I was watching TV with my partner a
few nights ago when one of the new Lloyds Bank adverts came on. If you are a
reader in the UK then you will probably have seen it. It features a group of
people from some remote village running to their local beach to watch a group
of black horses run past.
At the end of the advert a cute young girl starts to stroke one of the horses and smiles into the camera. This is supposed to create a quintessentially British atmosphere, but I wonder how many viewers realise that it was actually filmed in New Zealand.
At the end of the advert a cute young girl starts to stroke one of the horses and smiles into the camera. This is supposed to create a quintessentially British atmosphere, but I wonder how many viewers realise that it was actually filmed in New Zealand.
I commented to my partner that I
thought this was a really stupid TV advert as it had absolutely no message or
purpose, yet Lloyds Bank has been plugging this advert repeatedly on TV for the
last few weeks. It's getting so boring.
But I think I've now just worked out why Lloyds
Bank has decided to develop the type of campaign that attempts to
create a subconscious 'feel good' atmosphere without actually saying anything
at all about the bank itself.
I think the rationale behind this type
of vague ‘say nothing’ advertising, is because the banks realise that whatever
they say in their marketing materials, they will just face a barrage of
criticism from people who are still angry about their unethical behaviour which
indirectly resulted in the global economic crash of 2008.
So, with this in mind, it's just easier
for banks to create vague awareness-raising marketing campaigns with obscure imagery
that makes you feel good about the bank at an emotional level, without actually promoting any message
about the bank itself or its products. In fact, this is exactly what the
tobacco industry did for several years leading up to the ban on tobacco
advertising in the UK in 2003. In other words, the less you say, the better.
So what about HSBC?
So what about HSBC?
I personally think HSBC has made a
massive mistake in launching a new advertising campaign which does
the exact opposite to the Lloyds campaign, giving a strong message that many customers are interpreting
as being 'politically biased'.
The new HSBC campaign (which includes
billboards, press adverts and TV commercials) claims the UK "is not an
island" and then goes on to talk about all the ways that Britain as a
country is influenced by other cultures from around the world. Hmmm...interesting.
The TV advert, featuring British
comedian Richard Ayoade, ends with the strap-line "together we thrive".
In normal times this phrase would be regarded as almost meaningless. But thousands
of people have complained about it on social media, claiming the adverts are intended
to be ‘anti-Brexit’. And the advertising agency behind the campaign - J Walter Thompson - has amazingly
almost confirmed this by saying the adverts are in
response to the "current atmosphere" and to remind people that we are
all global citizens "whatever the political climate".
If that’s not a political statement,
then what is!?!
One social media user questioned
whether HSBC risked "alienating a large number of potential
customers" with this new campaign. And I would agree with them. Regardless
of whether there was any political intention, in the current febrile climate within
the UK, any advertising campaign that focuses on ‘internationalism’ and
relationships with other countries is going to be interpreted by the public as
being political, regardless of whether this was intended.
But perhaps even more damaging than
the political aspects of the campaign, these new adverts put HSBC at risk of
being accused of hypocrisy, as was perfectly summed up by the well-known journalist
and broadcaster Tim Montgomerie on Twitter.
In his words: “We are an island
actually - full of villages and towns your bank deserted; of cleaners you
underpaid; and of money laundering and other laws you bent. Brexit was a
response to the economy you helped decimate. Thanks for the lecture, but we’ll
manage without it.”
There is no doubt that some HSBC customers will love this advertising campaign. But if their customer base
reflects the country as a whole (as seen in the EU referendum) then around half
of them will absolutely hate it.
HSBC has taken a massive risk in their
new advertising campaign. Perhaps they should have taken a lesson from the
Lloyds Bank horses running across an empty beach. Sometimes a boring and
meaningless ‘feel good’ marketing campaign is exactly what customers want to
see.
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