Kudi — The Alert Entered
A 15-second phone ad for a made-up payments app, built around a moment every Nigerian knows: 'Has the alert entered?'
THE BRIEF
Kudi is a made-up Nigerian payments brand I created for this personal project. The goal was a short, upright phone ad for Instagram Reels, TikTok and WhatsApp Status that makes a money app feel local, fast and trustworthy.
Instead of listing features, I wanted the ad to own one feeling: the second after you send money, when both people are wondering, 'Has the alert entered?' It had to grab attention in the first second, make sense with the sound off, show believable phone screens, and end with the brand and what it does (transfers, bills, savings).
THE APPROACH
It starts with a phone buzzing on a yellow background ('BZZZT.'), then the lock screen: 11:47, a Kudi credit alert for ₦25,000. 'The alert entered.' Then the big question fills the screen in bold, tilted letters: 'Has the alert entered?'
Then the proof. Two phones sit side by side under 'Lekki → Yaba'. The sender taps Send, a yellow line carries the money across, the number counts up to ₦25,000, and the other phone lights up with the alert at 11:48. The words land one at a time, 'Sent. Seen. Settled.', before the Kudi logo appears with 'The alert is the answer.'
I kept the design tight: only Kudi's green and yellow, one bold font for the big lines, a simple clean font for the phone screens, and quick cuts so the whole story fits in 15 seconds.
THE RESULT
A punchy ad made for phones that can loop on social media. It shows how a money app can build its brand around one very Nigerian moment, and the still frames also work as separate posts.
DELIVERABLES
- Phone ad (15 seconds, upright)
- Made-up brand and logo
- Phone screen animation
- On-screen text design
- Still frames for social media
✦ Director's note
“Short ads live or die on one feeling. Here that feeling is the alert, and everything else is cut to make it hit harder. Kudi is a made-up brand created for this personal project and isn't connected to any real business.”