Monzo goes mainstream with colourful campaign

Challenger bank Monzo’s upcoming mainstream brand campaign will “paint the UK hot coral”, it has announced.

The campaign, named “Money never felt like Monzo,” aims to communicate the real difference that the digital bank makes to people’s lives, such as helping them avoid the anxious feelings around money.

Its objective is to encourage a broad section of potential clients to discover Monzo and its services, while promoting the colours of its brand.

“It’s an epic moment for Monzo as we launch our new brand platform, Money Never Felt Like Monzo, with our first above the line (ATL) campaign in five years,” said AJ Coyne, Monzo’s VP of marketing.

“Across the country, money evokes a variety of feelings, usually stress, anxiety, avoidance, however our customers tell us that on Monzo money feels different, so much so that they’re seven times more likely to use the word ‘love’ when describing us than any other bank.”

Nine months ago, Monzo embarked on a creative exploration, it said in a community release. It looked at a broad database of product reviews and consumer opinions, allowing the digital bank to investigate and pinpoint its differentiation points.

For example, customers stated they perceive the brand as engaging and simple to use with “lots of little things, each one of them done better”.

While Monzo’s usual marketing choices consist of “below-the-line” platforms such as Facebook, Google, and TikTok, this campaign reaches out to broad-reach broadcast media channels such as TV, billboards, radio, playlists, and podcasts.

The new campaign builds on the digital bank’s wider strategy of levering its visual branding by “painting the UK hot coral”.

While its previous campaigns built on the novelty of digital banking being an uncommon practice, the new strategy highlights the normal necessity Monzo offers its 9 million worldwide users.

Delivered by creative studio Uncommon, a 60-second film illustrates a series of impactful comparisons, juxtaposing the stressful emotions around money with empowering, positive emotions.

For instance, in the film, frustrated arguments become loving embraces, and tarantulas turn into head massagers.

The second half of the advert visualizes nails on a blackboard becoming a harpist’s gentle strums, while rowing in a barren lake – and getting nowhere – transforms into relaxing on a sunny beach.

Monzo aired its initial TV advertisement, “You Make Monzo, Monzo,” five years ago. Whilst this campaign successfully reached an audience of 20 million, more traditional financial services marketing will help it reach a broader audience, the digital bank said.