Who: Farber Debt Solutions, with The Local Collective for strategy and creative, Other for media.
What: “When You’re in Debt, Everything Looks Different,” a campaign from the debt relief brand that sets aside common category tropes in a bid to cut through messaging clutter and appeal directly to Canadians who often find their financial situations hopeless.
What: “When You’re in Debt, Everything Looks Different,” a campaign from the debt relief brand that sets aside common category tropes in a bid to cut through messaging clutter and appeal directly to Canadians who often find their financial situations hopeless.
When & Where: The campaign launched Jan. 15, running across print, OOH, radio, OLV and social media.
Why: With the cost of living rising dramatically in Canada, so has household debt. Almost half of Canadians experienced an increase in their debt last year, and total consumer debt climbed to $2.32 trillion in mid-2022—an increase of 8.2% over the prior year, and 24% over 2020.
These figures are especially challenging for Canadians, because 40% of those who are in debt never expect to escape it within their lifetimes, according to Farber. This is far from the smiling face and optimistic messaging that many debt relief companies put on the situation–an approach to category advertising that feels out-of-step with the real experiences of those who the company assists.
How: Because messaging in the debt relief category so commonly focuses on optimistic outcomes, Farber and The Local Collective wanted to avoid that approach and instead look at the large number of Canadians who are terrified of their debt, flipping the script to show the very real and difficult decisions that millions of people have to make every day.
“We didn’t want to show happy faces because that isn’t what someone in debt is experiencing," said Matt Litzinger, founder and CCO at The Local Collective. "Farber understands how daunting even simple everyday things can look.”
To achieve its goal, the agency developed a series of visual ads showing barbed wire on a mailbox and fridge door, and thumbtacks on a payment terminal—a representation of the literal pain and unease that can accompany everyday occurrences like checking the mail and worrying about another bill or past-due notice, or hoping a payment will be accepted by a store.
“Every time the phone rings, every time you wait to see if your payment will be accepted at a store, when you are living on the edge financially, these mundane everyday moments feel extremely stressful and anxiety-ridden,” said Litzinger. “Calling someone to get help is not an easy step, and we don’t want to talk to these people like it is.”
A series of audio ads, "Haunted Mailbox," "Frightening Fridge," and "Scary Debit" use horror tropes to explain the fear and unease that people dealing with debt can feel when dealing with everyday life.
And we quote: “This campaign is a bold step for debt solutions marketing, but it’s very true for us. We support real people with real solutions... That compassion helps us deliver solutions that help people return to seeing things the way they did before they were in debt.” — Katherine Dimopoulos, director, brand marketing and communications, Farber
[audio mp3="https://the-message.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/09_Farber_HauntedMailbox_Oct19_30RE_FM.mp3"][/audio]
[audio mp3="https://the-message.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/04_Farber_ScaryDebit_Nov14_30RE_FM.mp3"][/audio]
[audio mp3="https://the-message.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/01_Farber_FrighteningFridge_Oct19_30RE_FM.mp3"][/audio]
