Santander recently launched their largest scale campaign to date. The 'Simple, Personal, Fair' campaign marks a notable change in the bank, as it positions itself as a more direct and less convoluted alternative to its closest rivals. The campaign follows hot on the heels of the banks award winning '123' accounts, which offer Santander customers cash-back on household bills and incredibly competitive interest rates.
The campaign is a heavily integrated affair developed by WCRS and Carat
The campaign is a heavily integrated affair, developed by London-based integrated ad agency WCRS and media planning and buying specialists Carat. It launched last Sunday (the 9th of March) on ITV with the premier of the 'Three Words' ad, which was directed by Steve Reeves of the 'Another Film' company. The ad takes the form of a selection of short vignettes, each depicting everyday words being used in a variety of ways to describe different people and different things. The purpose of the ad was to demonstrate just how easily everything in our lives can be summed up in just three words, an ethos underlined by Santander's new 'Simple, Personal, Fair' tagline.
This (aptly) simple and direct sentiment sums up what Santander truly believe a bank should be, and the words have been echoed in the majority of the work the bank has been doing over the past 18 months and will continue to do for the foreseeable future. The campaign features ambassadors for the brand such as olympian athlete Jessica Ennis-Hill, golfer Rory Mcllroy and Formula One legend Jenson Button. Instead of offering these established sports heroes up as the protagonists of the ad though, the ad instead allows them to work as facilitators for the story and the message. The ad will be backed up by numerous product spots (led by the afore-mentioned ambassadors) as well as extensive digital, outdoor, cinematic and printed press campaigns.
“This campaign will build on the success we’ve had in recent years in growing consumer awareness and confidence in Santander.” Keith Moor, Santander chief marketing officer
Santander's chief marketing officer Keith Moor, said that the campaign aims to show customers how they “Aspire to be simple, personal and fair”, that they are listening to their customers feedback, and that they are genuinely doing all the can to “Build a better bank.” He believes that the campaign will build on recent successes and will further inspire “Awareness and confidence” in the brand, a confidence he feels is “Key in attracting new customers and developing deep and lasting relationships.”
WCRS creative director Billy Faithfull, thinks that there is “Something refreshingly honest about Santander's insistence that everything the organisation does must live up to three words,” an honesty he feels is “As appropriate for the boardroom as it is the branch.” He is inspired by the viral potential of the idea that anything around us can be summed up by three words, believing the idea can be viewed almost as a game which “Anyone can play anywhere and apply to anything.” Matt Huntingford, client director at Carat meanwhile, thinks that the success Santander has had with the 123 campaign makes them the “Number one challenger to the 'big 4' banks,” and that the new campaign represents exactly “How banking should be.”
Benjamin Hiorns is a freelance copywriter and has maintained an account with Santander for over 2 years now, having become frankly jaded by the sheer indifference of the Halifax.
