Lloyds saddles up for small business mental health campaign

Lloyds Bank has been telling us it’s “by your (our) side” to years now, with its herd of black horses.

This might be debated: Lloyds is notorious for its measly interest rates on savings and, although it pays a generous dividend, its shares resolutely refuse to move much as so many were issued when it was bailed out in the 2008 banking crisis (it bought bust Halifax as a favour to Gordon Brown.)

So it’s about time for some real “by your side.” which it’s attempting to do with a new initiative – ‘Stronger mind, stronger business’ – offering mental health counselling to stressed out small business owners. From adam&eveDDB with The Ninety-Niners, which purports to represent the 99% of us who don’t create brand communications, and Zenith Media.

The campaign includes Global with radio hosts talking to business owners who’ve benefited from the counselling.

Lloyds head of B2B marketing Dan Stewart says: “Mental resilience has never been more important for small business owners against today’s challenging economic backdrop. ‘Stronger Minds, Stronger Business’ aims to champion the benefits of good mental health whilst widening access to support for customers.”

Virtue signalling or an initiative which might make a difference?

Jury’s out – let’s hope it’s the latter.

MAA creative scale: 6.5.