Northwestern Mutual has launched a podcast to help consumers find blind spots in their financial plans—part of a broader campaign targeting young adults.

For the past year, the financial services company conducted research and found that 75% of Americans with financial plans feel they could handle their money better. Teaching people how to think long-term with their budgets takes time they often don’t have, but the “A Better Way to Money” podcast provides a long-form outlet for giving financial advice at a comfortable pace, said Lynn Teo, chief marketing officer at Northwestern Mutual.

“It allows the listeners to learn as they go,” Teo said. “It’s also a perfect example of Northwestern Mutual showing up on a platform that has grown very rapidly.”

The company’s decision to create a podcast was partially informed by eMarketer research showing that podcast listenership is up nearly 84% since 2019.

That figure isn’t necessarily indicative of a rise in branded podcast listenership, but a separate study from Signal Hill found branded podcasts are still effective at driving affinity when people tune in. Branded podcasts make 61% of listeners on average feel more favorable to the brand, according to the audio research company’s 2024 benchmark report. And podcasting company Acast has found that branded podcasts have an average listener retention rate of 28 minutes.

“A Better Way to Money” is also the name of Northwestern Mutual’s broader campaign that introduces new brand visuals on the company’s owned channels and includes a series of 15- and 30-second spots running on streaming platforms and social media.

Each ad showcases what young people can attain with proper financial planning. Northwestern Mutual kept creative in-house while charging Siegel+Gale with brand positioning and Interbrand with crafting the new visuals, which include a new blue, yellow and white color scheme, hand-drawn visuals and a custom font that will run across the company's website, owned social channels, influencer content and ads.

The first spots ran during NBC’s NFL broadcast of the Baltimore Ravens and Kansas City Chiefs on Thursday and were planned to air on the Los Angeles Rams and Detroit Lions broadcast on Sunday night.

Teo declined to disclose the campaign budget but stated that the financial services company is increasingly investing in podcasting. The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company spent $13 million in U.S.-measured media in the first half of 2024, according to Vivvix, including paid social data from Pathmatics.

Creator Jennifer Borget hosts the podcast, inviting guests such as comedian Kat Stickler to discuss topics including negotiating a new job, side hustles, legacy and estate planning, establishing financial intimacy within relationships and planning for children. Northwestern Mutual plans to post new episodes of the eight-part series on major streaming platforms every other Thursday.

The campaign will wrap toward the end of the year, which tends to be Northwestern Mutual’s most lucrative season. The company offers financial planning with advisors, insurance policies and investment advisory services.

“It’s by design that we’re launching Sept. 5 and taking advantage of the podcast by creating listenership and stacking all of our paid, owned and earned media so we get that crescendo effect going into Q1 next year,” Teo said.

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Borget and guests represent the show’s target audience of 25-to-39-year-olds getting started with their financial journeys, Teo said, adding that a decent portion of Northwestern Mutual’s customers are old enough to have been with the company for decades.

“We did some studies in our addressable market and we looked at where there are unmet needs,” she said. “About 800,000 of our 5 million clients have been with us for 30-plus years.”

Given that podcast listeners skew younger, keeping “A Better Way to Money” casual was the best way to reach young consumers intimidated by financial planning, Teo said.

Each episode will end with a call to action encouraging listeners to visit Northwestern Mutual’s website. The company will evaluate the podcast’s success by its listenership growth, social media engagement and how many people it drives to the website and to request meetings with advisors.