2020 hit, and with unpredictable times came unpredictable challenges. Not just for American Express customers, who needed tips to navigate these trying financial times, but for all of us.

When Bewilder approached us to collaborate on bringing their vision to live, we knew we had the message, and we had British entrepreneur, podcaster, and business expert, Dan Murray-Serter, lined up to deliver the advice. The problem? International travel and live-action ad-making were off the table.

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As countless animated feature films have taught us, you don’t need to feature people to connect with people. You just need to be human.

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We had our answer, animation, and we had our voice. We just had to give him a face. To do this, we teamed up with Bewilder to create an endearing animated version of Dan, who would dish out financial life hacks while he went about his day. The end result was a character that was familiar and likeable - someone you know and trust - like American Express.

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