Informed by the popularity of Cosmopolitan and Myers-Briggs-style quizzes, Scotiabank hopes its “Money Styles” campaign can spur engagement, whether in-branch or through its Advice+.
Your Money Style is a 15-question quiz about everyday money situations to help people examine how they would respond in such real-world scenarios as feelings about how to split a bill at a restaurant or planning long-term financial goals.
“People love personality quizzes,” says Katie O’Donovan, Scotiabank’s director of global brand management. “Talking about money is hard, that’s a universal truth and this felt like a really fantastic advice-based solution.”
A new Scotiabank survey reveals that nearly half of Canadians say arguing about money is adding increased stress to their lives, with 47% reporting that they have had the same argument about money with loved ones more than once. Dustups about money are also one of the top predictors of divorce, with 41% of Gen Xers citing it as the root cause of breakups.
The bank is hoping that Money Styles becomes a shorthand for explaining complex but important financial truths. The six Money Style “personalities” are Belonging, Certainty, Connection, Contribution, Independence and Potential.
“We want Money Style to stick around… and hope to build on it in coming years,” O’Donovan says. “There is definite potential this is a long-term digital advice tool.”
She tells strategy the brand didn’t want the quiz to be too comprehensive, and that it worked with agency partner Rethink to balance the fun and the serious.
Rethink’s design team also developed six unique auras, as well as one hero aura, that leaned heavily into Scotiabank’s “oxblood” red, to add more dimensionality and a deeper emotional connection to the visuals behind the quiz.
“Rethink doesn’t do anything half way,” O’Donovan says, and the aesthetic ecosystem is “elevated and sophisticated.”
The work ladders back up to Scotiabank’s masterbrand platform and its tagline, You’re Richer Than You Think, by leaning into the same insight.
The Bank’s AOR, Rethink, led the campaign across content, PR, design and media, working with primary content partner, The Globe and Mail and La Presse as launch and distribution partners.
There is also a TikTok influencer campaign, in order to reach a broad audience. The campaign will also be supported by in-branch assets across Scotiabank locations nationally, with a new training toolkit available for Scotiabank advisors to have meaningful conversations with clients, highlighting their Money Style as a talking point.
