Financial support marketing campaign 2021-2022: evaluation report – August 2022

3. Campaign Development

Insight gathering research^[1], found that the pandemic had affected all life stages, and that the emotional toll of financial stress is something shared by all.

The research highlighted the barriers preventing those suffering financial hardship, perhaps for the first time or the first time in a while, from accessing the support available. The social stigma around claiming welfare support was found to be a direct challenge to people’s sense of identity. Debt is often triggered by other life events, such as redundancy, relationship breakdown etc., and so acceptance that there is a problem can also be a challenge. Reasons for needing credit can vary, but while there was some awareness of Credit Unions, there was typically a lack of knowledge around where to find other sources of affordable credit and why it was so important to find a responsible lender.

Each strand of the campaign was supported by a unifying creative proposition ‘You are not alone’, which recognised the collective struggle, while reassuring people that help was available. This route was found in testing^[2] to deliver the right blend of reassurance, resonance and motivation to act.