John Hancock customers told us that they want a financial services company that makes them feel listened to—not talked at.
With this in mind, we set out to connect with our customers on their level, building trust and consideration by delivering financial content that’s educational but still feels personal and relatable.
The podcast space offers an intimacy that’s hard to find in other channels. It also provides an opportunity to deliver engaging insights from a trusted expert, without coming across as another stuffy financial company serving up the same old advice.
In our effort to help them feel heard, we wanted our customers to hear from people like them. So we created the first branded financial services podcast focused on turning everyday money matters into authentic, approachable conversations with John Hancock’s “Friends Who Talk About Money.”
44% of Americans see personal finance as the most challenging topic to discuss with others. More so than subjects like death, politics and religion.
But as it turns out, personal finance is John Hancock’s favorite topic. And thanks to our high trust scores and 150 years of expertise in some of life’s stickiest financial territories, we’re uniquely positioned to facilitate those conversations. What if we tackled the money taboo by bringing real friends together to talk about their real challenges surrounding money? With that, the aptly named “Friends Who Talk About Money” was born.
We partnered with host Claire Wasserman who had the financial chops to carry the show as a long-time advocate of financial transparency and founder of Ladies Get Paid. She also delivered a vibrant, open-book personality that helped keep each conversation honest, productive and never boring. Claire interviewed friends and families from across the country who agreed to talk openly with us and each other about the ways money intersects with their relationships. And to put each conversation into context, we brought in subject matter experts from John Hancock and beyond to transform each conversation into actionable advice for listeners.
The result: a dozen episodes and counting, covering a wide range of topics from friends navigating the winding road to retirement to a family dealing with a financial crisis. And we did it entirely remotely with an in-house team powered more by passion than podcast production experience. (And in the spirit of the show—on a pretty small budget, too.)
Friends talked and our customers listened. In the first ten episodes, Friends Who Talk About Money saw:
It also translated to significant growth in all tested brand perceptions among consumers age 40-54—a segment that is often facing some of life’s toughest financial conversations.
As we dive into the second season of Friends Who Talk About Money, we only expect this momentum to build as we ask deeper questions, uncover more unique money stories and encourage our listeners to have more financial conversations in their own lives.
User reviews suggest we’re already delivering in that department (see screenshot of customer review below).
You can listen to all episodes wherever you get your podcats or go to our Podcast Hub: https://www.johnhancock.com/financial-advice/podcast.html
