Lansons scoops top broadcast award at CorpComms award for launch of Metro Bank
Last week, the Metro Bank team here at Lansons picked up the award for best use of broadcast as part of a communications strategy at the CorpComms awards, for the launch of the bank in July 2010, beating off stiff competition from the likes of Blue Rubicon and Ogilvy.
The team has worked with the chairman, chief executive and senior management team at Metro Bank since 2009, and the launch of the bank relied entirely upon PR. Here, Pernille Sahl Taylor, head of broadcast and co-head of our specialist content production and broadcast arm, Lansons Live, tells how the team made headlines for the first new High St bank to be launched in over 100 years.
"When was the last time you saw a queue of TV and radio crews on a red carpet, without a celebrity in sight? Metro Bank was to become the first new High Street Bank to open its doors in over 100 years and its unique ‘retailer of financial services’ proposition needed to be seen to be believed by its future customers, and unlike previous banking stories the media needed to be positively behind this bank.
"Our brief was to create a broadcast buzz to bring the Metro Bank ‘store’ concept to life. Broadcast coverage, especially television, would be vital in order to shape both media and consumer perception of the new look venture – which was more akin to an American diner than a bank.
"We needed to successfully navigate the negative sentiment towards banks and unprecedented scrutiny of new entrants, so we knew it was vital to set the news agenda, shape media opinion directly and leverage the significant appetite for change in the UK banking sector. Our approach was three-fold. Phase one was all about preparation and planning – we undertook a robust programme of media training, message development and scenario planning to mitigate risks. We then started fuelling the momentum ahead of the launch, by building proactive relationships with key journalists to shape opinion early, and creating a controlled media ‘buzz’ by delivering select Metro Bank stories to specific news channels and programmes. This meant by the time of the actual launch, we had successfully begun to tell the Metro Bank story, and were able to create excitement about the first High Street Bank to open its doors in over 100 years, as well as really shaping media sentiment over the launch period.
"The results speak for themselves:
- the PR programme ensured customers came to the bank to open accounts and brand awareness amongst Londoners increased from 1 in 10 Londoners in July, to 6 in 10 by October, according to research by YouGov. - the success of the launch enabled Metro Bank to accelerate the store opening programme and enabled the bank to raise - in total, 170 items of broadcast coverage from May 22 to launch (July 29) were generated, of which 132 over the launch period. BBC Breakfast filme live from the store opening on July 29 for the whole of the programme with Simon Jack (Business Presenter) presenting all his features from inside Metro Bank, and then went on to film segments for the BBC News Channel throughout the morning from the store. The BBC coverage shaped the news agenda for the day, and made Metro
- 23% of the coverage broadcast generated at launch featured a member of the senior executive team
- at least 10 outlets broadcast from the flagship Holborn store on the day of launch
- at least 46 news items broadcast over the launch period included footage of the store opening
- in total, 132 broadcast features were generated
- the audience reached via broadcast media over the launch week was over 60 million
Since the launch the PR team has continued to work with Metro Bank to support the roll out of its store network, it now has nine stores across the Greater London area.
For more information on how Lansons Live can help you deliver your messages to an audience of millions, contact Pernille on pernillet@lansons.com