Savvy The Squirrel Leads Invest for the Future's TV Push

Invest for the Future, the industry-led, nationwide retail investment campaign, has launched a new TV spot starring Savvy the Squirrel, created by M+C Saatchi Group UK. The film is part of a major integrated push and is the second phase of a multi-year campaign designed to shift behaviour at scale and make investing feel accessible to millions of UK savers.

At the heart of ‘Take The Next Step. Invest’ is the insight that many people who save money do not see themselves as the “investor type”. The campaign connects investing to a behaviour they already understand, saving, and encourages them to consider it as an achievable next step. Savvy embodies that shift: unlike his squirrel counterparts hoarding money and hoping for the best, he now invests some of what he has saved and takes a more confident, long-term view. He acts as an approachable advocate for exploring investing, without recommending particular products.

The campaign aims to educate to people at different stages of their investing journey, from those just starting to explore the idea or sitting on the fence to those who are almost ready or looking to take action. By tailoring its messages to these audiences, it aims to address concerns about risk, uncertainty about where to start and the feeling that investing is “not for people like me”.

The TV spot, directed by BAFTA-winning director and animator Rick Thiele at Partizan, takes Savvy, introduced in the campaign’s first phase in April, into the real world. Blending live-action filmmaking with 3D animation and CGI, it places him in everyday settings where he feels as much a part of the scene as the people around him.

The film leads with a series of warm, playful scenes. Savvy turns up playing padel and roller skating, as well as taking time out for a sweet treat and taking part in karaoke. These familiar moments give him a life beyond the financial world and help make investing feel more relevant to people who might otherwise dismiss it as “not for them”. His instinct for putting something away for the future offers a simple connection between saving and investing, without overwhelming audiences with financial terminology.

To give Savvy a convincing presence in these settings, the team captured real-world locations and scenarios in a dedicated shoot before bringing him into them through CGI. Careful attention to his fur, lighting, shadows, colour, scale and interaction with each environment makes him feel at home in the world around him. His familiar voice also returns across the TV and audio work, bringing consistency to the character as audiences encounter him throughout the integrated campaign.

The campaign is running across linear TV and video on demand, alongside radio, digital audio, podcasts, out of home, press, social, display and search. A significantly increased media investment in this second phase aims to extend its reach and build recognition of Savvy and the wider initiative. Media is handled by the7stars.

The new activity follows positive results from the campaign’s first phase, which delivered 124 million paid media impressions and more than 216,000 clicks using 18% of the full year’s planned media spend. In pre- and post-campaign research, the proportion of people agreeing that “investing is for people like me” rose from 59% to 65%. After seeing and hearing the advertising, 49% said they were more likely to consider investing, while 83% said they had taken or would take at least one of the actions listed in the survey, such as researching investing. In the wider survey, the proportion of savers who said some of their savings were invested rose from 36% to 42%.

The activity directs people to takethenextstepinvest.co.uk, where they can find information to help them explore their options and decide whether investing is right for their circumstances.

John Owen, Chief Executive of the Investment Association, said: “The UK has a strong savings culture, but too many people who could consider investing still see it as unfamiliar, complicated or simply something other people do. The first six months have given us encouraging evidence that we can begin to change those perceptions.

“Changing that will not happen overnight. Alongside wider reforms to improve the support available to consumers, this sustained commitment from across the industry can help build greater understanding and confidence and, ultimately, a stronger investing culture in the UK.”

Marcus Peffers, Executive Chair, M+C Saatchi Group UK, added: “When we introduced Savvy earlier this year, we took a familiar symbol of saving and gave it a new role. Now he’s stepping into the places people recognise from their own lives. That matters because the barrier isn’t simply a lack of information. Many people have never felt that investing belongs in their world. Cultural Power comes from changing that feeling, building a character people want to spend time with and, over time, helping them see a different possibility for themselves.”

Guy Bradbury, Chief Creative Officer, M+C Saatchi UK, added: “We wanted to get Savvy out into the wild and drop him right into the middle of British life. So we obsessed over the details, how he moves, how he reacts, how he belongs in the world around him. The result is playful, warm and very British, with just the right amount of mischief. Savvy gives us a way to take some of the stiffness out of investing and make it feel a little more human.”

Richard Morgan, Creative Director, M+C Saatchi UK, concluded: “We’re really excited to be bringing Savvy to screens across Britain. As a helpful little advocate for investing, he’ll be popping up at a time when lots of us are thinking 'how we could I be doing more with my money?’. Dropping him into the middle of everyday British life, we hope he can bring a bit of warmth and personality to investing, and get more of us to think ‘maybe this is something for me.’”

CREDITS

Client: Invest for the Future (The Investment Campaign Ltd.)
Campaign secretariat: The Investment Association
Creative agency: M+C Saatchi Group UK

Marcus Peffers – Executive Chair, M+C Saatchi Group UK
Guy Bradbury – Chief Creative Officer
Richard Morgan – Creative Director
Ben Gough – Senior Copywriter
Kristian Limpert – Art Director
Tupelo Browne – Copywriter
Andy Harris – Head of Design
Malene Igland – Designer
Amy Cracknell – Head of Production
Dale Chapman – Senior Producer
Vanessa Young – Senior Producer
Lisa Walton-Rixon – Client Partner
Charlie Feeney – Senior Account Manager
Sophie Lean – Head of Strategy
Jack Cartwright – Strategy Director
Lisa Wheeler – Project Director