Gianni Tozzi, Chief Creative Officer at FutureBrand, explains how financial services brands can adapt to appeal to a new generation.
The 2008 financial crisis dismantled the belief that financial brands could rely solely on heritage and industry status, forcing organisations to recognise the importance of active brand-building.
Today, the financial sector is navigating another significant upheaval, marked by economic volatility, rising inflation, geopolitical uncertainty, and rapid digital disruption. While it is undoubtedly more challenging than ever to be a financial services brand, this period of immense change also presents unprecedented opportunities.
Gen Z and Millennials are no longer hypothetical future consumers; they are influential change-makers actively reshaping industry expectations, set to inherit $100 trillion from older generations. As of 2024, 72% of Gen Z consumers are using online-only banks as their primary financial institutions, highlighting their preference for seamless, digital-first experiences. These younger audiences demand highly personalised, accessible, and genuinely value-driven interactions and will reward the brands that deliver this with lasting loyalty.
To remain relevant amid uncertainty, financial services brands must focus on three core principles: impact, distinctiveness, and relevance.
Leveraging Trust in a New Age
This changing environment could sound like a nightmare scenario for global banks in the sector, but I see it as an opportunity. Historically, banks have maintained positions of authority and trust, acting as responsible guides in customers’ financial lives. This trust has been pivotal to their growth.
According to the FutureBrand Index, consumer perceptions now rate Financial Services (FS) brands ahead of tech giants in data responsibility, 47% compared to 45%, underscoring the enduring credibility of FS brands. While tech companies follow a “move fast and break things” philosophy, banks have had to choose a more deliberate path. By creatively integrating technology with purposeful design, they have reinforced their role as dependable innovators in customers’ digital lives.
Successful FS brands use technology not simply for innovation’s sake, but as a means to deepen customer relationships. For these institutions, innovation isn’t a risky leap but a considered evolution that feels like a natural step forward. This resonates strongly with Gen Z, who value authenticity and personalised digital interactions.
That’s not to say that FS brands can’t succeed without going all in on futuristic looks and playful messaging. Coutts’ dignified brand refresh in 2020 was rooted firmly in responsible evolution. Coutts’ highly personalised, meticulous service and family feel comes through much more strongly since it brought in a more welcoming visual identity, broadening its appeal while retaining a sense of its 325-year history as a bank that keeps a deep personal connection with its customers. With individual booklets portraying how individuals and their families have used the bank’s expertise, Coutts presented its innovative services in a compelling way without abandoning its sense of tradition.
Banking on Personality
Today, Gen Zs want their interactions with brands to feel like authentic reflections of who they are. Just like the clothes we wear, the phones we use, or the sports teams we root for. Gen Z don’t just choose products; they choose statements that align with and reinforce their identity. People crave brands that feel human, accessible, and relevant.
Challenger banks like Monzo, Revolut, and Starling have successfully harnessed this desire for authentic personality. Fintech disruptors, these app-based banks are turning mundane financial tasks into vibrant, joyful experiences with personalised debit cards and intuitive digital-first budgeting tools.
Starling Bank emphasised its disruptor status with the “Set Yourself Free” campaign back in 2021. The launch coincided with hiring its first-ever Chief Marketing Officer, marking Starling’s commitment to cultivating a distinct creative voice. This multimedia piece, spanning TV, vibrant outdoor ads, and social, spotlighted Starling’s sleek interface, capturing the liberating feeling of breaking free from outdated banking norms.
Gamified experiences have also helped some challenger banks to differentiate themselves. Applying gaming elements like badges, scores, and rewards makes transacting, investing, or saving more fun. Monobank, Mint, Yolt and Revolut have all adopted this approach to keep their audiences engaged with products and services that are otherwise considered mundane. This also opens up possibilities for founders and CTOs to attract customers to try new services by enticing them with points and rewards.
However, disruptor brands aren’t the only ones placing personality at their brand’s core. According to the FutureBrand Index, FS brands across the board have significantly embraced the personality attribute, with their personality scores rising by 69% over the past decade, outstripping the broader market’s 22% increase over the same period.
For traditional legacy banks, embracing personality has required a delicate balancing act of evolving creatively without compromising their brand heritage to ensure the change feels natural and aligned with core values to avoid being disingenuous.
For Financial Services brands looking to meet rising customer expectations, the key lies in delivering a unified brand experience – across every platform, from social media and TV ads to the envelope containing your new card. Brands that excel in this area are seeing significant results: FS brands have boosted perception of ‘Pleasure’ by 74%, compared to an industry average of 46% in the FutureBrand Index.
In a market where launching a fintech app is easier than ever, the real differentiators are the digital experiences that resonate deeply with customers’ values and aspirations. Starling and Monzo have excelled here, seamlessly integrating visual identities and tones of voice that build trust and engagement across all interactions.
Brand through every touchpoint – literally
Leading FS brands are stepping into the world of multisensory branding, extending beyond visuals to include distinct scents, taste-based experiences, and innovative solutions like sonic branding and tactile innovations such as the MasterCard Touch Card, aiding visually impaired users. This multisensory approach significantly boosts inspiration, with FS brands seeing a 77% increase in ‘Inspiration’ scores, vastly outperforming the industry average of 51%.
Mastercard exemplifies this multisensory strategy through its implementation of haptic feedback, reinforcing brand identity with tactile vibrations aligned to its iconic sonic branding. The distinct vibration reassures consumers during digital transactions, ensuring Mastercard feels instinctively secure as mobile and contactless payments become the norm.
Alongside these innovative experiences, tradition still holds significant value. Amid online fraud concerns, many customers find reassurance in physical branches and the heritage of legacy institutions. Nationwide understands this balance, executing its most substantial rebrand since 1987 while pledging to modernise all 605 branches and returning £340 million to members through its Fairer Share initiative. Striking the right balance between innovation and heritage remains crucial.
Loyalty Earned Not Promised
In banking, loyalty hinges on consistently proving value, empathy, and cultural alignment. Legacy banks can leverage their heritage, turning it into a testament of trust, while leaning into new technologies that personalise experiences. Meanwhile, emerging players can scale only by sustaining meaningful connections that cement them in the minds of broader audiences.
Ultimately, impact, distinctiveness, and relevance form the beating heart of any brand’s evolution. To truly resonate in a future shaped by digital disruption, social consciousness, and the largest wealth transfer in modern history, financial services must embrace those three factors as guiding principles. That is how they will transcend mere transactions and become indispensable allies in the lives of a new generation.
