Humour in financial advertising is clearly a trend. But it’s still surprising, still refreshing – and most of it is very clever. Singaporean fintech platform, Lendela’s, humour is very, very clever – playing into the frustrations of the loan process that borrowers have come to expect.
The campaign, No More Bullshit, Just Straight Answers, created with with creative production house, Breed, parodies the often opaque and confounding experience of seeking a personal loan in Singapore, inviting viewers to rethink the borrowing journey.
The film, that features a “sage” who philosophises in unhelpful riddles rather than answering the borrowers’ question, captures the exasperation felt by borrowers. The sage represents the lack of transparency in the traditional loan process, his cryptic and over-the-top behaviour satirises customer service representatives who often leave borrowers helpless and frustrated when they ask for clarity on a variety of matters, from eligibility to loan terms.
Vanessa Ng, head of marketing at Lendela, commented, “While many Singaporeans take out personal loans, very few feel they can talk about it due to social stigma. This has resulted in higher borrowing costs, less transparency in the industry, and a loan-ly journey for most that ends in frustration, anger, and helplessness. With this campaign, we wanted to challenge that notion. Why can’t borrowing be simple, transparent, and even pleasant? This campaign was our way of showing that there’s a better way to borrow, using some good old humour to break down barriers.”
Keith Kwek, filmmaker and founder of production house, Breed, added, “We wanted to express a common pain point many Singaporeans face — the frustration that often accompanies the search for an ideal loan, when you’re asking a straightforward question and being met with roundabout non-answers — in a humorous and relatable manner. By exaggerating the borrowing experience, we tapped into a brand of frustration and learned helplessness that almost all of us can relate to.”
The full campaign is running across TV, radio, and social. In social, the brand takes the comedy up a notch, meme-ifying the characters in its TVC with the help of creative media agency, Boom, to spread the message to its TikTok audience in a way that will resonate.
Despite one in three Singaporeans having taken out a personal loan in the last twelve months (Finder, 2021) borrowing is stigmatised and often kept a secret. The resulting lack of open conversation has led not just to an opaque lending industry, but also a slow, expensive, and frustrating experience for borrowers. Through its unique loan matching platform, Lendela matches borrowers with multiple personalised loan options from over 50 banks and loan providers in minutes, ensuring that borrowers always have the power to choose from all their available options. This is game-changing because borrowers have never been able to access all their available loan options without severely damaging their credit scores.