How do you change a culture - and move the numbers?
In this episode of Canadians Create, LG2’s Martin Beauséjour, Arthur Rollet and Stéphanie Martin reveal the inside story of “The Investment Issue,” National Bank of Canada’s award-winning campaign that flipped women’s magazine covers across the country to flip the narrative on money.
Rooted in National Bank’s challenger posture, the team traced the gender investment gap to a confidence gap shaped by pop culture. So they went to the source: women’s magazines. By buying the back covers of nine titles and literally turning them into fronts, then pairing them with substantive print and digital articles, LG2 transformed a familiar medium into a practical, confidence-building playbook for investing.
Financial 'Creators' fronted the message, while a 360 ecosystem—editorial partnerships, influencers, in-branch toolkits and a deep library of site content—made the idea visible and useful. In total, 6.7M copies hit roughly 10,000 points of sale, and publishers themselves helped spread the movement.
Effectiveness followed: the campaign reached nearly four in five target women (25–54) in Quebec and the GTA, lifted brand perceptions on gender equity from 32% to 74%, increased female traffic to National Bank’s site by 21%, and drove a 31% jump in women opening investment accounts—thousands of new accounts during the flight. It’s now scaling via a multi-year content pact and has earned Gold at the Effies Canada for Positive Change: DEI and the Grand Effie in 2025.
