Scotiabank Tool Helps Canadians Understand Money Language

Most of us aren’t great at talking about money, but we sure know how to fight about it. 

In fact, a new survey by Scotiabank reveals that nearly half of Canadians say arguing about money is adding increased stress to their lives, with 47% reporting that they have had the same argument about money with loved ones more than once. Fights about money are also one of the top predictors of divorce, with 41% of Gen Xers citing it as the root cause of their breakups.

Money Style by Scotia Advice+ is an online tool that can help Canadians break through these communication barriers, by building financial literacy through a focus on empathy and emotional intelligence. 

Your Money Style is a basic universal need that may be driving your actions, outlooks, and behaviours in money situations. With Money Style by Scotia Advice+, Canadians can uncover their Money Style by taking a 15-question quiz to help them examine how they would respond in a real-world scenario. For example, how do you feel when it’s time to split a bill at a restaurant? What are you thinking when a friend asks you to sponsor their charity run? 

Canadians can take the quiz and learn how their own personal dominant Money Style shows up in day-to-day situations here. 

“The differences in people’s attitudes and experiences with money can often lead to moments of  chronic and epic conflict. It is those differences that are at the root of why people have the same fights about money again and again,” says Katie O'Donovan, director of global brand management, Scotiabank. “Canadians need better tools to understand these differences. We saw an  opportunity with Money Style to build something that could help people have more healthy and productive conversations about their financial futures.”  

On how and why Scotiabank landed on a quiz format for the tool, John Rocco, global marketing head, Scotiabank says, “We always knew we wanted to do something that can offer added value to people’s lives. The idea took off when we looked at the foundational personality assessments and thought - how could we do that, but with money? We hope that Money Style becomes a shorthand for explaining complex but important financial truths about ourselves, like Love Languages, Myers-Briggs or True Colours. ”

How it came together 

“Banks can be very rational when it comes to talking about money. No one in the market is really doing the work to help Canadians understand the emotions behind their money decisions,” says Katie O'Donovan, director of global brand management, Scotiabank. “We’re talking about what’s under the hood, and empowering people to use that information to help forge a real, meaningful - and hopefully financial - difference in their lives.”

Scotiabank developed the Money Style quiz and six Money Styles after extensively reviewing published research on the psychology of money and consulting with academic and clinical experts on the nature of arguments that people tend to have about money. Then, creating a “database of feelings” to uncover six dominant needs. The six Money Styles are Belonging, Certainty, Connection, Contribution, Independence and Potential. 

“From personality quizzes and horoscopes to attachment styles – we’re in an era of self-discovery, with the internet full of advice to better understand ourselves and how we relate to each other,” says Meredith Montgomery, head of brand narrative, Rethink. “As we researched the psychology of money, we realised there was a gap in understanding what’s driving the way we think and feel about our finances. Now that Money Style exists, we want everyone to take the quiz and to start a national conversation about the importance of really talking about money.” 

Look and Feel

The quiz and Money Style design system were built in parallel. Rethink’s design team developed six unique auras, as well as one hero aura, that leaned heavily into Scotiabank’s iconic 'oxblood' red, to add more dimensionality and a deeper emotional connection to the visuals.

“Creating a design system rooted in colour was essential in helping Canadians connect with their individuality,” says Mark Mabey, ACD and designer at Rethink. “We know money can be stressful, so we used serene gradients made up of the Bank’s colour palette to express the range of emotions that can come up when talking about money.”

“Universally, we know that everyone's financial situations differ, so we were very cognisant of making auras that collectively felt warm and inviting, yet individually exciting,” says Michelle Spivak, group creative director at Rethink. “Visually, we wanted to bring Canadians into an inspiring world to help them feel positive about their financial future.” 

The work ladders back up to Scotiabank’s masterbrand platform and tagline, You’re Richer Than You Think, by leaning into the same insight, but varying by execution. 

And to those who say that banks and relationship advice don’t mix: 

“At Scotiabank, we’re all about helping Canadians uncover unseen potential to live their lives as richly as possible,” says Rocco. “Relationships and money are inextricably linked and if we want to help people have more empathetic conversations about money, we have to do the work to help them understand each other better first.” 

The Bank’s AOR, Rethink, led the campaign across content, PR, design and media, working with The Globe and Mail and La Presse as launch and distribution partners. Scotiabank led with #paid on influencer programming. The campaign will be supported by in-branch assets across Scotiabank branches nationally, with a new training toolkit available for Scotiabank advisors to ultimately have meaningful conversations with their clients, highlighting their Money Style as a talking point.