First Direct Aims for #Moneywellness in Latest Campaign from The Brooklyn Brothers

First Direct, the UK’s original challenger bank, and lead strategic and creative agency, The Brooklyn Brothers, have partnered to launch a new integrated brand platform, #moneywellness, aimed at normalising the UK’s feelings about money. The platform will place money, one of the most prevalent sources of anxiety in the UK, at the heart of the wellness conversation in 2020. 

When first direct launched 30 years ago, they built a cult following by challenging the anti-consumer behaviour and practices of big banks at the time. Today, the needs of UK consumers have moved on, prompting first direct to tackle a new issue that will renew their challenger spirit and put them back at the heart of culture again.  

Despite being one of the leading causes of anxiety in the UK, the nation’s health and wellness industry, set to top £43 billion in 2020, has yet to address the subject of money. In a new piece of proprietary research from the bank, set to launch later this month, a survey of 4,000 UK consumers showed that people believe money is more important to their overall well-being than other more traditional areas of wellness, such as diet and exercise.  

Helen Priestley, CMO at first direct, said: “We have always taken a human-first approach to banking. It’s who we are, it’s in our DNA. We are the number one customer service brand in the UK – not just in banking, but across every sector – because we listen to people. Today, what we’re hearing is that people want to improve their overall wellbeing and that they recognise how they feel about their money is a critical part of that. It’s our genuine ambition to be the bank that gives people a better relationship with their finances and helps them feel well as a result.”  

The debut campaign to launch the #moneywellness platform aims to provoke around the limiting beliefs about money that have traditionally held us all back – that we should be where our parents were at our age, that other people know more or are better with money than us, or the age-old trap of comparing ourselves to others. Whilst other banks are focussed on pushing anxiety-inducing “how to’s” and selling empty promises of “control”, first direct will go to the heart of consumers’ relationships with money. The campaign will focus on changing attitudes about money, reassuring people they are not alone in their feelings and opening up a new way of thinking about it. 

The integrated 360 campaign to launch #moneywellness will be rolled out this month across OOH, digital, press, PR and social, including the new research which will deliver the first-ever benchmark measuring the current state of the nation’s relationship with money. 

The social content series at the core of the campaign shows everyday people sharing their individual, open and honest feelings about money. The content aims to tackle limiting beliefs that are holding people back and normalising the issue by showing the British public that others feel the same way they do. 

Jackie Stevenson, founder and CEO of The Brooklyn Brothers said, “#moneywellness gives first direct a meaningful role in culture again and allows them to rise above the noise in a cluttered sector. This debut work is just the first chapter of many and we couldn’t be more excited about the tremendous opportunity this new positioning unlocks for their business going forward.”