. For the launch, we shipped a short documentary.