Challenge
Bring Barclays’ community-banking focus to life across the branch network with environmental graphics.
There was a real opportunity to produce something beyond great looking visuals: a chance to show that Barclays branches were part of the communities they served, and were proud of their locality. And there was no reason that the right idea couldn’t connect not only with the community, but also with the branch staff.
Insight
The concept was to reflect each branch’s community in the images so that when customers entered the branch, there was a real sense of the bank’s place and pride in that area. Each branch would be outward rather than inward facing.
To ensure the images truly reflected the location, colleagues across the branch network were asked to submit suggestions: which local landmarks, businesses, events and people were special to them?
From over 5000 submitted images, just over 2000 were selected, assigning them to branches according to location and number of images required, and then preparing each individual piece of artwork to match the space available.
Outcome
The project created a unique snapshot of the UK, as all photos were taken within a six-week window in the summer of 2015. The range and breadth of the imagery is a reminder of the UK’s diverse charm and character, as demonstrated in a limited edition coffee table book produced in celebration.
Anecdotal evidence shows that customers love seeing their community reflected back at them, and staff love being able to share their love of the place they live and work.
The images are also proving to be an excellent business tool, giving staff a range of conversation starters with which to strike up a relationship with customers.
From a business perspective, the project has allowed Barclays to put community banking at the heart of its ongoing comms, with the images forming a valuable new image library for the marketing department.
