Allica Bank
Building the Great British Savings Squeeze campaign.
The campaign
Allica Bank is on a mission to give small and medium size businesses the banking they deserve.
The SME-focused fintech offers products and services tailored to its target market – a market ignored and underserved by big name banks.
Part of Allica’s mission is to change the way small firms are treated by banks by bringing attention to the inequalities they face.
To give the story depth and meaning, we created the Great British Savings Squeeze project, a year-long campaign focused on the fact that big banks are ripping off their small business customers – and that Allica is here to change things.
The Great British Savings Squeeze campaign ran alongside our regular strategic communications support for Allica, with each piece of work designed to complement existing activity.
£7.5 billion is the value we calculated SMEs are losing in the UK each year when banking with incumbents
Four high profile industry heavyweight backers
55+ pieces of national and specialist press coverage
Hundreds of industry signatures of support
Building a successful campaign
The Great British Savings Squeeze started out life as a series of complicated spreadsheets.
The data they contained – plus more primary research – showed that small and medium size businesses in the UK are losing out on £7.5 billion a year in savings interest, all because banks aren’t offering them the same interest rates they offer to private customers and large businesses.
We helped Allica to launch a campaign centred around this huge figure, with the goal of fixing the savings market, getting small firms they money they deserved and raising Allica’s profile while doing it.
With big campaign partners on board, the Great British Savings Squeeze demanded:
- An end to the SME savings penalty
- For SMEs to be notified of better rates elsewhere
- And for increased protections on SME deposits
Interest in the campaign was immediate and the need for change in the industry was clear.
The results
Execution
- Campaign assets: Set up a campaign website and petition
- Political engagement: Wrote to the Treasury Select Committee who acknowledged the campaign during a TSC inquiry meeting
- Industry support: Gathered official support from major organisations including the Institute of Directors and Federation of Small Businesses who became campaign partners
- Official report: Produced an industry-wide data-led report into the state of the SME business savings market
Results
- In the media: Secured coverage in major publications including The Times, The Telegraph and Financial Times
- Aligned messaging: Tied the campaign to Allica’s broader objectives of being on the side of SMEs
- Business success: Increased sign ups to their business current account product
- Longevity: The campaign continues…
