Would you rather teach golf to a two-year old, or talk about your income with a co-worker? That’s just one of the questions Citi is asking consumers with its new advertising campaign aimed at erasing some of the awkwardness involved when talking about money.
The company’s traditional ads (which feature “Stranger Things” actress Millie Bobby Brown, among others) are accompanied by articles and quizzes on Citi’s campaign page, which should help consumers better figure out where they stand in relation to the rest of the population.
Consumers know managing money is a necessity. What consumers don’t know, according to Citi, is how to talk about that with other people. According to the 2016 Citi Money Avoidance Survey, two-thirds of consumers consider money to be a taboo subject.
Jud Linville, CEO, Global Cards and Consumer Services at Citi, told Bank Innovation:
Exposing our culture of money avoidance is the first step to eliminating it. By prompting conversations, we can get people engaged and ultimately, help them to find a solution. Money is complicated, but we are here to help.
This could be due to stress or anxiety about common financial issues such as credit card or student loan debt, which Citi is tackling in the campaign by, firstly, acknowledging that these are stressful issues; the tagline of the advertisements is simple and to the point: managing money is tough.
But how will talking about it help consumers better manage it?
Says Linville:
Everyone has a different relationship with money depending on their personal situation, so the contributors to financial stress differ. But, by far, the biggest barrier that needs to be overcome is avoidance. As a culture, we need to stop avoiding and start talking. It is only then that we can bring money to the forefront of conversation and tackle money stressors as a means to eradicate them.