On a mission to transform the world of finance for the better

DE&I Report; a communications conundrum

AI & Ethics: Revolutionising marketing without compromising ethical principles 

Launching a new sector leader

Grabbing attention for the nation’s pensions

Teamspirit hits the Big Apple!

The New Adviser

Sustainability in action

Helping our audience get an AER full

How marketers can profit from slowing down the ‘cycle of more’

Is generative AI creating a race & ethnicity representation crisis in comms? 

Making a racket… literally

__Going for growth__ sums up the hyperfocus set to dominate economies and financial services (FS) in 2025, as we look at the year ahead through our annual Signals Report. 

If 2024 was a year of uncertainty, with hedging on action due to the elections in which over half of the world’s population participated, 2025 is in one sense calmer. The need for brands to communicate value, trust and reward will be carried forward, as consumer spend levels remain under pressure. But with policy direction, taxes and tariffs – both in the UK and in the US – better understood, decisions can now be made.

As FS communication specialists, we continue to act as a barometer for the headwinds of change, as we help brands to transform the world of finance for the better, by helping people to think differently about money. In our Signals Report this year, we’re providing a smart topline on what’s going on and what marketers need to do about it. 

Growth will come from brand fame building activity, explored in Maximizing Sponsorship; The Power of Personality; Cracking the Memory Code; Scaling Internationally. 

It will also be through tech-enabled efficiencies, as FS finally realize smoother, more personalized experiences. Read how to make the right leap in: Untangling the Messy Middle; In Data We Trust; AI and Advice isn’t the Answer, it’s the Question. And don’t miss the impact of getting tech right both on a critical audience and via a critical channel, covered in Rethinking Retirement and PR in a New Media Age.

__Let’s get on with it. __

Download the report [here](//downloads.ctfassets.net/sxw14dxmazhg/3AA1Ze0XX4ZUOO5ZR6FnKN/86f47ae819e886fdb612ab9ccc12c672/TS_2025_Signals_Report_US.pdf)

If you’d like to discuss the impact of these signals on your business contact us at [hello@teamspiritfs.com].(mailto:hello@teamspiritfs.com)


Our 2025 Signals report is out now! With a Going for Growth hyperfocus set to dominate economies and financial services in 2025, here’s our view on the challenges and changes set to impact fs brand communications in the year ahead

2025 Signals Report 

__Going for growth__ sums up the hyperfocus set to dominate economies and financial services (FS) in 2025, as we look at the year ahead through our annual Signals Report. 

If 2024 was a year of uncertainty, with hedging on action due to the elections in which over half of the world’s population participated, 2025 is in one sense calmer. The need for brands to communicate value, trust and reward will be carried forward, as consumer spend levels remain under pressure. But with policy direction, taxes and tariffs – both in the UK and in the US – better understood, decisions can now be made.

As FS communication specialists, we continue to act as a barometer for the headwinds of change, as we help brands to transform the world of finance for the better, by helping people to think differently about money. In our Signals Report this year, we’re providing a smart topline on what’s going on and what marketers need to do about it. 

Growth will come from brand fame building activity, explored in Maximising Sponsorship; The Power of Personality; Cracking the Memory Code; Scaling Internationally. 

It will also be through tech-enabled efficiencies, as FS finally realise smoother, more personalised experiences. Read how to make the right leap in: Untangling the Messy Middle; In Data We Trust; AI and Advice isn’t the Answer, it’s the Question. And don’t miss the impact of getting tech right both on a critical audience and via a critical channel, covered in Rethinking Retirement and PR in a New Media Age.

__Let’s get on with it. __

Download the report [here](//downloads.ctfassets.net/sxw14dxmazhg/6BG5pebjty67CF7a8VnEAk/fe62e6890db19c99797987852c736d94/TS_2025_Signals_Report.pdf)

If you’d like to discuss the impact of these signals on your business contact us at [hello@teamspirit.co.uk.](mailto:hello@teamspirit.co.uk)


2025 Signals Report

While winning any award is great, winning for marketing effectiveness has got to be what matters most to marketeers. After all, exceeding KPIs, historic outcomes and delivering strong ROI have got to be the ultimate arbiters of campaign success.

Better still if your marketing effectiveness win is against the biggest names and most innovative brands in financial services.

We were delighted this week, therefore, to win no less than five at the 2024 Financial Services Forum Marketing Effectiveness awards. 

- We won Gold in the Global category for our ‘Invest in the heart of everything’ Biodiversity campaign for Fidelity International. And were also Highly Commended for this in the Most Effective ESG category.
- In the Earned Media category we struck Gold for our ‘Hidden Gems’ campaign for specialist mortgage provider Together, which gained nationwide coverage by mapping and shining a light on the UK’s empty properties and the opportunities they represent.
- We were awarded a Special Judges Award for Most Effective Use of Data and Analytics for The Mortgage Lender, helping them generate coverage and leads in a crowded market.
- And were Highly Commended as Agency of the Year.

### Integration

With effectiveness invariably achieved through the scientific integration of earned, owned and paid-for media, we were also delighted to win six further awards for clients in the international MarComs awards; for Integrated Marketing (for both BUPA and Fidelity), for Advertising (Fidelity), for Media Relations (BUPA) and in both the Social and YouTube video categories. All of the work created and produced by our in-house teams.

### Competing against UK and overseas agencies

To our delight, we also struck Gold again twice last week in the New York based Gramercy Institute Asset Management awards; one in the Public Relations category for our ‘Reaching the Undeserved’ campaign for Charles Stanley, the second for Fidelity international in the Branding category for our innovative ‘Suitably Individual’ strategy, impacting on both investors and their advisers.

With budgets across the board needing to do more, it’s been a great month for being recognised independently for having delivered on the effectiveness clients most crave.

Some awards simply matter more than others

A clip from the Graham Norton show recently went viral, when actress Saoirse Ronan reminded the rest of the male panel of the lengths women need to go to feel safe. Met with applause from the audience, Ronan has been widely praised since the clip aired for accurately and neatly reminding us all of the threat that women face on a daily basis.  

While the men on the panel have also come out to plaud Ronan, it’s abundantly clear from their stunned silence at the time that this isn’t an issue they need to think about regularly. Speaking about violence against women can be uncomfortable, no matter the setting. And no matter how disappointing it is that this is still a concern in 2024, any girl or woman will tell you just how needed it still is. Just as Saoirse Ronan did. 

The UN designates the 25th November as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. It marks the first of 16 days of action to end male violence against women. With so much abuse towards women happening behind closed doors and going unreported it can be easy to convince ourselves that this is not an issue that impacts us or our loved ones. 

But the reality is that one in three women will be subjected to physical or sexual violence within their lifetime. That’s an estimated 736 million women globally. And the majority won’t seek help or report it. Less than 40% of women who experience violence will seek help, and less than 10% will go to the police. Black women, trans women, and disabled women are at especially high risk. And climate change, economic crises, and global conflicts are only fuelling and exacerbating the problem. 

This year’s election in the US was a further reminder of how very real this issue is. With women’s reproductive rights on the ballot in many states, the previous Trump administration saw delayed authorisation of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and attempts to dismantle the Affordable Care Act that means reduced federal support and access to healthcare services that are crucial for women, including mental health support and services for survivors of violence. In addition, the behaviour of some of Trump’s supporters may embolden misogynistic attitudes that can create a hostile environment for women both online and offline.

White Ribbon Day acts to remind us of the scale of the issue, but also challenges us to consider the root causes behind this violence. While we may not have witnessed violence against women, we’ve all likely seen and heard problematic language and attitudes. It is up to all of us, regardless of gender, to stand against violence against women, and to fight against the outdated and harmful gender norms - including attitudes towards masculinity - that open the door to misogyny. 

For anyone that is, or knows someone who is facing abuse, whether emotional, physical or financial or simply wants to educate themselves further on this issue, there are resources and support available, which we have listed below:

[White Ribbon Day UK](https://www.whiteribbon.org.uk/)

[End Violence Against Women Coalition](https://www.endviolenceagainstwomen.org.uk/) 

[Refuge](https://refuge.org.uk/)

[Solace Women’s Aid ](https://www.solacewomensaid.org/)

[Woman’s Trust](https://womanstrust.org.uk/)

[National Domestic Abuse Hotline](https://www.nationaldahelpline.org.uk/) - 0808 2000 247

It is up to all of us, regardless of gender, to stand against violence against women, and to fight against the outdated and harmful gender norms - read more on the importance of White Ribbon Day from Teamspirit’s Eleanor Ross 

Why we should all pay attention to White Ribbon Day

Jaguar has caused quite the fuss with its recent rebrand. It also appears to be treading a very thin line between a marketing disaster and marketing genius.

It would be fair to say the rebrand has caused a lot of outrage. But here’s the thing - a lot of the outrage has come from the exact demographic that Jaguar can no longer afford to focus its brand on. I’ve seen it covered across major national news outlets, furiously debated on every social platform I use, and Elon Musk is asking them questions on X, formerly Twitter. Someone has even gone as far as setting up a petition to get Jaguar to revert to its original branding (yes, really). At the time of writing this, the video Jaguar posted has over 23 million views on X alone, which is quite incredible in little over 24 hours. But it does beg the question - is it good marketing?

A lot of people on social media will very aggressively tell you that it isn’t, but I disagree. I’ve always disliked phrases such as “all publicity is good publicity” and “there’s no such thing as bad publicity.” Anyone that’s ever worked on some form of crisis will very swiftly tell you those phrases are untrue. However, in some cases such as this one, a not-too-dissimilar approach can be effective. I say this because everyone is talking about the brand before they’ve even seen a glimpse of the product. If you are selling a product, then of course you don’t want to alienate or thoroughly wind up your audience. But as of now, we are yet to see an actual car - so this advert is about brand positioning as opposed to selling, and has massively increased anticipation for when it’s launched.

Millions of people are going to be paying attention to the new product. 

Personally, I don’t love the video; it’s full of buzzwords, uncharacteristic visuals and new branding that isn’t ‘very Jag.’ But it’s not meant to be, that’s the point. Jaguar has tried to reinvent itself before, and has always played on its heritage, whilst trying to be the British answer to the BMW. 

Sales figures will tell you this just hasn’t worked with only 67,000 vehicles sold last year and sales of new cars now coming to a halt. This begs the question of why would you continue down the same, unsuccessful path? After all, stupidity can be defined by doing the same things over and over again but expecting different results. 

Jaguar has found itself in need to make a bold move and if you are going to reinvent your brand, why not go all out? Especially when you have the financial backing of a group such as Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) behind you. 

I don’t like marketing strategies or campaigns that cause controversy solely for the sake of controversy, or purely to gain cheap engagement. But I don’t believe this is what Jaguar has done. It has done something completely new for the brand, attracted a lot of attention, and ensured many more pairs of eyes will be on its new products when they are revealed.  

It’s brave, it’s ambitious and it’s a little bit insane. To be clear - it could also be a catastrophic failure. But I have full admiration for utilising this strategy and getting so many people talking about it. 

It’s been really interesting to see the differing views of others in the marketing and PR industry. It’s easy to get caught up in marketing tropes and cliches, and it's always going to irk people when, after being told to “push the boundaries,” you actually do. But to kick up such a stir before a product has even been revealed, it’s safe to say that if I was behind it I’d be heading to the pub to celebrate a job well done.

Jaguar’s recent rebrand has caused quite the stir in the office this week. The PR team’s Joe Hirst shares his take on the heritage brand making bold moves

Jaguar - marketing disaster, or stroke of genius?

For those of us London commuters the phrase ‘Mind the Gap’ is ubiquitous in our lives, a reminder to observe the gap between train and platform. Nobody can argue that this isn’t good advice. But does this advice still apply to other areas of our working lives? 

The Fawcett Society has been tracking the gender pay gap since 2013, and Equal Pay Day marks the day each year where women will effectively stop being paid for the work they do compared to men. This year’s Equal Pay day is two days earlier - 20th November -  than in 2023, and is disappointingly the first time that the pay gap has widened since the Fawcett Society began tracking. This calls into question the impact that efforts to reduce the gap are having in reality. 

Mandatory gender pay gap reporting has been in effect for large companies since 2017. Each company is required to make public their gender pay gap and while many companies have been transparent, there are large gaps to overcome. It's clear and understandable that efforts to close the gap, like growing and developing senior women, require time to bear fruit, but there is simply no excuse for the gap to be widening in 2024.

With the knock-on-impact that the gender pay gap has on women’s ability to save, invest and put money away into their pensions (Scottish Widows found that women retire with £100K less than men), this is an issue that we should all care about, no matter our gender. 

At Teamspirit, we’re lucky to work at a business that not only chooses to report on its gender pay gap, but also one that doesn’t have a gender pay gap at all. 

With a new female Chancellor in position, and the last general election seeing the most women elected as MPs ever, there are encouraging signs that progress is being made. As we head into the new Year, we do so with a fresh challenge to reduce the gender pay gap once again. So back to my Mind the Gap metaphor; is it enough to simply ask companies to track their gender pay gap? Should we still be standing back and just minding the gap, or does more action need to be taken?

## Sources:

[https://www.fawcettsociety.org.uk/news/equal-pay-day-2024-will-be-20th-november](https://www.fawcettsociety.org.uk/news/equal-pay-day-2024-will-be-20th-november)
[https://www.scottishwidows.co.uk/about-us/media-centre/reports/women-retirement-report.html](https://www.scottishwidows.co.uk/about-us/media-centre/reports/women-retirement-report.html)


The Gender Pay Gap has widened for the first time in since 2013 calling into question whether efforts to reach pay parity are working. With knock-on-effects to women’s ability to save, invest and prepare for retirement, does more action need to be taken?

Let’s not JUST Mind the Gap anymore 

This year the Black History Month theme was ‘Reclaiming narratives’. Inviting us to re-examine the contributions of Black People to British society, and how we have come to understand these stories. 

As creatives and storytellers across time, marketing agencies have had a lot of power in shaping these narratives that are told subtly through all kinds of communications. So it’s been an interesting opportunity to have a closer look at how we have been, and still are part of telling these stories.

This month we hosted a potluck lunch, inspired by the cookbook [Black Food: Stories](https://www.newbeaconbooks.com/african-american/black-food-stories-art-and-more-than-75-recipes-from-across-the-african-diaspora-a-cookbook), Art, and More than 75 Recipes from Across the African Diaspora, by Bryant Terry. Chefs (staff) from Teamspirit and Harvard selected recipes to cook, bring and share. People brought in a lovely selection of spicy, flavourful and diverse dishes like okra curry, puff-puffs and patties. And to top the event off we found a long table set up in the room that brought us all together to enjoy a big communal lunch which was perfectly in the spirit of the pot-luck. 

We also invited everyone to attend the Black History Month special of Out-Spoken, a night of intersectional poetry and music. With poetry from [Jay Bernard](https://jaybernard.co.uk/), [Danez Smith](https://www.danezsmithpoet.com/bio-encore) and [Linton Kwesi Johnson](https://lintonkwesijohnson.com/), and music from [Joshua Idehen](https://youtu.be/PS9Bc_GQBEs?si=UrQiMqZYRqJED_Zm&t=50). The night was both moving and funky as these creatives invited the audience into their experiences. Both Jay and Danez spoke, through poetry, about their relationships with friends and family and despite what many see on the outside the diverse and diverging views of the world, inside their black communities.

In attending both of these events, it really showcased the power of tapping into collective experiences, and the opportunity for learning and educating together. But also highlighted the nuance and curiosity we must approach understanding our audiences with, to continue to deliver and show up in the right ways as individuals and an agency. Be it taking more time to talk to customers and reflect their experiences, or following a traditional recipe to the letter, to nail the perfect gumbo. 

2024’s Black History Month theme has been ‘Reclaiming narratives’. Inviting us to re-examine the contributions of Black People to British society, and how we have come to understand these stories. This year we found our way in through food and poetry. 

Reclaiming narratives for Black History Month

For those of us that work in the financial services world, government budgets are arguably the biggest annual event in the calendar and yesterday was certainly no different. The first budget delivered by a Labour Chancellor after 14-years of Conservative-rule was always going to garner a huge amount of media speculation, and the decision by the government to delay the first fiscal statement for nearly four months left ample time for rumours to run wild. 

This decision, coupled with Reeves’ announcement ahead of time that there was a £22bn sized hole in the nation’s pockets only added to the media speculation, with articles galore on what taxes were set to be increased and who was set to bear the brunt of the hole plugging. 

All of this meant lots of work for us, journalists were especially hungry for stories, analysis and opinions ahead of this year's budget and considerable work was done by the team in the lead up, ensuring our clients were featured prominently in these discussions and those covering the budget were lined up to receive commentary on the day. 

Our morning started like any other, with the whole PR team huddled around the high table absorbing the last of the headlines. Come 12:30, Reeves was standing at the dispatch box and poised to put months of speculation to bed. She spoke for just over an hour, and in doing so became the first female Chancellor to ever deliver a budget statement. A historic moment that should be celebrated by all regardless of broader political persuasions.  

In the end, we got pretty much what was anticipated, a variety of tax rises worth a whopping £40bn, aimed primarily at the nation's businesses, alongside greater levels of investment into public services with the NHS coming out as a main beneficiary.

Consumers were largely spared of the ‘scarier’ rumours being toted such as changes to the tax-free pensions lump sum or the annual ISA allowance. 

Whilst the frenzied activity of PRs and journalists during the statement itself is over, so begins the post-budget era where the media begins to dissect the budget in a surgical fashion, working out what it all means for their readers with insightful views, and number crunching, from across the financial services industry. 

And how did the PR team stack up?  

- In total the PR team __distributed 43 comments__ from our clients during the budget, generating over a thousand pieces of coverage across national, consumer, regional and trade publications.

- For those of you who read our [pre-budget blog](https://www.teamspirit.co.uk/news-insights/marking-the-autumn-budget-bingo-card), I am also pleased to report our own Ellie, went 3 / 5 on budget day bingo. Had the Chancellor spoken for 21 minutes less and opted for a cup of tea over water then the full house would have been secured! An admirable effort, better luck next time, Ellie.

Catch you all for the craziness next time.


- Pieces of coverage: 1,000+
- Number of comments distributed from clients: 43
- Cups of tea: Infinite

Big shout out to our fabulous PR team for working tirelessly on another BUMPER Autumn Budget. Click here to read our reflections from the day

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