Fairness might not be the first word that comes to mind when people think about financial services, and that’s exactly the problem that Skipton Building Society’s recent campaign is trying to fix.
In April, the mutual launched a bold new brand platform, Founded on Fairness, marking the start of a wider repositioning campaign designed to challenge perceptions of the sector.
Speaking to Financial Promoter, Steven Glass, head of brand and experience at Skipton Building Society, says the new platform is rooted in the mutual’s “very clear purpose” to help more people own a home, save for life ahead and support long-term financial wellbeing.
“We wanted to bring that clear vision to life through our advertising and Founded on Fairness was conceived as a way of doing that,” he says.
Glass adds that Skipton was also keen to reach a slightly younger audience, and its research showed that a stance build around fairness resonated widely as it was something that people from all walks of life found appealing.
Launching the campaign
A brand transformation of this scale doesn’t happen overnight, especially for an organisation with roots stretching back to the mid-1800s. For Skipton, the priority was to ensure that the repositioning felt authentic and aligned with the values it had built over more than 170 years.
Glass says the decision to launch the campaign now was driven by research showing that most people in the UK feel that life in general isn’t fair and is becoming less so.
In addition, financial institutions are seen as lacking fairness and transparency. In response, the campaign aimed to challenge these perceptions by drawing on Skipton’s heritage and values.
“As a mutual founded in 1853 a belief in fairness and doing what’s right for our members and society has always driven us forward, so we felt we could launch Founded on Fairness against that backdrop,” he says.
But simply claiming fairness isn’t enough, it has to be demonstrated. Glass notes that the building society had credible examples to back up the brand platform and wanted to spotlight those.
“From the way we reward the loyalty of our members, to offering free money reviews, to mortgage products like Track Record and Delayed Start that help people into their first home,” he says.
When it comes to the aims of the repositioning, Glass says it wasn’t so much about changing how customers perceive Skipton, but rather about creating a clearer point of difference – all while staying true to the building society’s long-established values.
“Fairness was always implicit in our purpose and evident in our culture, products and processes,” he says. “Our research told us that we were already associated with terms such as ‘fair’, ‘decent’, ‘genuine’ and ‘honest’, and we wanted to clearly communicate that in our advertising and member communications.”
The results
To support the repositioning campaign, Skipton is set to release a series of three adverts. The first aired on April 9, starring Simon Farnaby, who is known for his roles in Paddington, Ghosts and Horrible Histories. It uses his well-known humour to explore the idea of everyday fairness.
The advert opens at a fairground where a couple visits a fortune-teller’s tent, only to be hit with a steep fee for predictions about their “future.” In contrast, Skipton offers free financial advice to everyone, regardless of income, helping people plan ahead with clarity and confidence.
Glass notes that since the advert’s launch, Skipton Building Society has been tracking its success by monitoring brand awareness, consideration and the strength of the association between “fairness” and the Skipton brand, which are all measured on an ongoing basis.
“The reviews for the first TV ad to be released … have been excellent and we saw a significant improvement in our core brand awareness measure in May,” he says. “So, early signs are positive. We have a second burst of advertising scheduled for later in 2025.”
Glass adds that with the campaign still ongoing, he has also looked internally to assess to see how the repositioning has been received. He says it has been “extremely well” received within the mutual, with over 2,300 colleagues watching the three new TV adverts and other launch materials.
“Our 11-minute launch film alone has been watched by well over 80% of all Building Society employees,” he adds.
He notes that engaging colleagues as advocates of the repositioning has been crucial, adding: “We’re delighted with the feedback and involvement we’ve seen across the Society.”
The positive response to the campaign reflects Skipton’s careful planning and commitment to aligning its actions with its fairness message. By staying true to its heritage, the mutual has crafted an authentic campaign that fosters trust both internally and with customers.