The financial services sector is facing an environment of uncertainty and volatility heading into 2025, with the economy still dealing with inflation and interest rate changes, as well as consumer spending and saving rates pressured by fears of another recession. Uncertainty colored year-end planning among financial marketers, who noted the results of the presidential election will reflect in the fiscal policies that will shape the market going forward.
“It’s going to be a year when we see people go back and settle and digest: Go back into their communities, go back into their families, and really figure out, reset, and see what’s in for them,” says Jennifer Halloran, CMO of MassMutual. With so many issues affecting financial services in the balance—trade policies, budget deficits, interest rates and more—”we have a very big focus on making sure that everybody has a balanced practice of wealth management and protection products,” she says. “That’s going to be very important for us next year.”
As they head into the new year, financial services marketers are focused on shoring up consumer confidence, learning how to target Generation Z consumers and integrating new technologies including artificial intelligence into their efforts. Many marketers are facing uncertainty by leaning into their core values while trying new communications approaches.
For JPMorgan Chase “it’s a continuation of what we’ve been doing,” says Kristin Faucher, Head of Brand Strategy and Advertising: Card, Travel, Commerce. “It’s a lot of making sure that the right message is meeting the right person,” she says.
Three basic values will guide marketing, says Faucher. “One is trustworthiness and reliability. The second is really a focus on brand storytelling and helping consumers understand the value of the products through incredible stories and driving emotional connection,” she says. “And the last one is really about how we see customers continue to be more values-based about the brands that they choose to work with and where they spend their money and their time.”
This is particularly the case with the Generation Z consumers, the cohort born in 1996-2010, who are starting to come into their earning years. A report from Nielsen released in 2024 projected this demographic will overtake the spending of Baby Boomers in five years and become the wealthiest generation by the end of this decade. And Zoomers are keen on doing business with companies that reflect their worldview, so marketers know messaging to them has to factor those generational values.
As Gen Z comes of age, this demographic will be a key focus for financial services marketers. As Jill Cress, CMO of H&R Block recently told Brand Innovators: “The biggest opportunity there is Gen Z as they start to become regular taxpayers.” She noted that Block’s recent annual report on The Outlook on American Life concluded Zoomers “are going to be future big earners in the economy.”
As a group. Gen Z is optimistic about their earning potential and their future prospects, which is good for brands as they gear up their holiday efforts and look into next year. “There’s a level of confidence there that we were excited to see,” added Cress.
Marketers are already learning how to communicate with this group. As Cress noted, Zoomers are hard to reach through traditional media channels. Gen Z is the first generation to grow up with technology, so it approaches media differently, and while Zoomers still get advice from trusted sources, those sources may be on YouTube or TikTok, says Floriana Abramovich, VP Brand Strategy & Advertising at JPMorgan Chase.
“This audience’s attention span is very limited” so advertising has to make sure it is really speaking to them, say Abramovich. She noted that a recent JPMorgan Chase out-of-home campaign made use of bright colors that are attention grabbing and communicated using emojis, to cater to the demographic.
“Things are just changing in terms of how we’re going to be moving people to consume,” says Alison Herzog, Head of Global Corporate Marketing, Visa. ”At the end of the day, it still comes down to how you can be smarter about making sure the message is heard in the end.”
Technology is bound to play a bigger part in the practice next year, according to financial services markets. The sector is grappling with using new tools such as artificial intelligence, just as consumers are relying on “Fintech” financial planning tools to organize their finances.
“People aren’t going to let that one go,” says Halloran. AI can is giving marketers new opportunities for personalization and customer segmentation, but “there’s a regulatory environment there that hasn’t been solved” she says. Discussions about regulating social media and fintech are still pending along with the AI legislation, so there is still a lot to figure out, says Halloran.
“There’s a lot of really great opportunity with AI,” she says, but added that it’s still important to make sure to have protections and “that we still have that first fact-checking, real person touching all of the work.”
Keith Clark, chief marketing officer at Mutual of Omaha adds, “The growth of Generative Artificial Intelligence as an essential digital collaborator will continue to redefine the marketing creative process in 2025. Human creativity won’t be replaced, but rather aided by AI, which enables marketers to more quickly iterate on ideas and refine creative approaches. This integration into the creative process has the potential to be a game changer for marketing effectiveness and efficiency.”
