Overview: As part of the recent financial reform legislation, Congress passed a bill that changed disclosure requirements for lenders, requiring them to provide free credit scores to anyone applying for credit, along with information about how they compare to others. The FICO Score is used by 90 percent of the top 100 lenders when deciding the terms of a mortgage, car loan, credit card rate, or other line of credit, giving it ubiquity in the credit scoring market. Although competitors hawk knock-off scores for a profit, none have the same meaning or accuracy as a FICO Score – a fact FICO wanted to continually remind consumers.

The Challenge: With an estimated one billion people applying for credit each year, critics whispered that the new free credit report might threaten the FICO business model. With the help of PR, FICO turned this notion on its head while strengthening its position as market leader.

The Plan: Seeing the increased awareness of credit as a business opportunity rather than a threat, the Access team took advantage of the news cycle to drive the conversation about of the importance of the FICO score. Using FICO’s expert spokesperson on the legislation, Access briefed reporters about the new Risk Based Pricing rules, while emphasizing the need for consumer’s proactive management of their credit. The team was able to direct media to FICO’s ScoreInfo.org , a web site aimed at helping consumers take full advantage of the new rules and understand how to get their financial future on track.

Success Metrics: Reporters showed strong interest in covering the consumer impact of the new legislation, and with that, strong interest in FICO strategic messages about proactive management of credit. The effort resulted in approximately 100 feature articles in publications including USA Today, The Associated Press, The Atlantic, and Bankrate.com. The coverage not only included discussion of the Risk Based Pricing regulatory changes and effects on consumers, but detailed the workings of a FICO Score, pointing consumers to both the Scoreinfo.org and myfico.com websites as resources. The vast majority of the coverage included no competitive mentions, and the campaign help to differentiate FICO as a thought leader, while increasing consumer relevance for FICO credit monitoring products.