Funny Money
By Nick Sonderup
Bob Hope famously said, “A bank is a place that will lend you money if you can prove that you don't need it.” Now that's funny. But should your bank be trying to make you laugh? Great question.
I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess that when most people decide on a bank they're not thinking “What's the most hilarious one?” I'm not saying I agree with it. Just, you know, a hunch. The idea of “funny” and “money” coexisting can be kind of scary for some. And I get it. People don't want unserious people handling their money. They want it to be protected and secure. No funny business.
But we're talking about messaging here, not replacing bankers with stand up comedians. Although, that would be a hell of a way to drive people back to branches. I think more people should be looking for a financial institution with a sense of humor. Why? Because that also means they have a pulse. Just like you. And are human, just like you. Which means they also have feelings and fears, aspirations and concerns, hopes and dreams - just like you. It also means they have one thing not every bank brand (or any brand) has - guts.
The boldness of using humor in financial services shouldn't be overlooked or underplayed. It's a way to stand out in a stale category.
Take our client FourLeaf Federal Credit Union, the biggest credit union on the east coast. They are a big believer in using boldness as a differentiator. They know the cost of being ignored is way riskier than the cost of having some fun. So when developing work for our latest campaign that FourLeaf CEO Linda Armyn has dubbed “The Bigs,” the question of whether or not to use humor wasn't a hard sell. The real discussion point was how BIG do we go?
Well…we went with an 8-foot baby with regular sized adult parents in a small house, and a 15-foot pen that 5 employees have to hold as a new member signs on the dotted line. We didn't do research or testing to determine the exact right size for these ridiculously oversized things. We went with the thing you need for any good joke: instinct. It just felt funny to us, and turns out we're not the only ones.
The instinct paid off. The campaign drove a 10% lift in brand consideration in key markets, nearly doubled HELOC leads (+95%), and sparked a 29% increase in web traffic, proving that when financial brands are brave enough to be entertaining, people don't just notice—they act.
Same goes for our latest work for Truist titled “Barter.” This one is about that one friend we all have who is a master negotiator. In the spot, that friend helps another secure a great deal at a yard sale - and a free stuffed monkey to boot. Why a monkey? Because monkeys are funny.
Simple as that. And after the VO kicks in, of course a close up of the monkey's funny face sealed the deal.
Can funny today be funny tomorrow?
My friend Jim and I argue all the time about the shelf life of comedy. Jim thinks comedy doesn't stand the test of time. I think it can, but understand his point. Times change, references change. Do I still like Seinfeld not because it's still hilarious, but because it once was to me? Maybe. Probably. But I digress...
Two humor campaigns in the financial space that have stood the test of time to me are Citibank “Live Richly” (Fallon) and the ongoing campaign from The Economist (AMVBBDO). For me, both are timeless. As a writer, some of my favorite headlines ever were part of that Economist campaign. And the new work continues that legacy. The Citibank campaign for identity theft, where an average, blue collar guy is watching bowling, but he sounds like a young woman talking about buying a sexy little outfit kills me every time. Both are definitely a different type of humor than the FourLeaf and Truist examples, but that's the amazing thing about humor - it's vast and wide.
There's funny, funny haha, dry wit or wry wit. There's absurdist, farcical, observational, surreal. There's rambling humor that goes on and on and doesn't have a great point, but makes it really memorable by being so ridiculous that…well, you get the point.
Humor has its place. Not just on the stage, or SNL or an Adam Sandler movie. But yes, in advertising for financial brands. And if you unlock it for yours, it's like opening a vault of possibility.