You know that moment in a meeting when someone dares to suggest something actually interesting?

“What if we tried this?”

The room suddenly comes alive. Everyone sits up. It’s like you can almost see the lightbulbs turning on above everyone’s heads.

But the next time you revisit it, the idea’s been trimmed, softened and more ‘finance-friendly’.

And suddenly, so much for originality.

The paradox of this is psychological: you need new angles to stand out in finance, but somehow, your brand’s creative engine ends up playing it safe.

Why? Because, creativity triggers uncertainty and uncertainty makes people uncomfortable, even when they claim they welcome innovation.

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Creativity bias… the brake it puts on genuinely new angles

Research from the University of Pennsylvania in 2010 found that when people feel uncertain, they develop a negative bias toward genuinely creative ideas, even when those ideas are high quality.

In other words, your stakeholders say they want fresh ideas, but subconsciously prefer the practical and familiar.

Creativity becomes risky.

And so many finance marketers end up adopting the same old angles anyway.

The thing is, it’s not enough to say “we’ll do something different.” You have to recognise the bias working against the fresh ideas from the start and build angles that move around it, not straight into it.

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Are the “new angles” you’re chasing even welcome?

This is what I’m seeing with so much finance content right now:

“Next-gen”

“AI-first.”

“Game-changing”

“Award-winning”

“Seamless”

“Revolutionary”

And the list goes on. Meanwhile the audience skims past.

It’s because originality alone isn’t enough. Relevance and clarity matter more.

Think about it: your customer wants to feel competent, safe and ahead of the curve. They don’t want to be nervous, confused or playing catch-up.

A new concept that increases weight on brain power may actually hurt trust. Creativity that demands effort without payoff often becomes invisible.

So yes, we need new angles. But we also need angles that fit the audience:

their concerns, their context, their identity.

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How to discover genuinely new but acceptable angles

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1.    Start with conventional belief, then twist it.

What’s everyone saying? “Our platform makes transactions seamless.” Fine.

But then ask: What if ‘seamless’ feels impersonal? Find a new angle, like:

“You shouldn’t have to think about payments – they should just happen.”

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2.    Think like an expert

Experts often assume everyone thinks like them (the “curse of knowledge”).

So ask: What do they not know yet? Then build an angle around that knowledge gap.

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3.    Frame the risk of sameness.

Show that doing the same thing carries risk now, because for financial businesses, “me-too” means invisible. Your angle becomes less about being different and more about being remembered.

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4.     Design for cognitive ease.

Novelty is great. But if it slows the brain down too much, people resist. Use storytelling, relatable analogies, clear frames to make your new angle feel familiar quickly.

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Final thought

If your marketing keeps cycling through the same themes, it’s almost certainly not due to lack of budget.

It’s lack of angle.

And the subconscious bias against creativity might be part of the reason why.

Creativity for creativity’s sake often leads to dead ends.

But creativity with relevance? That sells.

Speak soon

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