MATTE Projects and Mercury Tap SMUGGLER to Explore the Future of Intelligent Banking

“As AI makes managing money more intelligent, the system should get out of the way, taking on more of the administrative burden and giving people more room to build. We believe Mercury can help define what intelligent banking should feel like for businesses and people. ‘Money is your material’ is an early expression of that vision,” said Thierry Ambraisse, VP of Brand Creative at Mercury.

The film gives the invisible pressures around money a physical form. Water becomes one expression of money in motion, moving from friction and bottlenecks toward greater freedom as the system begins to work around the business.

As companies grow, money can become fragmented across people, tools, approvals and decisions. The founder can quickly become the system holding it all together. The film makes that pressure visible, then shifts toward a world where money carries more context, moves with greater intelligence and gives teams more room to work.

"We didn't want this to feel like a metaphor bolted onto a banking ad. We wanted the craft to carry the idea," said Matthew Rowean, Chief Creative Officer and Partner at MATTE Projects. "Every droplet, every shift from trickle to river, was built frame by frame to earn that feeling of release. When the craft is that intentional, you don't have to explain the metaphor.”

Developed by Mercury Brand Creative in close partnership with MATTE Projects, the campaign brought together MATTE’s creative and design teams with production by SMUGGLER, post and VFX by Chemistry Film, and music and sound design by Citizen Music. At the heart of the campaign are two films: the hero spot Give It Shape (60s, 30s, 15s) and the product-focused Mercury Spend (30s, 15s). While Give It Shape treats money as material in motion, Mercury Spend focuses on a common scaling bottleneck: the founder as approval gatekeeper. As teams expand and approvals stack up, Mercury Spend distributes control across the team, giving people more autonomy without creating approval gridlock. 

Media partner Ways & Means prioritized high attention moments including marquee live sports (NFL, NBA, WNBA, MLB, Premier League), premium streaming TV (including the Lioness, Mobland, and Tulsa King finales), cinema in key local markets, and in-flight video.

This rollout expands Mercury beyond its core tech-founder base, introducing its spend management tools to established businesses and non-tech industries where design, craft, and intent matter.

*Mercury is a fintech company, not an FDIC-insured bank. Banking services provided through Choice Financial Group and Column N.A., Members FDIC. The IO Card is issued by Patriot Bank, N.A., Member FDIC, pursuant to a license from Mastercard International Incorporated.

Mercury
COO: Jason Zhang
VP Brand Creative: Thierry Ambraisse
VP Marketing: Rachel Oatway
Producer: Gwen Barker
Design Lead: Danielle Moalem
Copywriting Lead: Jay Clarke
Senior Writer: Evan Schneider
Brand Marketer: Nkosana Junior Moyo 


Agency: MATTE Projects
CCO / Partner: Matthew Rowean @mrowean
Senior Client Director: Josh Kitts @josh_kitts
Senior Project Manager: Sharon Lam @sharonlammm
Head of Strategy: Ann Kim @anngoeseast
Senior Strategist: Antonio Serros @tony5g
Creative Director: Tanner Tananbaum @tannertananbaum
Visual Director: Pat Dierker @patdierker
Design Director: Edward Shaughnessy @edward.shaughnessy
Designer: Sophia Almendral @sophia.almendral
Designer: Gabriel Braga @gabrielbragalima
SVP Production: Thad Somoza
Senior Content Producer: Evelyn Ng @evelynng16

Agency Post Production: MATTE Finish
Senior Post Director: Michael Czeizinger @mczeizinger
Additional Editor: Owen Walker @owalk21
VFX and MGFX Artist: Stoker Kou @gigihowtrue

Edit: Little Chemist
Editor: Peter Brandt
Assistant Editor: Nikolaj Dahl
Offline Producer: Louise Ryge

Production: Smuggler
Director: Rune Milton
Line Producer: Natalie Jacobson
Director of Photography: Oliver Millar
Production Designer: Alexandra Bird
Wardrobe: Alex Price
Hair and Makeup: Makaira Dullabh

Local Production: Sparky Films
Local Managing Director: Marchant Bellingan
Local Producer: Diwan de Beer
Local Production Manager: Adali van Dalen

Drone Company: Skyhook
Drone Pilot: Ri-El De Jager
Drone Operator: Jadon Churchman

Additional Drone: Joshua Turner

Online Post-Production Services: Chemistry Film
Senior VFX Supervisor: Mikael Balle
Head of Production: Camilla Nilsson
Executive Producer: Lauren Loftus
VFX Producer: Emilie Lausch
Senior Compositors: Mario Maruska, Thomas Banner
3D artist: David Lessel, Guillermo Lazaro
Conform artist: Søren Knudsen
Colorist: Mikael Balle

Music & Sound Design: Citizen Music

Ways & Means: Media Strategy & Buying