Easyfinancial leans on digital platforms for its emotional campaign

The brand is aiming to make a stronger emotional connection with Canadians.

To promote its latest campaign, Easyfinancial is moving away from terrestrial radio channels and reducing its linear TV spend in favour of more investment in online video.

The campaign “Tight Spot” is a play on the financial language of being caught in a bind. It depicts a mini-van suspended dozens of feet in the air, jammed between two skyscrapers, to convey the sense of being trapped that many low-income Canadians experience on a daily basis. It was launched on September 30 and is being promoted through linear TV, connected TV, YouTube, Amazon Prime Video, OOH, and other social platforms including Twitch and Spotify, as well as ads on the brand’s owned channels.

K72 handled the media buying, while the brand’s creative AOR No Fixed Address devised the campaign.

Andrea Fiederer, EVP and CMO of Easyfinancial, tells Media in Canada that the brand has made a concerted effort to invest more in online video and digital audio channels.

“Although our media spend is relatively consistent with past campaigns, this campaign took on a more integrated approach to video as we offset some of our linear TV buy in support of digital video channels,” Fiederer says. “We also moved away from terrestrial radio channels that had been more urban in nature and re-invested into digital audio channels including Spotify and AM Streaming. And we are testing high dwell time channels like Twitch that we know are popular with our audience.”

According to Fiederer, the brand chose that media plan because it was the most helpful for establishing itself as an advocate for Canadians with limited financial options. Fiederer notes that the team sees a good opportunity to achieve that goal, as the company’s research has found that there are over 9.3 million Canadians with non-prime credit scores, and more than 72% have been denied credit by banks and other traditional institutions.

Focusing more on online video and audio also allows the brand to showcase the change in direction it is taking with its marketing efforts, adds Fiederer. The company has previously used a more serious tone to highlight its benefits in its campaigns but, this time, the team wanted to take a more humorous approach in order to build a stronger emotional connection with its customers and break down traditional barriers around a topic like money.

In particular, Easyfinancial aims to reach Canadians working in a variety of industry sectors, including manufacturing, retail, financial services, healthcare, technology and the public sector, as they are the ones who have often turned to the company for credit.