Lloyds Relaunches Scottish Widow Brand

Scottish Widows, part of Lloyds Banking Group, has unveiled a brand refresh for the first time in four years as it approaches its 200th anniversary.

Working with 101, Rufus Leonard and MEC, the life, pensions and investment provider has revealed a fresh, modernised look for Scottish Widows, focused on the theme “life feels better when you have a plan.” The Scottish Widows re-launch is being supported by TV (which aired yesterday – 2nd February 2014), a series of eight online films, outdoor, press, digital, marketing collateral and media partnership nationwide.

The new brand strategy addresses Britain’s imbalance of expectations for retirement against the inadequate savings being made for it; only 45% of the nation is making sufficient provision for later life, while the number of people over 65 will rise by nearly 50% in the next 20 years.

Scottish Widows aims to help ease the nation’s anxiety over the future by helping recognise that having a plan in place can help people worry less about tomorrow and let them enjoy the here and now.

101 led the strategic thinking and developed all above-the-line assists supporting ‘Life Feels Better When You Have a Plan’.

This new chapter for Scottish Widows casts real people from around the country in supporting roles, ranging from a baker and fisherman in Hastings, to a family and ballet teacher in East London. The beautiful portraits show people of all ages and backgrounds living lighter because they have a plan in place.

Laurence Green, Founding Partner at 101, the creative agency behind the re-launch campaign said: “It’s this sentiment of ‘today’s benefits’ that acts as the springboard for our campaign. The peace of mind we enjoy when we’ve sorted out the future is a universal truth. We hope that in bringing the immediate benefits to the forefront rather than talk about distant horizons, we’ll encourage Britain to plan for tomorrow."

Simon Schmitt, 101 Creative Director said of the TV advert "This is a film about the Scottish Widow, and life. The Widow’s role is to open the curtain on life, guiding us through a series of beautiful portraits of people ‘living lightly’, because they have a plan."

Rufus Leonard, Group Brand Development partner of Lloyds Banking Group, worked closely with Scottish Widows, MEC and 101 to develop the creative framework, and set the direction for the new look and feel and modernised living icon.

The new visual identity was then executed through a full suite of assets including imagery, typography, colour palette, layouts, tone of voice and offer signposting. Rufus Leonard brought the brand to life across all touchpoints making it tangible, both internally and externally, across the business. This included everything from internal brand films and launch communications, literature suite, event guidelines and digital brand guidelines to ensure an inspired and consistently implemented visual identity.

James Ramsden, Creative Director, Rufus Leonard said: “We used a combination of classic brand guidelines alongside passionately delivered brand immersion sessions to help actively manage the brand development and deliver the brand through digital, literature and internal communications. The result is a sharply executed, powerful British brand that looks contemporary, relevant and beautiful and we’re very proud to have been involved in such a key moment in its history.”

MEC has been responsible for the integrated media planning across TV, digital, OOH and press for the Scottish Widow re-launch. MEC Access, the leading partnerships and content agency brokered a ten day editorial partnership between Scottish Widows and The Daily Telegraph.

‘Live for Today’ will run from Saturday 8 February to Monday 17 February, the editorial partnership will consist of articles co-authored by a host of leading journalists from The Daily Telegraph alongside Scottish Widows. The subject matter of the articles will span leisure activities from travel, food and sport to gardening, theatre and art. Each article is written by a specialist in the field, and will be captured in a premium booklet bringing together all of the articles on 16th February. The partnership will be complemented by an online hub and daily tweets from The Daily Telegraph to spark conversations about pensions.

Maurice Van de Ven, Executive Creative Director at MEC said: “People are smarter, more connected and more conscious than ever, and the most successful and sustainable companies focus on creating meaning and purpose for consumers.  This content-driven partnership allows Scottish Widows to reach its audience via a leading national newspaper and also taps into its digital eco system through the online hub and tweets from The Daily Telegraph.”

Credits

Creative Agency: 101 

Executive Creative Director: Richard Flintham

Creative Director: Simon Schmitt
Copywriter: Augusto Sola & Philip Kitching

Art Director: Tanya Holbrook

Agency Producer: Natalie Curran
Agency Production Assistant: Sami Goddard

Director & Photographer : Leila & Damien de Blinkk 

Production Company:  Wanda Productions
Producer:  Bonnie Anthony
Executive Producer: Abi Hodson
Post Production Facility:  Electric Theatre


Film Editing Company:  Cut and Run

Editor:  Benjamin Campbell

Editors Assistant: Chris Roebuck

Branding Agency: Rufus Leonard

Creative Director: James Ramsden

Creative Lead: Anita Schnable

Designer: Tom Baker

Writer: Amalia Illgner

Media Agency: MEC

Executive Creative Director: Maurice Van de Ven

Stuart Bowden – Managing Director

Bronwen Hole – Business Director

Richard Bradford – Strategy Director