NBA CTO Joins Props Board

Krishna Bhagavathula joins Joseph Perello, Paul Speaker and Michael Lamont
Krishna Bhagavathula

NBA CTO Joins Props Board

Krishna Bhagavathula joins Joseph Perello, Paul Speaker and Michael Lamont
SYNOPSIS

Today Props announced that Krishna Bhagavathula has joined the Props board of directors.

Krishna is the Chief Technology Officer of the National Basketball Association. He sets the NBA’s technology strategy and ensures alignment with the league’s objectives. Prior to his current role, Krishna served as Chief Technology Officer for NBC News Digital; VP of Engineering for WebMD; and held management consulting positions with BearingPoint, IBM and PwC. He started his career as a software engineer. Krishna earned a master's degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Cincinnati. He and his family live in Princeton, New Jersey.

Krishna joins Props current board members Joseph Perello, Paul Speaker and Michael Lamont.

Joseph Perello 

Joe is the founder and CEO of Props. Previously, Joe was the Chief Marketing Officer of the City of New York during the Bloomberg Administration. He was Vice President, Marketing for the New York Yankees; co-founded an award-winning digital ad agency in New York City and was an executive of David Bowie’s internet start-up Ultrastar. Joe started his career as a marketer for MBNA America. He is a guest lecturer on marketing at Harvard Business School, Stanford, Columbia, and NYU. A graduate of the University of Delaware, Joe and his family live in Princeton, New Jersey.

Paul Speaker

Paul Speaker is the co-owner and the first CEO of the World Surf League, a position he retired from after five years. Paul is a successful film and television producer working in all aspects of media production and distribution. He served as the President of Time Inc. Studios, a film, television and video studio. Prior to that, Mr. Speaker served as President of RKO Pictures, a film production and distribution company and President of The Shooting Gallery, an independent entertainment company. Early in his career, Mr. Speaker was the Director of Marketing and Ideas for the National Football League. A graduate of Villanova University, Paul and his family live in California.

Michael Lamont 

Michael is a founding investor of Props. He is Head of Europe for Better, a fintech focused on property and mortgages.  Michael has worked as a Managing Director in the markets division of Deutsche Bank, and as co-CIO in multi-billion hedge fund platforms.  His professional focus for the past ten years is fintech incubation and investment globally. He holds a law degree from Harvard and a graduate degree in statistics.  Michael lives in London.

About Props

The Props Media Platform helps brands and organizations drive engagement, traffic and revenue through a unique content-driven approach. By marrying authentic storytellers, journalists, filmmakers and photographers with client goals and a remarkably efficient social-buying methodology, Props drives new high-intent audiences to its clients’ websites, often at a fraction of their standard acquisition costs. Across a dozen consumer industries, Props has proven to outperform traditional digital media. Props clients include AAA, AAA Life Insurance, College Ave Student Loans, Foria, Facet Wealth, FTD.com, San Diego Seals, Novo, Domain Money, Lunya, Lahgo, MyPhoto, Licorice.com, and others. Learn more at www.props.co.

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The Regulatory Maze Facing Financial Advertisers

For regional banks, advertising is fraught with some of the most stringent rules in marketing. Laws such as the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) and Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) require specific disclosures in promotions for loans, credit cards, and other financial products. Adding to these legal mandates, platforms like Facebook and Google impose “Special Ad Categories” for financial services, restricting the use of advanced targeting tools like lookalike audiences or detailed demographic segmentation.

The impact is clear: compliance-heavy messaging disrupts engagement, creativity is stifled, and marketing costs rise as cost-per-click (CPC) and cost-per-lead (CPL) escalate. For many regional banks, this combination of constraints makes reaching their ideal customers a frustrating and costly endeavor.

Props: A New Approach to Financial Advertising

Props offers a transformative way for regional banks to overcome these challenges through a unique combination of creator-driven storytelling, strategic paid media promotion, and robust compliance solutions. Instead of promoting financial products directly, Props shifts the focus to authentic, lifestyle-oriented stories that resonate with audiences and inspire them.

These stories are published on the bank’s website (or a special landing page) and, critically, promoted through the creators’ social media handles. Publishing lifestyle content through creators’ handles bypasses the restrictions of “Special Ad Categories,” drives more engagement and click-throughs, and unlocks advanced targeting options. This allows banks to connect with high-intent audiences more effectively while reducing costs.

For example, rather than running a traditional ad for a home equity line of credit (HELOC), Props might collaborate with a creator to share a story about how homeowners can fund renovations—building trust and engagement without triggering compliance-heavy disclosures.

The Power of Storytelling Without Compliance Overload

One of Props’ greatest advantages lies in its ability to sidestep disclosure requirements by avoiding direct product claims. Instead of advertisements laden with legal disclaimers, Props content centers on engaging narratives that educate and inspire. These stories provide value to audiences without overwhelming them, creating a cleaner, more effective path to engagement.

A creator might share how they used home equity to remodel their kitchen, illustrating a real-life application of financial tools while staying free from the burdens of compliance-heavy messaging. This approach not only eliminates the need for complex disclosures but also keeps content relatable and audience-focused, fostering trust and credibility.

Authenticity as a Competitive Edge

Audiences are more likely to trust people over brands, and Props ensures this trust by selecting creators based on their expertise and storytelling ability, not their follower count. Creators are chosen for their ability to craft genuine, relatable narratives that resonate with specific audience segments.

Whether it’s a business owner sharing entrepreneurial insights or a parent discussing family finances, Props focuses on the quality of the story rather than the creator’s popularity. By publishing these stories directly on the client’s website, Props ensures that the bank owns the engagement and benefits from first-party data collection. Paid media promotion guarantees that these stories reach the most relevant audience with precision and scale.

Ollie: Setting a New Standard in Brand Safety for Banks

Brand safety is paramount for financial institutions. Strict regulatory standards and a heightened need to maintain trust often prevent banks from collaborating with creators. Recognizing these challenges, Props developed Ollie—a proprietary AI-driven brand safety tool that ensures campaigns remain compliant, transparent, and aligned with institutional values.

Ollie reviews years of creator content history, continuously monitors posts in real-time, and flags potential risks using advanced AI. Its capabilities include detecting if a financial offer is being made or if financial advice is being given—two critical triggers that can complicate compliance for creators in regulated industries. By categorizing flagged content as low, medium, or high risk, Ollie empowers banks to avoid pitfalls while enabling creators to craft compelling yet compliant narratives.

This innovative approach ensures banks can confidently embrace creator storytelling, knowing that campaigns will uphold their values and meet regulatory standards. By bridging the gap between brand safety and creative freedom, Ollie empowers financial advertisers to connect authentically with audiences while navigating one of the most regulated industries in marketing.

Proven Results Across the Financial Industry

Props has consistently delivered impressive results for its financial clients across consumer banking, mortgage lending, credit cards, secure cards, life insurance, auto insurance, and wealth management. Props takes responsibility for delivering actual, measurable business outcomes—a key reason for its rapid growth.

A Winning Formula for CMOs of Regional Banks

For regional bank CMOs, Props offers an unparalleled opportunity to navigate advertising regulations while driving measurable results. By avoiding restrictive ad categories and using creator-led storytelling, Props enables access to advanced audience targeting tools that improve reach and engagement.

Its compliance-friendly strategies reduce advertising costs and create cleaner, more effective campaigns. With Ollie’s oversight, banks can run creative campaigns confidently, knowing that regulatory standards are being met. Props’ focus on authenticity builds trust with audiences, while its full-funnel strategy ensures seamless progression from awareness to conversion.

By leveraging paid media through creators’ handles, Props ensures that each story achieves both the reach and relevance needed to deliver measurable results. For CMOs seeking to transform their marketing strategy and connect authentically with their audience, Props offers a proven path to sustainable growth and success.

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