Signals

UK – Recognising that saving for a house deposit can feel like an overwhelming task, money-saving app Nude is stepping in to motivate aspiring home-owners.

Designed to help people save a deposit for a house, the app uses time as a motivator – featuring an in-app countdown for tracking financial progress. Once users input how much they need to save for a deposit, Nude will give them a time estimate of how long it will take to raise that amount. To incentivise users, the app also provides personalised ideas and habit-building challenges to help reduce their predicted saving time.

‘By transforming ‘how much you need’ into ‘when you’ll buy your home’ we’re making it real,’ explains Crawford Taylor, co-founder of Nude. ‘The design of the app also creates a more accessible approach to mortgage saving, avoiding conventional fintech cues and instead taking inspiration from lifestyle brands.’

Fintech brands are increasingly borrowing cues from the lifestyle industries to engage consumers. Previously, we identified how mortgage brokerHabito is using unexpected branding to reframe the home-buying experience.

While canned food often has a bad reputation for being less nutritious than fresh produce, US shoppers are beginning to change their view as a result of the pandemic.

New data from Morning Consult finds that 39% of people who ate more packaged fruit during lockdown now consider it healthier than they did before the pandemic. This compares to 52% who say that their views of the item remain unchanged. More generally, 78% of Americans consider packaged fruit as just as healthy, while only 12% newly perceive these products as healthy.

This behavioural change seems to be related to increased product exposure among consumers, with canned and packaged produce brand Del Monte Foods reporting a 200% year-on-year increase in sales in March 2020. ‘We experienced a double-digit increase in demand for our products over the past year, and we continue to see positive demand,’ says Bibie Wu, chief marketing officer at Del Monte.

We’ve been tracking a change in attitude towards the nutritional value of frozen foods, and this data shows that a similar mindset may be emerging when it comes to canned produce.