Halifax TV ads scrap ‘staff as stars’ style

Halifax is launching its first new television ads since scrapping its Howard Brown-fronted “staff as stars” campaign.

Halifax is launching its first new television ads since scrapping its Howard Brown-fronted “staff as stars” campaign.

The bank, part of Halifax Bank of Scotland Group, is initially believed to have mooted the heavyweight campaign for October, but plans were pulled following the fallout from the proposed tie-up with Lloyds TSB.

Sources say that a “huge amount” of ad space has been booked for the Halifax push next month, and will almost amount to a relaunch of the brand with a much more sedate tone of voice.

The campaign, created by Delaney Lund Knox Warren, will focus on both brand and product-led activity and still feature Halifax colleagues, but not in the singing, dancing style of “staff as stars”. A spokeswoman says that it “builds on” the staff-as-stars work, which ran for more than a decade, although the strapline has been changed to “A little extra help”.

DLKW retained the 33m Halifax advertising account in August last year, and has since produced product-led press advertising.

HBOS was almost immediately the subject of merger discussions with Lloyds TSB, which shareholders finally approved in December.

The Lloyds-led merger is expected to become a legal entity on Monday (January 19) under the umbrella brand Lloyds Banking Group. Halifax will remain a separate high street brand.