How a fake bank led to real results for Santander

Santander had entered the UK market as an innovative challenger, making inroads into the category with its successful '1/2/3' current account. But by early 2019 it had become a boring, bog-standard bank, talking to an audience that thought little and cared even less about banking. In order to capture the audience's attention and stay top of mind, Santander created a fictional rival bank, run by national favourites, Ant & Dec, making a virtue of Santander’s simple, smart, and sensible solutions. Four years later, the campaign had driven impressive growth, and the decline in the bank's fortunes had reversed.