Industry Expert Series: Koalafi’s VP & head of marketing discusses the changing world of marketing for finance brands

Expert Series:
Lunne leadership recently had a discussion with Emily Cannon, VP & head of marketing for Koalafi, a consumer finance brand specializing in lease-to-own programs.

About Emily Cannon
We recently connected with Emily Cannon, head of marketing at Koalafi, a consumer finance company. With experience at leading brands including Capital One and Coca-Cola—plus growth consulting across retail, tech, and software—Emily brings a strong track record of building marketing strategies for both large enterprises and high-growth brands. 

Lunne: During tricky economic times, how do you adjust your marketing plans to meet consumers and retailers where they are?
Cannon: The finance world generally follows broader macroeconomic trends, but we tend to feel the impact of those trends differently depending on which part of the finance world you’re in. Sometimes you’re ahead of the curve; sometimes you’re behind it. Koalafi felt the economic slowdown differently, partly because we're tied to the home and auto retail sectors, which COVID uniquely impacted. 

From a marketing perspective, it comes down to staying close to the consumer. We rely heavily on layered insights to help us with that. At a minimum, we run monthly Net Promoter Score (NPS) surveys to keep a pulse on how customers feel about their experience. That gives us data, which helps us detect shifting patterns early, even before they fully materialize in broader indicators.

We also conduct more targeted, customized quarterly surveys. Those are designed around hypotheses we’re forming—whether it’s about macroeconomic pressure, changing consumer habits, or how new business initiatives are landing. That combination of real-time feedback and strategic research ensures we’re not just reacting to the moment—we’re anticipating where our customers are heading and adjusting our messaging and offerings to stay relevant.

Lunne: You led a rebrand from West Creek Financial to Koalafi in 2021. Tell us about that process and the challenges you faced along the way.
Cannon: West Creek Financial served its purpose early on—it helped us get the business off the ground. But eventually it became clear the brand didn’t reflect who we were becoming. 

The name Koalafi reflects our commitment to putting the customer at the center of everything we do—especially through underwriting sophistication. Koalafi was founded to fix a system that wasn’t working for shoppers or merchants. Too many non-prime consumers were being told “no,” and at the same time, merchants were losing sales. So our founders built a lease-to-own platform that helps more consumers get the purchases they need today and build a better financial future while merchants close more sales.

One of the biggest challenges was audience complexity. We serve multiple stakeholders: end consumers, retail partners (from SMBs to nationally known names), internal teams, and investors. Not every message can—or should—speak to everyone the same way. We had to really define our brand promise and get strategic about prioritization. Internally, we had important debates around whether to lead with a merchant-forward or consumer-forward message. It forced us to get sharp on who we are and how we want to show up in the market.

Lunne: What media channels do you see fading out—and which ones are gaining traction? If you had to look into your crystal ball, what’s next for financial marketing?
Cannon: Traditional and digital channels still have a place, but what’s changing fast is how ad formats evolve within each platform. We’re constantly testing and optimizing new ad formats within Meta, LinkedIn, and others, because what works today might underperform six months from now. The key is staying agile and deeply familiar with platform-specific tools.

Longer term, the deprecation of third-party cookies is forcing marketers to double down on owned channels and first-party data. That means investing in infrastructure to centralize and activate customer data, so that all of your teams are working from the same information.

And then there’s generative AI. I’m fascinated by how tools like ChatGPT are shaping brand visibility and reputation. It’s not just SEO anymore—it’s a new form of discoverability and influence. How your brand shows up in AI-generated responses is something every marketer should be watching closely.

Follow Emily on LinkedIn.

Learn more
We appreciate Emily’s insights and her perspective. As we serve leading brands in health and finance, we all aim to stay connected to grow and learn.

Stay tuned for more in our Expert Series—interviews with leaders in their fields. In the meantime, see how Lunne connects audiences with your brand through strong branding and design. Let’s set a time to meet.