Hey Monzo Community,
We are Chris, Fran and Natalie from the Monzo Brand team.
Get ready for an epic post as weāre here to let you in on the background and behind the scenes of Monzoās upcoming brand campaign.
As you already spotted in the release notes, Monzo advertising is about to go live. And itās going to be everywhere ā on TV, on billboards, on the radio, playlists, podcasts, social media and online. We intend for it to be unmissable and impactful ā and help propel Monzo into the next stage of our growth.
We call the campaign Money never felt like Monzo.
Our TV ad premiers on Sunday night at 7.40pm during ITVās Britainās Got Talent. So grab your popcorn and tune in then!
In the meantime, weāre here to tell you why weāre doing the campaign, what itās about and how we created it.
Why weāre doing the campaign
Itās been five years since You Make Monzo, Monzo - our very first TV ad, which aired (somewhat briefly) in May 2019.
Much has changed in those five years. Mobile banking is increasingly the new normal. Legacy banks have doubled down on app development, and neobanks are spending on broad-reach advertising more than ever before. Competition has become fierce. In some ways, we created it, challenging the industry to raise the bar.
Weāve changed too. We launched the Flex credit card, business banking, Instant Access Savings, Investments Pots, redesigned the home screen, and more. Weāre now a bank that can meet the needs of a much broader audience.
The nine million plus customers we have today joined Monzo largely through word of mouth. We know this because we ask at sign up, and the vast majority of customers say that theyāve had Monzo recommended to them by friends and family!
The advertising weāve done in recent years was to boost that organic interest. It was mostly ābelow the lineā on digital platforms, like Facebook and Google, and lately TikTok. This served us well, but itās now time to go much bigger and go āabove the lineā into big-scale, broad-reach broadcast media channels.
The demographic of our customers has evolved over the last 4 years too. The average age of a Monzo customer is now 33, with 70% living outside of London. That profile of customer is now our biggest growth opportunity and weād like to reach more of them. Aged 25-49, socially active professionals in cities, towns and in commuter belts, with more financial needs and growing families, who are open to digital banking.
In short ā weāre ready to go mainstream.
That brings us to our strategic goal. Although more people than ever before know of Monzo (āawareā), theyāre not as familiar with Monzo or what we do best (āconsiderā). Folks know weāre a bank, but not how or why weāre different, and how we could benefit them.
We now need to reach broader audiences and inspire more of the UK to reappraise Monzo as an established bank that can meet their needs.
Introducing Money Never Felt Like Monzo
So whatās the campaign about? To answer that question letās go back nine months, when we started the creative exploration. We looked at our data, analysed our reviews, talked to hundreds of consumers on Monzo and other banks to really understand what makes Monzo special.
When we launched our 2019 campaign, we were the new kid on the block, and it was all about novelty. Can your bank do that? we asked. And judging by the results, the answer was a resounding NO!
This time around, we have a different challenge - to communicate the difference that Monzo makes to peopleās lives, and capture that difference in an inspiring creative that motivates people to discover Monzo for themselves. One that also redefines financial services advertising - but more on that later.
We donāt need to tell you that Britainās relationship to money isnāt all that great. Money worries are the biggest cause of anxiety, according to the Mental Health Foundation. 67% of Britons think the worst of the cost of living crisis is yet to come. Only a quarter of UK adults believe their children will be better off. The stats go on.
Meanwhile, extensive research with our customers tells us money just feels different on Monzo. More doable, accessible, engaging. āLots of little things, each one of them done betterā ā this is how one research participant summed us up.
We see it in customer feedback too ā and at scale. Monzo reviews are 7x more likely to feature the word āloveā and 8x more likely to feature the word āeasiestā than reviews of other banks. Those are just a few of the reasons weāre also going out with the message that Monzo will become your new favourite bank.
Using the power of comparison, our advertising will demonstrate that no matter how money feels, on Monzo, it feels better.
Painting the UK Hot Coral
Weāve got the strategy, weāve landed on the message. Now we need to set ourselves apart by redefining how financial services marketing looks, feels and behaves.
When we were planning the campaign we knew it wasnāt just about capturing the nationās attention, it was about capturing it the Monzo way. Standing out in a category of solid blues and dark greens. Being distinctive, bright, energetic, with a sense of fun and relatability ā traits weāre known for, and cherish.
The creative will be different to anything weāve done before, and you may find it surprising, perhaps even uncomfortable. We pushed ourselves out of our comfort zone for sure! But we know that to reach, stand out and be memorable to a broader audience, we have to show up in a way thatās distinctly Monzo.
Produced by our partners at Uncommon Creative Studio, we filmed the ads with a talented director, photographer and actors in a virtual studio. The technology enabled us to shoot more than 80 different scenes without building sets 80 times, and get that Hot Coral hue just right.
As a side note, itās very hard to recreate hot coral! Itās 805 Pantone, a digital colour you canāt easily replicate in print analogue. If not done right it goes demonic red or frustratingly orange. But when done right, itās bold, bright, and neon.
Stay tuned!
Over the coming weeks youāll see us show up in all sorts of places, with media placements weāve chosen carefully to reach the audience we have in mind.
The TV ad premiers on Sunday night on ITV ā on Britainās Got Talent, a show to reach a mainstream audience across the country, regularly delivering over 5 million live viewers. Weāll continue to be on TV for a further 8 weeks across other channels such as Channel 4, ITV, Sky, video on-demand platforms and subscription streaming.
Youāll see us pop up in unexpected ways too, so be sure to tune in to ITVās The Fortune Hotel, 1% Club and The Chase to catch our bespoke ads with Joel Dommett and, coming in June, a bespoke ITV sports ads with none other than ITV sports pundit Mark Pougatch in and around the Euros games. Weāll also be recreating some infamous Channel 4 clips with a Monzo twist with the likes of Married at First Sight UK and First Dates.
Next time youāre on your commute, you might spot a Monzo billboard, or hear the ads on your favourite radio station, Spotify or podcast network. And youāll see our pre-rolls and mid-rolls on YouTube too.
Thereās something special coming later as well, which involves a beloved nationwide brand and an infamous sausage rollā¦
We hope youāll tune in on Sunday night and keep an eye out over the next few weeks ā and weāll be back on Monday to answer any questions you might have.
