The events of 2020 have exacerbated how overwhelmed Canadians can feel about their financial and insurance-related decisions, but Desjardins is letting clients know that they can handle it with a little expert guidance in a new campaign that makes them the focal point.

The “Your Selfie Life” campaign, created by Bleublancrouge, shows one woman’s major life milestones through a series of selfies, from moving into her first apartment and travelling to getting married, having kids, buying a home and opening up a bakery. While these are the things that make life fun and exciting, they can also bring varied and unpredictable financial and insurance needs with them.

“It’s a clear indicator that you can enjoy your life, and even when those unknowns pop up, you can have the support you need with your finances,” says Björn Bruschke, VP of marketing and client communications at Desjardins.

https://youtu.be/_e3I1kIcLHs

Bruschke says that while the campaign positions Desjardins as there to “support, guide, help and demystify”, the goal is for consumers to feel they’re in control. “It’s incredibly important for our clients to feel like they’re financially autonomous,” he adds. “When our clients feel like they’re in the driver’s seat, they feel good about their future.”

The campaign was borne out of the brand’s research, which found that 53% of Canadians feel it’s more complicated to make financial decisions now than it was 20 years ago. Bruschke says he thinks this is primarily due to two reasons: a “poverty of time” and that Canadians’ needs have changed over the years. These insights were true pre-COVID, but have become even more relevant now.

“We’re struggling to find the right time to give our finances the focus they need,” he says. “We also have different goals that require different support than they did 20 years ago.”

The pandemic has brought on a myriad of new consumer behaviour in finance and insurance, all of which require the kind of reassurance Desjardins is positioning its brand around. These include increases in inquiries about life insurance due to health-related concerns of COVID-19, the need to cancel or reduce auto insurance, and a spike in home insurance premiums due to people working from home, and fire-related fatalities being up from January to May.

Earlier in the pandemic, Desjardins aimed to give clients a little stress relief by employing musicians – who had been hit hard by the pandemic – to put on outdoor concerts for people who went above and beyond for their communities.

Glassroom handled the media buy for the campaign, which includes paid digital and social, with the 30-second spot airing in Ontario, Alberta and New Brunswick.