Radiowatch: Nationwide - 'Antidote'

Unlike many high-street banks, Nationwide is an oasis of simplicity and fairness. We know this because this message has underpinned its communications for the past two-and-a-half years. Nationwide is proud to be different, which affects what it says and how it says it.

This ad features cross-Channel swimmer David Walliams and Rob Brydon acting out a bank manager/customer scene. The manager (Brydon) offers the customer (Walliams) the chance to vote on whether he should grow a moustache or a goatee. Neither is a good look in my opinion, especially on a bank manager, and the customer says he wants to vote on something of consequence. Hence the key message: unlike banks, Nationwide lets customers, not shareholders, vote on its business.

The ad is an extremely well-written, well-cast and well-executed piece, with both actors selected not because of their fame, but because they are fantastic radio performers. The media strategy, which focused on reaching an ABC1 audience on the right stations at the right time, was equally effective.

This is a great example of how finance brands can thrive in the radio environment. In 2004 the Department of Trade and Industry relaxed the 'wealth warnings' required on ads from the finance sector. Before this, advertisers had to add 20 seconds to an execution - 10 seconds if you sped it up - to accommodate the 'small print', which made radio a less attractive medium compared with TV or press.

Now, though, advertisers are no longer required to tell consumers their home is at risk if they don't keep up repayments on their mortgage. As a result, the finance category has increased its investment in radio to the point where it is now the medium's fifth biggest-spending category. Radio can also help with one of the key challenges facing the finance sector: trust. An RAB study found that a mere 9% of listeners mistrust what they hear on radio, which compares favourably with TV viewers (25%) and readers' trust of the press (29%).

This is another great Nationwide ad from Radioville, and the client was so pleased with it that it asked its creative agency to translate the idea onto TV.

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