Allica Bank has expanded its “I like-a bank” brand platform with its largest integrated campaign to date, spanning TV, OOH and digital, as it looks to challenge what it sees as an increasingly impersonal business banking experience.
Built around the idea of helping customers “like your business again”, the campaign takes aim at common frustrations among established SMEs, including call centres, long hold times and being passed between departments. Allica argues that such experiences have become normalised and are ultimately holding businesses back.
The new creative brings the bank’s proposition to life by focusing on personal relationships and tailored support. Central to the messaging is the promise of a dedicated relationship manager, alongside technology designed to bring customers closer to their bank rather than push them further away.
The TV spot features the brand’s distinctive orange bowler hat, a key asset developed as part of its wider brand evolution. In the ad, the bank is personified as a man wearing the hat, emerging on a conveyor belt and greeting a customer with a personal question: “Morning Sarah, how was the sound bath retreat in Cornwall?” She responds: “I like a bank that knows me, not just my numbers,” underlining the campaign’s focus on human connection.
The push marks the culmination of more than two years of brand development, during which Allica has refined its positioning and creative approach. Since launching the platform, the bank has leaned into an “eccentrically British” tone of voice, established the orange bowler hat as a distinctive brand device and tested different media channels to optimise reach and effectiveness.
The campaign also reinforces the brand’s use of humour and wordplay, with the “I like-a bank” line continuing to anchor its communications as it seeks to stand out in a crowded financial services market.