Today, the majority of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck. Without a budgeting plan, these earners may feel like they’re stuck in a constant cycle of waiting until their next pay day, or worse: that they will never be able to break through to progress forward in life. Without a plan, saving for the future is daunting.

Synchrony Bank is a U.S. financial institution committed to encouraging and empowering new generations of savers. In addition to building awareness of its range of specialized financing programs, the organization sought to spotlight the importance of saving in general.

To reach these new audiences– with the ultimate goal of driving savings account sign ups– we needed to tell a story that was not only empathetic to the challenges related to finance but one that offered an empowering solution to jumpstart savings journeys.

We created a colorfully irreverent brand film that told an all-too-relatable story: when you’re not saving, everyday feels eerily the same.

“Pay Day” is an empowerment-themed financial fairytale about Nyssa Rose. An assistant manager at a plant shop, Nyssa dreams of starting her own exotic plant subscription service business– but she spends like there’s no tomorrow. She finds herself caught in a “Groundhog Day”-style time loop, where she relives the same pay Day again. And again. And Again. She escapes only when she learns to make better choices and save for her future. With more than a little help from Synchrony Bank.

Then, we launched the film on an actual pay day.

We sought to develop a film that was universal in its message and one that felt unequivocally relatable. We knew that viewers had to see themselves in our protagonist in order for our message to stick: it’s pay day, we splurge, it’s pay day, we splurge again– but how can we break that cycle to better ourselves both financially and as people? Our strategy was to position Synchrony Bank as both a catalyst and facilitator for consumers who are struggling to save, empowering them to take the first critical step on the journey to financial success.

To drive our message, we developed a media strategy that promoted the film on actual pay days. “Pay Day” launched on Youtube on a pay day (Friday, February 14th) and was accompanied by a full-funnel social media campaign across Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. The campaign promoted Synchrony Bank’s High Yield Savings Account and showed users how, by breaking the cycle of spending without a plan, they can start saving for a brighter financial future.

All social posts and video clicks drove to a micro-site developed specifically for the campaign, which featured relevant product information, along with an interactive calculator that allowed users to plan for their own savings goals– whether saving up for a vacation or planning to launch that dream business. This calculator, along with accompanying social assets, reinforced our key message that big, ambitious savings goals can be within reach if responsible savings habits are practiced.

Synchrony Bank saw a CTR that was 2x higher than all other campaigns on social. Audiences not only enjoyed the content but also acknowledged the educational insights the campaign delivered on as evident by an overwhelmingly positive response on social media. In addition to this engagement, the film won ‘Best Short Film’ at the 2020 Tribeca X Film Festival.