Darlington Building Society
Founded in 1856, Darlington Building Society had led on their heritage and relationships but never run a brand campaign. They weren’t cutting through with rate-led marketing and knew it was time for something bold.
They came to us in 2024 with a challenge – how do we reach younger audiences? They wanted to move away from rate-led messaging and build true brand equity, not just with an aging member base, but across generations.
We partnered with them to design and launch their first national brand campaign – “We did that” – rooted in their heritage and built to engage both long-standing and new audiences across generations.
Original Thinking first.
We built the campaign using four of our methodology pillars – weaving each into the strategy and execution from the first brief through to PR, In Branch, performance and out of home activations.
Observatory:
Deep audience insight, market audit and cultural analysis revealed that despite their legacy, DBS risked being perceived as “just another regional building society.” We mapped emotional tensions between stability and aspiration and found a unifying thread: how key life moments (first home, savings, family support) weave across generations.
Originality:
We created the idea “We did that” – positioning DBS not as a rates machine, but as the silent partner in life’s milestones. Part of the family. That line became the platform for emotional, real-life stories, rooted in generational similarities, not differences.
Omniverse:
We built a seamless multi-channel activation – film for TV, PR, social, digital, branch, OOH, search – all driven by a consistent narrative thread.
Outreach:
To spark amplification beyond paid media, we deployed PR, thought leadership and cultural partnerships. Our media stories linked back to the campaign narrative (e.g. “Why family financial milestones matter,” “Intergenerational wealth in the North East and how Gen Z go to parents and relatives for financial advice, despite being digital natives”) and seeded earned coverage across national and regional outlets.
A hero film following a regional family’s journey through key life moments was at the centre of the campaign, giving every generation the opportunity to understand each other, and give a nod to the advice and guidance we all give each other along the way.
Omniverse – A world of brand assets
We created a world of brand assets to live across channels, for this multi-agency campaign including:
- National & regional video (TV / OTT / social)
- Targeted digital & search to capture intent
- Branch-level execution (window graphics, posters, staff touchpoints)
- OOH/DOOH around branch locations
- PR and opinion articles – regional press tie-ins
- Social content sequenced to reflect each life-stage
OFFECTIVENESS™
Website traffic YoY: +151%
Branch footfall: +120%
New account growth: +423% (QoQ)
Savings inflows Q2 2025: £19.1m
PR reach & AVE: 70 million+ reach; £1m+ AVE
