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Catalyst issue 1 | 2025: Cost opportunity
- 23 January 2025
In our last issue of Catalyst, the concept of thrift and finance were very much front of mind for me as the eldest was dispatched back to university, and with him, much of my spare cash. For him, the concept of financial independence is exciting, albeit rather basic. Money in, beer out. In the post-university years, he will have to contend with rather more complex decision-making when it comes to money.
But are our financial brands pulling their weight when it comes to helping us understand our cashflow? I have managed to reach my grand old age with only the most rudimentary understanding of my pension. My approach to saving and budgeting could be termed chaotic at best, and my willingness to engage with my growing portfolio of banking apps depends on how recently I’ve been paid. And yet financial brands have a wealth of opportunity to gain customers and build market share if they could help us have a better relationship with our money.
We’re already seeing this predominantly with digital banks. They are finding ways to help us budget properly, segmenting our cash into digital piles so we’re never late with the rent and have enough stashed away for a summer holiday. They’re giving us a breakdown of our spending. Tortuous when you realise how much you’re spending on overpriced lattes but useful if you’ve got a remortgage coming up.
Our cover story this issue explores what more banks are doing to make finance more sassy and fit for the lives we live today. It’s a lesson for financial marketers, but also marketers across different sectors. We need to ensure our messaging is fit for the lives our customers are living, and those are changing faster than ever. We need to make our customers’ lives easier, more intuitive and just, frankly, a bit more fun. It does seem like life is generally about making things easier where possible. I know that personally, I’m forever trying to find a shortcut to deal with some of the more chaotic elements of my life.
I’ve got a variety of task managers (I probably need a task manager to manage the task managers), alerts, autocompletes, repeat subscriptions and so on. One thing I have yet to master is generative AI. You can be reassured that this column has been entirely human-writ. I cannot get to grips with any of the current offerings in a way that will help me extract the key points from an interview I’ve done, let alone draw them up in a coherent way for our readers. I know I should try harder, as there are plenty of examples of places where generative AI really is saving time and money, and reframing the human, rather than replacing it.
In terms of creativity, however, AI has a long way to go. In ‘Generation Generative’, contributor Lisa Avvocato assesses the AI-generated Coke ad that caused such consternation before Christmas. It is pioneering, but to my mind, it also reflects AI’s current limitations. It simply took an existing idea and ‘reshot’ it, with a computer. ‘Holidays are coming’ is a tradition for a reason, so this is one time regurgitating an idea was probably OK.
‘Real’ creativity is a messier, more time-consuming process that relies on talent, trust, structure and risk. It needs communication to work between two or more parties, where one may not fully understand what the other is proposing until it’s done. But that’s the beauty of it. The promise of the unexpected, or at least unanticipated. In this issue, Emma Baines, head of creative at Tony’s Chocolonely explains her team’s creative process and how they reliably make a splash. Naturally, there is much more to absorb inside, and while you read on, I’m going to see if AI can magically add another three hours to my day.
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