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Barclays is standing by its ’big’ positioning in its latest TV

work, despite the barrage of criticism it has received for running the

campaign while announcing the closure of many local branches.

The new commercial, which stars Robbie Coltrane, supports the bank’s

online offer. It is the fourth ad in the series using the new endline:

’A big world needs a big bank.’

It aims to position Barclays as the expert and innovator in the online

banking market.

In the 60-second ad, Coltrane talks about the internet and its

possibilities.

He then continues to demonstrate the benefits of online banking such as

paying your bills ’in the middle of the night in your jim jams’.

He describes banking on the internet as being a liberating experience

and explains how people will no longer be slaves to the system. ’We’re

all bank managers now,’ he says.

The film was written by Ros Sinclair and Tom Hudson and art directed by

Sean Thompson. It was directed by Tony Scott through RSA. Media planning

and buying is through MediaVest.

David Radford, the marketing communications director at Barclays,

commented: ’This commercial highlights the benefits of a market-leading

service.

’It also reflects that, while we are seriously good at online banking,

we don’t take ourselves too seriously.’