The challenge

Back in the early 1990s, after years of profitable growth, the UK was entering a recession. Barclaycard was in trouble and its two sources of income – total spend on cards and interest repayments – were drying up.

The brand had been losing share to rival Access for a number of years but that hadn’t been an issue while the market was expanding. Now, as consumers tightened their belts, it was starting to hit the bottom line.

At the heart of the problem was the fact that consumers simply didn’t differentiate between Barclaycard and Access.

Barclaycard’s response was to radically revamp its offer and be better than Access. It offered lower interest, free purchase protection and international rescue. The catch was the £8 annual fee, a new innovation for the credit card market.

The new offer was sent to cardholders in May 1990 and launched to the public with an advertising blitz designed to retain high value cardholders and increase preference to use Barclaycard.

The TV solution

The solution was to replace the previous brand icon global traveller Alan Whicker with a new spokesman who could explain the benefits of Barclaycard in a way that was amusing and entertaining.

Rowan Atkinson was hired as an opinionated, yet bumbling, secret agent Richard Latham. Rather than the high-tech tools of James Bond, he was equipped with a Barclaycard but quite never understood how it could help.

Three executions were produced in 1991. London showcased the international acceptability of the card, Moscow highlighted the rescue service while Cairo demonstrated the purchase protection.

Results

The campaign had an immediate impact, helping Barclaycard boost its share of new cardholders from 10% to 15% and as high as 26% among those new to the credit card market.

Awareness rose from 13% before the first burst to 34% by the end of 1991 as Latham became the watercooler conversation of the recession.

As Access responded to the recession by cutting spend, Barclaycard ramped up its televisual exposure. TVRs rose from 790 in 1990 to 1744 in 1991.

Econometric modelling revealed that advertising in 1991 was responsible for adding £508m in turnover to Barclaycard, with the advertising investment paying for itself more than three times over in the short term.
The impact on profitability was dramatic with a net loss in 1990 transformed into a £46m profit in 1991.