Simpler World
The Payments Council
Issue 29 | December 2013
Agency
Engine, Creative led by Partners Andrews Aldridge
Creative Team
Creative Director: Steve Aldridge Copywriter: Ross Newton Art Director: Richard Worrow Directors: Pierre + Bertrand Senior Designer: Stephen Rose
Production Team
Post-production: Rushes Music production/track: Patrick Stemelen Audio post-production: Ollie Usher @ Scrabble Social Team, Senior Community Manager: Nisa Bayindir
Other Credits
Managing Partner: Mark Davison Group Account Director: Mat Thomas Account Director: Paolo Proh Account Manager: Sam Paiolo Account Executive: Alexa Turnpenny
Date
September 2013
Background
The new Current Account Switch service, spearheaded by the Payments Council and delivered by 33 bank and building society brands, is designed to help consumers, small charities and small businesses make switching current account from one provider to another simpler, reliable and hassle-free. The campaign was designed to boost awareness of the new service and communicate the detailed message in a way that was fun, simple and eye catching.
Idea
Engine, with creative led by Partners Andrews Aldridge set out to create a nationwide campaign that would boost awareness of the Current Account Switch Service and present the service in a simple, creative way.
Partners Andrews Aldridge recruited top animators Pierre + Bertrand to create a 'simpler world' that would highlight how the account switching service is simple and hassle free.
The animators used fun and quirky characters to explain the detailed service, drawing on the behavioural traits of the featured animated characters to emphasise the key benefits of the service in comparison to the past.
A feathered flying squad of birds represents the speed and efficiency of the new service and the automatic transfer of payments from a customer's old account to their new one. A highly organised ladybird demonstrates the new opportunity for customers to choose the switch date that suits them and the seamless transformation from caterpillar to butterfly of the central character defines the hassle-free nature of the new Current Account Switch Service. Finishing the television advert with the butterfly landing on top of the Current Account Switch Service Guarantee Trustmark, which had been created by PAA, informs customers of what they should be looking out for if they want to switch.
The new service removes the barriers to switching that used to exist and the 'Simpler World' depicted in the advertising campaign aims to show just that.
Results
TNS Market Research results revealed that awareness of the Current Account Switching Service reached 41% in the launch week, up from 15% in June.
Since the launch of the new Current Account Switch Service 89,000 switches have been successfully completed. This represents an 11% increase when compared to the same four week period in 2012.