A new Nationwide TV advert mocks shareholder-owned banks and features the return of a Hollywood star.
In the same week that rival Santander filed an official complaint about the building society’s previous promo, the Swindon-based business has revealed the next part of its Good Way to Bank campaign.
Actor Dominic West resumes the role of fictional A.N.Y Banks' aloof boss and is again approached by his assistant, played by comedian Sunil Patel, who suggests that they should be more like Nationwide.
The minute-long marketing piece will air during the England vs Wales Six Nations match as well as new episodes of Trigger Point and The Masked Singer today.
In it, the assistant interrupts a boring meeting West’s character is having and announces that the results of a new customer satisfaction survey are in – and they are not good.
The Crown star responds: “Remember, it’s the shareholders I need to keep happy. But we can’t lose too many customers, makes me look bad.”
His long-suffering employee remarks that they could copy Nationwide’s SavingsWatch service that notifies customers who are signed up of changes to their savings accounts, annual savings reports, and newly launched accounts that might be better suited to their needs.
Dominic worries that soon his bank’s customers will soon ask for the same service, and is shown comments by people he calls “keyboard warriors” who “can’t even spell ‘banker’.”
Sunil Patel’s character points out that the commenter was not typing ‘banker’ but something else with a very similar spelling.
Richard Warren, director of brand marketing and experience at Nationwide, said, “We’re continuing our campaign to position Nationwide as a modern and confident challenger to the big banks.
"We don’t have shareholders, so we can focus entirely on our customers and doing what’s right for them.
"Our SavingsWatch service isn’t something new – it’s something we’ve been doing for our customers for years because it’s the right thing to do. We want our customers to get the best out of their money.
"Bringing who we are as a building society to the surface ensures Nationwide continues to be relevant and attractive, not only to existing customers but to future generations of savers and borrowers. We think this makes us ‘A good way to bank’.”
This comes after Santander complained to the Advertising Standards Authority, arguing that the first advert in Nationwide’s campaign was “misleading around other banks closing branches, and discredits and denigrates its competitors”.
It is understood a decision has not yet been made regarding the complaint.
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