The Power of Purpose

This year we launched our ‘For the Better’ award, a first-of-its-kind pro bono initiative created in partnership with our friends at the Finance Innovation Lab, aiming to give £10,000 worth of consultancy to a not-for-profit or social enterprise aiming to transform the world of financial services for the better.

One of the very worthy applicants was Emilie Bellet, founder of Vestpod, a digital platform that aims to tackle women’s last taboo: money. Emilie came to us looking to grow her audience ahead of her book launch in May 2019. This was a great challenge as Emilie had already shown her marketing expertise through gaining 2,500 highly engaged followers across Vestpod’s Instagram and newsletter.

We took a holistic approach and developed an integrated campaign across brand, PR, creative, influencer and paid media focusing on executing one idea and amplifying this on all channels, both URL and IRL.

Our first step was to help Emilie clarify and shine a light on Vestpod’s purpose; that financial education and empowerment are integral to achieving gender equality. So, with the 2019 International Women’s Day theme being #BalanceForBetter we saw this as the perfect opportunity to galvanise a tribe of women around money and investing, with Emilie as the bastion of change.

At the centre of the IWD campaign was an event where we invited a panel of three female leaders to talk frankly about finances. This offered Vestpod the perfect opportunity to live stream relevant content to Instagram as well as to invite journalists, influencers and loyal followers to attend, learn and share Vestpod’s message.

In the run up to the event we primed the Vestpod audience with an Instagram story campaign which encouraged engagement with polls and questionnaires to tailor the panel discussions around FAQs on savings, investments and jargon busting. This saw Emilie’s Instagram engagement rise by 303%. We then ran a short test Instagram ad campaign, a first for Emilie, which achieved an outstanding 32% click through rate to promote the event.

At the same time the PR newsroom were busy issuing comments to journalists on the importance of financial education in closing the gender investment gap, moving a conversation that had previously overly focused on the gender pay gap. This saw Vestpod land ten features in quality titles including Refinery 29, Tesco Magazine and The Guardian as well as introductions to 10 key journalists and influences.

Every branch of activity undertaken by the team spoke to Vestpod’s brand purpose, and the successes achieved in the campaign highlighted the power that having a purpose can have for brands. Ultimately, Vestpod had a reason to talk and engage with its audience and this allowed them to be a credible voice in encouraging women to take control of their money.

Vestpod can be found @Vestpod or vestpod.com.

Emilie’s best-selling book “You’re not broke, you’re Pre-rich” is available on Amazon.

"I worked with Teamspirit on our IWD 2019 and book launch campaigns with Vestpod. They helped me build momentum with social media, asset creation and press coverage as well as strengthen Vestpod's brand strategy. Vestpod has benefited hugely from the partnership and it's been amazing working with the creative and talented team. Thank you to the Finance Innovation Lab and Teamspirit for their much needed For The Better Award initiative to improve financial health."

- Emilie BELLET, founder of Vestpod