Visa launched a new campaign this week that it hopes will get Millennial women talking more about their attitudes and behaviors around money.
Created in partnership with Visa’s new social agency Decoded, the campaign has an aesthetic less corporate than the traditional Visa style, while still staying true to the brand’s core values. says Mary Ann Reilly, senior vice president, North America Marketing at Visa .
“There are so many conversations happening around women today, but one thing that isn’t being discussed is money,” says Reilly. “We wanted to encourage millennial women to have this conversation.”
Visa surveyed 2,242 Millennial and Generation X women and men to see how they felt about money, and found that millennial women are actually more conservative about spending and saving than previous generations.
The survey showed that both Millennial and Gen X women have similar views on how money relates to security and freedom, but Millennial women place a higher value on it related to success, happiness, power and independence.
Financial stress is a bigger issue for women than men according to the survey. More Millennial women than men—60 percent versus 40 percent—say they are living paycheck to paycheck, and 59 percent of women surveyed feel guilty about spending on themselves, versus only 45 percent of men.
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When asked what the biggest barriers were to asking for a raise or promotion, Millennial women not feeling comfortable asking was the most cited (30 percent) , followed by no additional growth opportunities at current job (21 percent). Fifty-five percent of Millennial women feel anxious when asking for a raise, versus only 29 percent of
Millennial women are more likely than their Gen X counterparts to desire salary transparency: 48 percent of Millennial women versus 38 percent of Gen X women want to know what their co-workers make, and 10 percent of Millennial women have discussed their salary with a co-worker, versus only five percent of Gen X women.
The survey also found that Millennial women are far more likely to talk about just about anything with their friends—weight, kids, sex, politics or relationships—than their salary or investing.
The campaign will focus creating those conversations among women, with social content, short-form videos and polls asking them questions about their behavior and attitudes towards money. Social influencers from New York Magazine’s The Cut will be leveraged via Instagram to help start conversations.
There isn’t a real call to action for the campaign, says Reilly, noting that it is primarily a branding effort to reach this audience.
“We’re future proofing the brand,” she says. “Millennials are more attracted to brand that they view as having a purpose, and we want them to see that we are about diversity and inclusiveness, and that we really listen to this audience.”
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