Lloyds and TSB buck trend as overall brand value for UK banks falls

The total brand value for the UK’s banks slipped 3% in 2014, according to the latest Brand Finance Banking 500 report, with TSB and Lloyds the most successful at bucking the downward trend.

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In the report, which assesses the financial value of Britain’s banking names, Lloyds was the highest-performing big four bank with 16% growth in value to £4.4bn.

Brand Finance credits CEO Antonio Horto-Osorio for piloting a ‘successful turnaround’ by renovating branches and refreshing image to distance Lloyds from the bank’s recent woes. Last year marked the start of a £30m advertising campaign that highlighted how Lloyds was there for the important “moments that matter” in people’s financial lives.

TSB, which was split from Lloyds Banking Group in 2013 as a condition of its 2009 government bailout, achieved the highest growth of any UK banking brand with value rising 21% to £507m.

Brand Finance says its recent marketing strategy has been key as it “emphasised competitive rates and straightforwardness”. In 2014, it unveiled a series of TV adverts to emphasise its position as a ‘local bank’.

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However, it was bad news for some of the UK’s biggest bank brands with the report suggesting that post-recession reputation still remains damaged.

Although HSBC remained the most valuable UK bank, worth £17.5bn, with value rising 1.5% over the last year, second-placed Barclays, worth £9.1bn, recorded just 0.2% growth.

The UK’s fourth biggest bank Standered Chartered, meanwhile, saw its brand value fall by a staggering 28% – a £1.3bn fall to £3.3bn.

Natwest, RBS and Nationwide all saw respective falls in brand value of -1%, -6% and -1%.

Brand Finance CEO David Haigh says that banks must continue to invest in marketing to maintain consumer faith.

“A strong brand builds loyalty, helping to reduce churn,” he said. “As switching becomes easier and with nimble competitors emerging, some banks may have to rely on the power o their brand more heavily to hold onto customers.”

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