Coworking with Erika White

Each week, we spotlight Marketing Brew readers in our Coworking series. If you’d like to be featured, introduce yourself here.

Erika White is VP of marketing and communications at Affirm. Prior to Affirm, she held marketing and communications positions at Pandora and Visa.

How would you describe your job to someone who doesn’t work in marketing? I think about shaping the perception of Affirm in a way that helps consumers and merchants (customers) better understand who we are, how we’re different, and why we’re valuable. I do this not only because I’m obsessed with the company but because doing this means more use by consumers, more adoption by merchants, and more affinity among other stakeholders. Activating the marketing and comms team to drive the overall use of our product is what I do.

Favorite project you’ve worked on? I loved our holiday spot in 2021, “Little Director.” The little girl in it was so fun, so committed, so perfectly cast. It’s the feel-good holiday ad that also makes you laugh.

What’s your favorite ad campaign? Last year, my friend David Corns at Opendoor did an outstanding spot that was set in space. If I wasn’t in marketing and comms, I’d want to be an astronaut, so it spoke to me personally, but, in all seriousness, it’s incredibly difficult to catch attention, do product education, and make someone smile in 30 seconds. This ad does it.

One thing we can’t guess from your LinkedIn profile: I’ve worked at a lot of big brands and established enterprises, but I love being scrappy. I value speed alongside precision, and I think an entrepreneurial mindset is so important for marketing in tech. If things stay too stagnant, you’re inevitably getting stale, so I probably have a lot more startup attributes than people may assume.

What marketing trend are you most optimistic about? Least? I’m excited about what AI can do for speed to market and quantity. I strongly believe that creative judgment is not something we’ll lean on AI for any time soon, but will it make marketing more efficient? For sure. I’m a pretty eternal optimist, so not much I’m very negative on.

What’s one marketing-related podcast/social account/series you’d recommend? I’ve followed Antonio Lucio on social media since I worked for him well over a decade ago. He was an early champion of diversity and of talent. I love watching not only what he has to say about marketing but how he supports and celebrates the many marketers he has mentored over the years.