Nationwide, the UK's largest building society, sought to motivate employees to promote innovation within the company in order to fulfil a lofty efficiency target. We looked through Nationwide's archives for ideas and came across Arthur Webb, a trailblazer who pushed for innovation and led the Society through two World Wars. Arthur Webb's most notable physical feature was his imposing moustache. This moustache served as a visual cue, first appearing in the “I am Arthur” film and then reappearing throughout the campaign as a golden creative thread.
I worked with the brilliant cartoonist, David Lewis, who has created stunning work for clients such as ITV, Her Majesty the Queen, and Richard Branson. Together, we came up with dynamic storyboards, that were brought to life via simple yet effective animated videos. These videos uplifted staff as the heroes of Nationwide, and showcased their brilliant ideas that pushed forward business and innovation at the UK’s no. 1 building society.
In just six months, the initiative has resulted in direct savings of £2 million, and it has already received three employee engagement awards in 2018: the IC Brilliance Awards, the Corporate Engagement Awards, and the PRCA Dare Awards.