Case Studies – Scottish Widows, Alliance & Leicester

Felix Thomson

Content Executive

The Financial Services Forum

Most effective Public Relations Campaign
This PR programme, designed to re-establish Scottish Widows as a thought leader in the pensions debate, focused on major research, analysis, insight and creating platforms to influence at the highest level. It delivered a 14 fold return on investment, but more importantly, positioned Scottish Widows as a voice of authority at the highest level and re-engaged the business in the PR function, showing how this discipline can add to the bottom line.
The challenge
Scottish Widows was a ‘sleeping giant’ in PR terms having fallen behind the competition since demutualisation. The challenge was:
• To devise a PR programme that showcases the expertise, knowledge and understanding of the pensions marketplace and positions Scottish Widows as a thought leader.                                                                         • To create a campaign that re-engages the business in the PR function and shows it how successful campaigns can assist the business in meeting its goals. • To support the business in re-establishing itself as the number one provider of individual pensions (number three in 2004.)
The proposed strategy
With the build up to The Pensions Commission Report and the ongoing ‘pensions crisis’, pensions hit the headlines during 2005 in an unprecedented way. Whilst this meant there was a receptive audience, there was also considerable noise and competition. In order to compete in this environment and meet the brief we agreed:
• To create and launch a series of set piece pensions initiatives to reinforce credibility, expertise and influence with the media, public policy makers and opinion formers.
• To use the reports as a platform to communicate core messages (Scottish Widows leading the way, knowledgeable, expertise, helping consumers understand the issues) to stakeholders.
• To create and promote a pensions commentator from Scottish Widows to raise its profile and showcase expertise.
To read the full article, please download the PDF above. 

Previous article

What's on Your Mind?

Next article

Financial Word

Get access to valuable thought leadership from the financial services marketing industry

Keep up-to-date with current trends and changes across marketing and financial services is vital in this fast-moving business environment.