Monzo is Turning Customers into Communities

Digital bank Monzo has grown in popularity and evolved over the years by doing what other banks wouldn’t - and now it aims to take that further with real life experiences and physical media that highlight how it invests in customers first.

Creating physical spaces with campaigns by BBH where customers and fans can connect together over self-help books and football shirts, newly promoted chief marketing officer AJ Coyne sets out to put people at the heart of understanding how to talk about money and aims to create a community where customers feel like a part of something more than a digital bank. 

Coyne is leading this investment, with a focus on creating meaningful, in-person connections, and putting customers at the centre of the brand. He champions creativity as the fuel that ensure everything Monzo does delivers exponential growth for business.

As a challenger brand with 14 million customers, he says that creativity is in Monzo's DNA. "Creativity is the thing that allows us to stand out, whether it be from those who remember 11 years ago in Victoria Park, the hot coral moment card through to the wonky saving challenges before the start of the year, its about finding real problems and solving them in real time."

Banking on success

Coyne began his career on the WPP Ogilvy Fellowship in 2010, a three-year rotational programme spanning account management, strategy and media, working across a range of global brands. The experience laid the foundation for nearly a decade in advertising, where he rose to global account director and later business director at McCann, before pivoting away from traditional agency work to co-create The Lion’s Share, a global initiative launched in partnership with the United Nations.

During this time, Coyne connected with Klarna and later joined to lead marketing, public affairs, and global brand expansion, helping reshape its reputation and launch into new markets. Drawn by its purpose to make money work for everyone and a long-standing personal connection to the brand, Monzo aligned itself with Coyne at a time when he sought out a mission that synced with his values.

Coyne says “It was just a brand I loved, and the chance to be the custodian of a brand was something I could not say no to.”

A new money conversation

Along with an admiration for the hot coral colour of the card, Coyne was inspired by the conversational and relatable tone of voice Monzo has and has the confidence to continue to carry that through into its marketing in 2026.

Grounded in research into customers’ apprehension about checking their savings, Coyne saw this as an opportunity to shine a light on how people really feel and talk on an honest level. He says “The financial services industry doesn't really talk about money, and if they do, it's glossified. It's all ‘better tomorrows’ whereas it's not a linear journey”. He shared that through Monzo’s research people would “rather deep clean their bathroom then check their savings”, which to Coyne was a chance to do something incredible and shine a light on how people feel. 

The ‘Get Your Money Moving’ campaign by BBH leans heavily into behaviour change and communicates to customers to start being active with money, rather than let it sit in savings without moving. With language like “Idle money gathers dust. Busy money gathers momentum”, it awakes customers up with awareness of taking back control and being confident with controlling their finances. 

Adjusting the strategy

Changes in how money talks also met with changes in marketing strategies and the language shared when pitching ideas. He says instead of learning the marketing language, it's about ensuring that those listening to the pitch are understanding the language of Monzo. 

Coyne says “We talk to people about their money in a way that they understand. We solve problems that are true to the customer.”

At the end of 2025, after celebrating the success of ‘The Book of Money’, Monzo embraces the impact again with an OOH tube takeover with different titiles in every execution, spotlighting a selection of different motivations within relatable every day moments. Ones like ‘actually reading my bank statement’ and ‘finally moving out’ or making someone’s Christmas extra special", the campaign aligns with real audience motivations and behaviours, and commits to putting peoples real problems first.

With social media dominating the marketing space, Coyne says that wasn’t a factor when he first started and there were no distractions from traditional advertising. He says “There are so many social media platforms, there are so many forms of content and entertainment that ensures that people are inundated and fragmented in terms of attention that is really hard to get and scarce.” He shares that planning the marketing funnel has to be different now and instead be more customer focused to drive some kind of moment in culture like ‘The Book of Money’ which is spotlighted in the OOH tube takeover and was a piece of physical media that went from a being a clear, jargon-free advice on budgeting to a Sunday Times Bestseller. Being people focused is what brought Coyne to realise a return and a need for physical media and physical spaces.

When a Bank Becomes a Bestseller

In 2025, The pop-up Book Nook for The Book of Money, created with BBH and Penguin Random House, not only released a product that customers can engage with but also a personalised experience. He talks about how creating the book, a physical product that people can touch, read, and enjoy, attracts people, and attracts a mass amount of people to queue up because they want to be able to say that they believe in the idea and that they want to have the experience.

“I didn't think I would be knocking Times Best Seller off the bucket list” he says, and reflects on how driving short term growth through the Soho pop up impacted customers' sustained trust and consideration for Monzo.

This strategy reflects a new kind of engagement and Coyne says in an era of everything being online and everything being fragmented, you can bring customers together in a really “meaningful way and have a much deeper relationship”.

Big impact, small price

This has continued through into 2026 with pop up 1p shops connecting with customers and football fans. Created with BBH and Coventry City Football Club sponsor, customers paid 1p with their Monzo card and walked away with a new CCFC away shirt. The idea came from connecting community and product together and Coyne firmly believes that when it comes to communities, there is a need to give back. 

Reflecting on previous campaigns giving cashback, Coyne said that the creative idea from BBH came from asking one simple question: what if the hot coral, unapologetically branded Monzo football kit was made available to anyone joining the challenge for just a penny? He talked about how it created mass media, being covered by the BBC, and it wasn't because Monzo was in Coventry, it was because of the idea. 

Coyne says that the idea brings together many parts of the funnel that will try to get people who are out of the market into the market and how BBH creates a strong commercial role for Monzo, being able to create an physical experience that drives not only customers, but creators and journalists, bringing the noise and ultimately being the thing that all together fuels Monzo's organic growth.

The world of marketing according to AJ Coyne

Creative Salon: What excites you about being a marketer?

AJ Coyne: I would say, solving real business problems through the power of customer insight and creativity and really ensuring that marketing is seen as a commercial investment, and ultimately, when we do our job right we deliver mass impact to the business.

What frustrates you?

I feel like there's a tendency for everyone to try and copy each other. Design and brands that are popping out, they all sort of start to look the same colours, same set like simplicity and so that, to me, frustrates me, because it means that they're a sea of the same and not actually unique to anybody.

What makes a good agency partner?

I'd say culture fit and innovation. Fundamentally I want them to know our business as well as us. I want them to actually know the category better than us. I want them to challenge us, but put creativity as the North Star, because we know that when creative works it is a hundred times the strongest delivery of ROI and so that's critical.

What excites you about the future?

We are live in the UK, in the US, and Ireland. Now, all I can say is there are soon to be many more European markets this year. And so for me, launching a bank in new markets is incredibly exciting. We have some big creative things coming down the pipeline with BBH, and hopefully Coventry City getting promoted to the Premier League  If I can say that without counting my chickens before they hatch [They since have been.]