February saw NatWest fire the starting gun on its Team GB Olympic partnership activation with an integrated campaign called ‘Whatever Your Goals, Let’s Get Going’ which features a strong line-up of British medalists striving to reach their goals and encouraging everybody to do the same.
The finance brand will bring this Paris 2024 partnership to life across its entire business. The external and internal activation encourages people to get behind Team GB in the run up to the Paris Games while championing the power of motivation and momentum in achieving your goals and take control of their finances.
The campaign, created by The & Partnership, debuted on 19 February and will evolve in the coming months in the build up to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in July and August.
It launched through a spearhead TV ad, backed by social content and a PR push, the creative features athlete ambassadors and Team GB Olympic medallists, Asha Philip, Max Whitlock, Emily Campbell, Duncan Scott, Helen Glover and Beth Shriever, alongside a cast of Natwest employees.
The launch spot, which dropped across Natwest digital and social platforms, introduces the ‘Whatever Your Goals, Let’s Get Going’ idea and marks the first in a multi-faceted program of activity supporting NatWest’s partnership with Team GB.
Developed by NatWest, and strategic and creative agency The&Partnership, with Initiative undertaking the media planning and buying,
It dramatises sprinter Asha Philip leading an epic charge and inspiring the UK to get going towards their goals. An opening scene shows Philip ‘plug in tomorrow’ as the destination on her smart watch and then start running towards her future. She is joined by people from all walks of life who are celebrating milestones of their own. As the narrative arc builds, real NatWest employees join the fun alongside gymnast Max Whitlock, weightlifter Emily Campbell and cyclist Beth Shriever.
The spot’s soundtrack is Gwen Stefani’s ‘What You Waiting for?’
Helmed by Director Georgia Hudson and produced by Park Pictures (with still and motion was captured by photographer and director Will Cornelius and produced by CRXSS and The Laundry Room), the multi-channel campaign spans TV and cinema, radio, stature OOH and DOOH sites, bus wraps, social and web.
NatWest will also roll out a pair of product focused spots: one aimed at inspiring people to save towards their goals through the NatWest app, and the other encouraging SMEs and StartUps to take their business to the next level by taking part in the NatWest Business Accelerator program.
NatWest’s Team GB partnership s also supported by Pitch Marketing Group which will run a series of experiential and integrated activations in the run up to the Games.
We're proud to be the official banking partner to @TeamGB at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Tomorrow begins today. pic.twitter.com/YtnaQvIlDs
— NatWest (@NatWest_Help) February 19, 2024
Let’s give your plans a flying start. We’re a proud partner of Team GB at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. #TeamGB #Paris2024 #HelenGlover pic.twitter.com/OYcYxosZaB
— NatWest (@NatWest_Help) February 26, 2024
Whatever your goals, let’s get going. We’re a proud partner of Team GB at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. https://t.co/CZtg7If2qo pic.twitter.com/mRqQoUzUkS
— NatWest (@NatWest_Help) February 23, 2024
Ready. Set. Go go go Beth Shriever, Olympic champion. We’re a proud partner of Team GB at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. pic.twitter.com/ZBDSkrzkW9
— NatWest (@NatWest_Help) February 21, 2024
Go for gold with your business plans. We’re a proud partner of Team GB at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. https://t.co/lo0P6tBzlB #EmilyCampbell #TeamGB #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/wiphwKjTPV
— NatWest (@NatWest_Help) February 28, 2024
“Our partnership with Team GB is hugely exciting for us as a business, it is relatable and inspiring for all our customers, colleagues and communities across the UK and I’m incredibly proud to be bringing it to life with the launch of our activation campaign,” said Natwest CMO Marg Jobling. “Team GB is full of such incredible talent and inspiring stories – with around 350 athletes across 37 disciplines hoping to travel to Paris in pursuit of their ultimate goal – they are the perfect partner to help us spread the message that whatever your goal, taking action is the important first step. So whether that’s saving for a new pair of trainers or your next family holiday, setting up your side hustle or performing in one of the world’s biggest and most inspiring sporting events – action feels good, and at NatWest we want to help you achieve those goals. So let’s get started.”
“We are really excited to see NatWest’s first program of activity launch and we hope that Team GB fans and NatWest customers are inspired by ‘Whatever your goals, let’s get going’, to get behind Team GB,” added Team GB Head Of Marketing Carly Hodgson.
Micky Tudor, ECD of The&Partnership said: “NatWest wanted to inspire the country to get going on their goals. So naturally we smashed Team GB, a Gwen Stefani banger and Georgia Hudson’s music video approach together. The result is an epic spot that’s full of playfulness and dynamism.”
Initiative MD Sharon Dhillon added: “The dynamism from the creative needed to pull through into how NatWest showed up to the country. Through media, we focused on inspirational, high momentum moments and media placements that encourage people to take financial action today.”
The Natwest team on the project included CMO Margaret Jobling, Marketing Director Nicky Mackrell, Head of Brand Petra Cameron, plus Brand Managers Ben Wood, Charlotte Holmes, Elise Celik and Rachel Ward.
The campaign was created by agency The&Partnership where the group consisted of CEO Sarah Golding, Planner Sarah Clark, Executive Creative Directors Micky Tudor and Toby Allen, Associate Creative Director Carl Storey, Creatives Louella Minter, Ed John, Ben Rumble and Josh Markey, Heads Of Production Charles Crisp and Rick Carter, Producer Sam Topley, Strategy Directors David Adamson and Matt Shaw, Strategist Anna Lilly, Account Directors Janette Murphy and Imogen Clark, Account Managers Ffion Green and Freya Hogan, Heads Of Art Emma Modler and Dan Beckett, Art Buyer Ellen Green, Production Manager Luc Macmahon, Designer Steve Hanscomb and Production Manager Simon Blakeley.
Media was handled by Initiative where the unit working on the campaign was led by CEO Will Spence, Managing Director Sharon Dhillon, Client Directors Brandi Stevens and Milly Malone, Head Of Planning Verity Rapacchi and Strategy Director Mark Jones.
Production was Park Pictures UK with Director Georgia Hudson, Director Of Photography Ruben Woodin Dechamps, Managing Director Fran Thompson, Talent Simone Sebastian, Producer Katie Lambert, Production Manager Andrea Harvey, Director’s Assistant Honor Evans and Production Designer Bon Walsh.
Production was CRXSS with Photographer Will Cornelius, plus Producers John Cross and Elena Huntley. Post Production / VFX was by Electric Theatre Collective, The Laundry Room and Focus on Infinity. The editorial team was at tenthree, while music and sound was run through Factory Studios and We Are Theodore.
While the campaign title could certainly be catchier and snappier, it builds solidly on the bank’s umbrella ‘Tomorrow Begins Today’ marketing platform: which launched in 2022 and aims to inspire the nation to take action today for a better tomorrow.
Timing the launch of a core Olympic/Paralympic activation push always throws up questions and challenges.
Other than the simplicity of leveraging and marking ‘X days to go’ with one-off content, the fragmented nature of team selection and qualification amongst the various sports and national governing bodies can lead to plenty of complexities for both IOC and country partner marketers: for example, even choosing ambassadors and having access to their time to create content can be tricky if a sponsor wants a long lead-in campaign ahead of the Games.
NatWest has gone earlier than most and time will tell whether this will prove to be the right option.