UK Finance Advertiser of the Month: Scottish Widows

From this edition of the UK Finance Advertiser of the Month onwards, we’re changing the methodology to encompass a range of financial services beyond consumer banks – including insurance companies, payment providers, credit card issuers, and more. For March 2022, Scottish Widows claims the top spot with an uplift of 5.7 points – rising from 7.2 to 12.9 between the start and conclusion of the month.

The increase in scores can likely be attributed to an attention-grabbing campaign where Scottish Widows interrupted several Channel 4 programmes on International Women’s Day: saying that female viewers would only get to watch “half the show”. The ad’s real purpose was to highlight that on average, women are retiring with only half the pension of men.

Interrupting regularly scheduled programming can be a risky proposal for a brand, which can benefit from drawing attention to an important issue in an unorthodox way – with the danger of alienating prospects and customers who do not appreciate the intrusion. It is a delicate balancing act, and one that paid off for Scottish Widows in March 2022.