Lloyds Banking Group taps Peep Show actor for recruitment drive

Lloyds Banking Group (LBG) has launched a new ad campaign aimed at recruiting talented staff as it continues with its transformation plans.

Titled ‘Don’t wake up to dull’, the 60-second spot focuses on a woman unenthusiastically waking up to her job on a Monday morning, with actor Matt King of Peep Show fame delivering a motivational monologue to persuade her to change roles. This is supported by five 30-second spots focusing on different characters and disciplines.

The video aims to change perceptions on working at Lloyds from a standard big corporate to a place where people can achieve exciting and fulfilling things.

LBG worked with EveryFriday on the campaign, appointing the agency after a competitive pitch process before Christmas.

The work has launched as LBG undergoes a significant transformation journey, including investing heavily in digital and building teams to focus on gamification.

The brand relaunched its identity with its latest brand position, ‘Lloyds Moves Everyone Forward’, in early October, which uses more humorous, family-driven narratives to highlight its products. The bank partnered with Wolff Olins on the project.

The group recently created a new consumer division of marketing, with Chris Davis-Coward as Director and Head of Consumer Marketing overseeing the full marketing stack and full customer lifecycle, including acquisition, onboarding, deepening and retention.

Dan Fernandez, Founder and Executive Creative Director at EveryFriday, shared some exclusive views on the campaign below:

FSF: Tell me about this campaign.

Dan Fernandez, EveryFriday: [LBG] wanted this campaign to be distinctly different from the usual approach. When we received the brief, they were very clear about their ambition for the group and the business. They described it as the largest transformation journey in the UK financial sector. It’s an ambitious project, and with that, there’s a clear need for top talent. They approached it with a strong sense of enthusiasm and investment, making it evident they didn’t want to repeat past efforts. They were serious about doing something fresh, which was interesting for us when preparing our pitch.

Lloyds’ recent advertising has leaned toward a more light-hearted tone, such as in the campaign about grandparents on holiday using the app. Was there a specific push to make the brand more accessible that influenced this project?

EF: Definitely. The brief coincided with the launch of their new brand and visual identity, developed by Wolff Olins. They’re moving towards a more relatable and open image—less corporate, more distinctive, and forward-facing. That direction informed our approach. We didn’t have to persuade them to adopt a new tone; they had already opened the door for a creative response that was less conventional for the financial sector.

What drove the decision to get Matt King involved?

They put the pitch up in November, and we were awarded the work just before Christmas. It was a creative pitch centered around a simple, universal truth: how you feel about your job is most evident on a Monday morning. If your career isn’t fulfilling, you feel that sinking feeling on Sunday, and it hits hardest on Monday morning. We wanted to tap into that because it’s widely relatable and has some comedic value.

The idea was to challenge misconceptions about working for a large organization like Lloyds—many assume it’s dull and traditional. However, given their transformation, particularly in the tech space, it’s actually a dynamic and exciting career option. That set the tone for the campaign.

As for Matt King, the creative idea was about interrupting that inner monologue on Monday morning with a new voice—one that’s wise but relatable, like a straight-talking friend. It would have been easy to go with a grand, rousing manifesto-style voiceover, but we wanted something more engaging and unexpected. Matt’s low-key, humorous tone was a great fit, delivering motivational words in a way that felt fresh. The fact that Lloyds was willing to go in that direction showed their commitment to doing something different.

(The transcript has been edited for clarity).