Abstract:

In 1979 the Trustee Savings Bank was in the throes of its evolution into "the third force in British banking". Part of this change involved the loss of a tax free interest concession on one of its major accounts and a new advertising campaign was developed to counter the negative implications of this, using "We like to say Yes" as the mainspring. This was developed using humorous approaches and making the word "Yes" an integral part of the commercials themselves. After research at rough-cut stage, which identified certain weaknesses, it became necessary to check the communication points whilst the commercials were on air. However, a benchmark survey had not been taken, so stringent tests were built into the design of the survey to differentiate between respondents who had seen at least one advertisement in the campaign and those who had not. Further qualitative research among staff and target markets was undertaken to develop the current expression. This case history demonstrates the integration of qualitative and quantitative research in the development of an advertising campaign.