To launch its new ‘Biscuit’ current account, Zopa bank has created the world’s first edible and functional bank card. 

The digital first campaign, fronted by food critic Grace Dent, aims to reach a broad audience by engaging with influencers and taking a sweet and simple approach to banking. Biscuit is Zopa’s first foray into current accounts.

“This account is really sweet in terms of value, really simple, and it's really easy to understand and to get value from,” explains Clare Gambardella, Chief Customer Officer at Zopa Bank. 

She continues: “The biscuit was a great representation of that. For us, this was a great way into talking about value and sweet simplicity.”

Zopa first launched as a peer-to-peer lending business before moving into credit and savings and becoming a fully regulated bank in 2020. The business' ethos is rooted in leading customers to financial resilience and championing value, ease and trust.

“It [Zopa] is the ease and technology savvy of a neobank alongside the trust and fully regulated security of an incumbent bank, while also focusing on great value which often consumers get in neither place,” says Gambardella.

Sweetening the switch 

The financial services industry has undergone a significant transformation in recent years, with the rise of challenger banks and the closure of high street branches. Acknowledging that the current account market is heavily saturated, Gambardella shares that the launch of Biscuit stemmed from aiming to meet an unmet consumer need. 

“We realised that so many people stay with their incumbent current account because it feels safe, or because they don't think there are better options out there, but actually, there's a big opportunity to create an account with substantially better value than most people access,” she explains. 

Working with Lucky Generals to create Biscuit, Zopa aims to find a way to better communicate value to audiences and resonate with the UK population.

“Financial services for a lot of people is quite boring and impenetrable. It often feels like more of the same. We’re a British brand, we’re also a brand that prides ourselves in listening to our customers and making things easy,” Gambardella adds.

“Almost everyone has a current account, so you’re really looking at two ways in. One is switching and the other is adding. Around a third of the UK population have more than two accounts,” explains Gambardella.

She continues: “It's about grabbing attention and making it as easy as possible for people to follow through. Biscuit was one way to grab attention. We can convey our message in a different way.”

Creativity at the core

The centrepiece of the launch campaign is a video featuring food critic Grace Dent, where she samples the fully functional and edible Biscuit card. She then uses the card to pay the bill and showcases the delicious benefits of the account.

Working with Lucky Generals on the advertising campaign and Red Consultancy on the PR and influencer elements, a focus on digital media allowed Zopa to speak to customers where they are and drive direct action.

“Grace was a great fit. Who better to judge a biscuit than a food critic?” says Gambardella. Continuing: “ She’s very trusted, straight talking and she’s recognised as an expert in her field” On top of her food credentials, she is also a Zopa customer, which brings authority and authenticity to the pairing. 

The light-hearted campaign is a breath of fresh air in an industry so often associated with the serious. “I think that in this sector people often feel like they are being a bit talked down to or lectured,” says Gambardella.

Explaining the choice to take a more fun and light-hearted approach, Gambardella shares: “We try to be light-hearted where appropriate and authentic and straight talking. I think what we try to do is where we can talk to customers in a way that feels unexpected or different, so we cut through some of the standard phrases.”

The power of influence 

Alongside Dent, Zopa worked with a roster of 12 influencers across different segments to launch Biscuit, including lifestyle, health and fitness as well as cooking and bakery.

“Our goal was to reach a broad range of customers through their different interests,” says Gambardella.

The brand’s diverse influencer approach led them to create a range of briefs taking into account the specific creator, their audience and their needs. To ensure that any creator partnerships felt authentic, Zopa tried to leave room for creativity. For some, they sent ingredient packs so that they could make their own edible cards and for others, they sent fully functioning biscuit cards with chips that they could use as they went about their day.

“We really tried to allow the influencers to put their own mark on it. I think that's always more successful because ultimately, with influencers, people are following them for their personalities and their content style,” says Gambardella.

@poppycooks #AD I wish I could eat all my bank cards! ???? I teamed up with @ZopaMoney ♬ original sound - Poppy Cooks

Where once the term ‘influencer’ was associated with Gen Z, for Zopa a broad brush influencer strategy extended the audience they were able to reach. 

“What we wanted to do was use a roster of influencers that reached different ages, different genders, different profiles of people in order to get a broad brush awareness. More based on behaviour and consumer needs,” says Gambardella.

Marketing truth to build trust

In a post-truth era, trust is important. Particularly in a sector like banking, where consumers are trusting businesses with their money. For Zopa, trust is built in many different ways.

As a fully regulated bank with FCSC protection and a plethora of positive Trustpilot scores, third party approval is important. Yet, marketing and communications also has a big role to play.

“Where truthfulness and trust breaks down is when you are saying one thing from a marketing point of view, but the experience that the customer has feels very different,” explains Gambardella. To ensure that communications and product are aligned, operational teams work closely with one another to ensure that everyone is working toward the same, consistent goal.  

“We try and make our language as transparent, simple and clear as possible so that people actually understand what it is we’re saying. We don’t really talk about education. I think customers are a lot more receptive when you are helping them to do something in the moment and meeting them where they are,” she adds.

For Gambardella, trust is built on experience. She urges brands to consider the question: “Once the customer is in the business, is what they experience what you told them you would?”

By knowing your business, what it stands for and what value it can deliver to customers, Gambardella shares that any brand can act like a challenger.

“Always looking at what's going on in the market and moving. Constant evolution mindset is really important,” she adds. By doing things differently, Zopa has successfully launched Biscuit in a sweet spot.