Nationwide claims ad ban an ‘opportunity’ as creative revised

Nationwide claims the Advertising Standards Authority’s (ASA) decision to ban a series of its adverts for misleading consumers over its branch closure claims presents an opportunity to strengthen its pledge to keep branches open.

The  TV, radio and press ads featured conversations between staff at the fictional A.N.Y Bank. Fronted by Dominic West and Sunil Patel, the TV ad showed a bank boss discussing branch closures and noting how different his institution is to Nationwide, which is keeping its branches open.

The regulator received 281 complaints, including from rival Santander, questioning whether the ads were misleading because Nationwide had closed several branches and switched to reduced trading hours in others.

Nationwide ads banned for ‘misleading customers’ over branch closures

Following today’s (3 April) ruling from the ASA that the content is indeed misleading, Nationwide will now update its Branch Promise adverts with a refreshed commitment to keep branches open in current locations until at least the start of 2028.

Introduced in 2019, the Branch Promise originally committed not to close branches in existing locations until the start of 2026.

A Nationwide spokesperson told Marketing Week: “We recognise the ASA’s decision and are delighted to have the opportunity to make even clearer our now extended Branch Promise to keep every branch open until the start of 2028.”

“The investment we have made to keep branches open means we now have more than any other brand and are the last one standing in more than 90 communities.”

We recognise the ASA’s decision and are delighted to have the opportunity to make even clearer our now extended Branch Promise.

Nationwide

The campaign, developed by New Commercial Arts, was the cornerstone of Nationwide’s biggest rebrand for nearly 40 years. The project spanned new brand platform ‘A good way to bank’, a new look app, website, visual identity and streamlined logo.

During the launch in October 2023, the building society explained it was positioning itself as a “modern and confident challenger to the big banks”.

The creative attracted attention. In October, Nationwide’s relaunch campaign was rated as one of the top-performing ads for effectiveness, according to effectiveness firm System1. The ‘A good way to bank’ creative also emerged as one the best-performing banking ads System1 had tested, coming in the top 10%.

‘Stifle competition’

News emerged in February that Santander had complained to the ASA during the autumn on the basis Nationwide’s campaign “discredits and denigrates” its rivals in relation to bank closures.

Co-head of advertising and marketing at law firm Lewis Silkin Brinsley Dresden, who advised Nationwide on the case, claims Santander used the complaint to gain a competitive advantage.

“It is disappointing that the Advertising Standards Authority has upheld a complaint by Santander over relatively minor flaws in the ads which fall short of meeting the CAP and BCAP Code tests of being ‘materially misleading’, enabling Santander to stifle competition and consumer choice ‘on the cheap’,” says Dresden.

Santander is cited throughout the ruling, with the ASA highlighting references in the TV and press ads to Santander as a comparative ‘Big bank’.

Rather than competing with Nationwide by matching its expensive promise to maintain its branch network, Santander took the much cheaper decision to lodge a complaint with the ASA.

Brinsley Dresden, Lewis Silkin

While the watchdog noted that, compared to other institutions, Nationwide had closed the smallest proportion of its estate, it had still closed 20% – or 152 – of its branches. The ASA concluded that despite including information within the ads about the date from which Nationwide could commence closing branches, consumers may have missed this messaging.

Furthermore, the ASA claims that in the 12 months prior to the ad campaign Santander closed fewer branches than Nationwide and at the time the ad aired had not announced any future closures.

Referring to the timescale, Dresden points out Nationwide’s last branch closure prior to the campaign’s launch in October 2023 was in April last year and only two branches closed during the calendar year 2023, one due to a landlord terminating the lease.

‘We’re not giving up brand equity’: The inside story of Nationwide’s rebrand

According to Dresden, Nationwide believed the six-month gap from the last closure was consistent with the expectations of the average consumer, who would interpret the Branch Promise as meaning no branches were being closed presently or in the recent past.

“The bigger picture is that consumer interests are served by promoting competition between banks. One important element of that competition concerns branch networks, particularly against the background of widespread branch closures over the last decade or more,” Dresden adds.

“Rather than competing with Nationwide by matching its expensive promise to maintain its branch network, Santander took the much cheaper decision to lodge a complaint with the ASA. Was this in the interests of consumer? No. It was in the interests of Santander.”