Conrad Persons, President at Grey London, explores the potential for more humour in financial services marketing.
Financial services brands aren’t famous for their comedy skills. And there are good reasons why. Firstly, financial services are serious business. It’s an industry that handles some of the most stress-inducing problems in people’s lives, and making light of that feels counterintuitive.
There’s also a high threshold for trust when dealing with people’s money – post financial crashes, the collapse of institutions like SVB, and more. This, and the need to communicate highly complex products means ads have traditionally shared rational messages about features, terms, and rates.
However, as some recent work demonstrates, financial services has begun to recognise the need to bring more emotion into the category. Whether it’s the relief of paying off a bill or the joy of living your dream retirement, people connect with feelings, not numbers.
Research has repeatedly shown humour is the most effective emotion for brands. According to Kantar, funny ads excel in distinctiveness, engagement, and persuasiveness. So, after years of decline, comedy is slowly returning, and almost a third of all ads now contain some form of humour.
But speaking to marketing leaders in the financial services sector, it’s clear there’s still resistance. Humour is seen as high reward but also high risk. And at this stage, it feels as if they’ve crystalised the potential costs of humour, but failed to clearly articulate its benefits.
Of all industries, financial services have more to gain from humour more than most. Everything from box office receipts to sentiment analysis shows us that after an intense few years of Covid-19 and inflation, consumers need a break from serious. We believe consumers are craving joy in their lives and want to feel positive about money, not fearful.
The ‘fun’ fintechs disrupting the category have caught on to this and are winning more and more customers as a result. The biggest risk for legacy brands today isn’t using humour; it’s being boring and forgettable.
Humour’s secret superpowers
Looking at FS, humour has three secret superpowers that can elevate brands above their competition.
Superpower one: it takes the tension out of difficult subjects. Money is often considered taboo – some think it rude to discuss how much you earn, while others struggle silently with debt. Just as a light-hearted tone can help friends have difficult conversations, it can enable brands to address people’s finances without anxiety or discomfort.
Superpower two: the ability to simplify. Humour is a highly effective way of draining the complexity out of a category, product, or service. Ironically, this makes comedy even more useful in the categories most reluctant to use it.
Superpower three: the power to drive distinctiveness in a sea of sameness. It’s harder than ever to differentiate a brand based on product or service today, so being memorable is more critical than ever. If every other FS brand is solemn and rational, doing the opposite will cut through.
That’s not to say you don’t need differentiation too. Humour aside, leveraging meaningful differences (real or perceived) is vital to drive memorability. It’s when differentiation and distinctiveness come together that brands see the most impact from campaigns.
Examples of effectiveness
As few and far between as funny financial ads are, there are some excellent examples of humour being used effectively for brands in this industry.
Santander’s ‘Bank of Antanddec’ campaign has been so effective that the bank remains committed to it five years after launch. The campaign helped the bank produce its highest-ever score for brand love in 2020, leading to its biggest increase in mortgage applications in a decade.
In recent years, Nationwide has been committed to using humour in its advertising. According to Kantar, its latest ad, ‘In your best interest,’ landed it in the top 20% of UK ads for distinctiveness. Its previous spot, ‘A good way to bank,’ was ranked by effectiveness firm System1 as one of the best-performing banking ads the firm has ever tested.
Outside the banking sector, there’s software firm Workday’s recent ‘The Rockstars of Business’ campaign, starring rock icons Billy Idol, Travis Barker and Gwen Stefani. The campaign reportedly increased brand consideration by 65% and boosted lead growth by 50%, alongside a 21.3% increase in share price.
Mitigating the risk
That’s not to say humour is entirely without risk. Humour is one of the most challenging emotions to land well, and in a high-stakes category like finance, there’s a fine line for brands to walk. If audiences feel that their real-life, serious problems are being trivialised or disrespected, there’s likely to be backlash.
However, most of this risk can be mitigated if the comedy is executed through the lens of the brand. It’s when it’s done in an inauthentic or ‘off-brand’ way that you often see the least effective solutions.
Humour can be a blunt instrument, so showing balance is also crucial. Brands should leverage it while offering reassurance as a counterbalance and strive not to trivialise problems but to prompt action to fix them.
Ultimately, humour shouldn’t replace your key brand messages. It should add to them. Once you’ve piqued your audience’s interest with a light-hearted or funny take, bring your message into reality and explain what it means in practice. That’s how to maintain credibility and trust.
Test the boundaries
Often, introducing humour means testing the boundaries of what a brand has permission to do. So genuine partnerships are required. The agency needs to feel empowered to push its client to stretch the humour and emotion as far as it can go, while the client must champion the brand and position it as the guiding North Star. The tension between the two is what leads to great work.
That said, it’s true that sometimes comedy isn’t the right approach. A good agency can help its clients walk this tightrope.
But when there is a clear path towards humour, it can be incredibly powerful, especially in categories like financial services. Ultimately, it’s not a question of effectiveness; it’s one of bravery.
