Conversations about money are usually focused on men. But in modern America, this makes no sense.
Today, women make up half the workforce and control 80% of consumer spending. By 2030, they will hold two-thirds of the country’s wealth (source: Kantar).
Yet, despite these numbers, 60% say they lack the knowledge to make investment decisions. Worse, 30% simply don’t feel confident enough to make decisions.
One reason is the lack of accessible content. Only 10% of editorial content about personal finance features women. This inequality reinforces stereotypes that money is a man’s issue.
Enter Millie, Meredith’s new media platform designed to empower women to take control of their financial futures.
Synchrony Bank, a female-led business similarly focused on bringing financial education to underserved audiences, joined Millie to redress the imbalance and provide women with a voice they could relate to for the first time.
With a female CEO, CIO, strategy lead, head of bank, an employee base that’s 60% female and the most diverse board among Fortune 200 financial services companies, Synchrony is passionate about driving equality in the financial sector.
Our primary objective was to make women feel more confident about making financial decisions, help them manage their money independently, and take control of their financial futures.
We would measure our success by reach and engagement of our content.
We also wanted to drive new female leads for Synchrony Bank and increase interest in its banking products. That success would be gauged by website visits.
To redress the gender balance, our idea was to create Millie, a financial media platform created especially for women.
Hosted primarily online, Millie explored the aspects of money that trouble women: making it, saving it, investing it, and – sometimes, hardest of all – talking about it.
To ensure Millie felt revolutionary, we addressed many topics that had never been addressed from a female perspective before.
Specific articles included how to create a budget you can stick to; how to repay student debt; how to deal with unemployment; how to pay for divorce; how to stay afloat as a single mom.
To ensure our content was credible, it was written by an all-female editorial team – women who had experienced and succeeded in taking control of their financial futures.
This was content designed to empower women and encourage them to take control of their finances -- not talk down to them.
We created more than 150 pieces of content and syndicated them via a blog on the bank’s website – the first of its kind for the banking industry.
We also promoted content across lifestyle title RealSimple.com, Synchrony and Millie-owned social channels (Instagram, Facebook), and we included a quarterly 48-page magazine with Real Simple print issues.
Millie captured the hearts and minds of women:
Millie’s 2020 output amassed a considerable and highly qualified readership, outpacing Real Simple publisher Meredith’s benchmarks for lead generation and brand equity.
An outpouring of positive feedback further validates Synchrony’s multi-year investment in Millie. User testimonials included:
“A pleasant accompaniment to my Real Simple subscription. Please keep sharing the stories of women who are breaking barriers!”
“Loving Millie Magazine. Finance has always been intimidating but I love the bite-size pieces that allow me to dip my feet in slowly.”
“Obsessed with the magazine and what you’re doing in terms of financial education for women!”
Ultimately, Millie content helped Synchrony Bank reach new female clients. And, most importantly, it gave American women a financial voice they could relate to.
