Tomorrow Begins Today in NatWest Ad by The&Partnership

NatWest has unveiled a new edition of its brand platform ‘Tomorrow Begins Today’ with a campaign by The&Partnership encouraging people to take action today, for a better tomorrow.

Financial confidence and organisation have never been more important for households and businesses across the country. But taking action can be held back by a lack of tools, self-belief or simply a lack of time.

‘Tomorrow Begins Today’ looks to change this, by generating awareness of NatWest’s role as a supportive changemaker – providing the tools, the people and the technology to empower the next generation to overcome the obstacles standing in their way.

For some people, taking action will mean something immediate and everyday such as managing their direct debits or using the in-app spending and budget-tracker. Whilst for others, it might mean a bigger life moment like applying for a first mortgage or opening a business banking account.

Regardless of what this action is, no matter how big or small, getting started feels good. ‘Tomorrow Begins Today’ celebrates and embodies this feeling, with a campaign film featuring a thumping soundtrack (Gwen Stefani’s – What You Waiting For?) and an energetic new voiceover (Lady Leshurr). Launched during a handpicked spot during Friday night’s Love Island (22 July), the film kicks off the campaign with an unmissable burst of energy – guaranteed to put a smile on people’s faces.

Alongside this, the campaign also delivers high impact out-of-home formats and an exciting new partnership with TikTok, working with top-tier creators to help further diversify the audience the brand can reach.

The new creative look and feel injects new meaning and new energy into the brand platform of ‘Tomorrow Begins Today’. The campaign was also developed in partnership with NatWest’s internal employee networks as part of the ongoing work with DECA, and has inclusion at its heart – looking to reflect and celebrate the diverse make up of NatWest’s employee base, their customers and the millions of individuals and businesses across the nation.

Margaret Jobling, chief marketing officer at NatWest Group, said: “For us, this is so much more than just a campaign. For us as a brand, this is a motivational rallying cry, looking to stop people in their tracks and inspire them into taking action today, for a better tomorrow. We know that finances and financial decision-making can often be something which we all put off and save for another day, which is why we want this activation to completely break category norms, leaving people feeling galvanised and ready to make change in their lives. This is a creative vehicle which is built from the ground up in terms of insight and data, but also one which is bursting at the seams with energy, confidence, inclusivity and swagger. It’s a platform which we’ll continue to build on and develop, as we launch exciting new initiatives over the coming months to help the people and businesses of Britain thrive and reach their goals sooner.”

Micky Tudor, chief creative officer at The & Partnership, said: “This campaign is the beginning of a new blast of energy and action from NatWest to inspire, help and support people to get started. The film is bright, it’s colourful, it is Freddie Powell at his glittery best, and NatWest at their most vibrant. It kicks off a new larger-than-life tone that is summed up by Gwen Stefani’s banger and lifts the campaign away from the usual banking tropes with bags of positivity and bucket loads of energy.”

The fully integrated creative platform has been developed and created by The&Partnership, in collaboration with director Freddie Powell, photographer Tom Van Schelven and the team at Drool Productions. All media for the campaign has been bought and managed by Initiative. The carbon footprint of the campaign was also considered, with The&Partnership using AdGreen’s carbon calculator to generate a carbon score. NatWest are using this data to better understand how they can reduce their carbon footprint for campaigns moving forward.

CREDITS

Client: NatWest

Chief marketing officer: Margaret Jobling

Brand marketing director: Nicky Mackrell

Head of brand advertising: Petra Cameron

Brand advertising leads: Ben Wood, Charlotte Holmes

Brand advertising manager: Elise Celik

Agency: The&Partnership

CEO: Sarah Golding

Managing directors: Gary Simmons, Sarah Clark

CCO: Micky Tudor

ECD: Toby Allen

Creatives: Loui Bowes, Carl Storey, Kate Allsop, Dan Dehlavi

Head of art: Phil Sanderson

Head of integrated production: Charles Crisp

Deputy head of integrated production: Rick Carter

Producer: Rick Carter

Stills producer: Ingrid Winart

Head of planning: Rebecca Munds

Planning director: Matt Shaw

Client lead: Rob Payne

Business director: Alison Tidman

Account director: Imogen Clark

Account director: Alex Addison

Account director: Jenny Mclean

Production company: Drool

Director: Freddie Powell

Executive producer: Genevieve Sheppard

Producer: Jess Wylie

Cast co-ordinator: Heeva Hamed

Production manager: Dominika Wosik

Director of photography: Olan Collardy

Production designer: Arthur De Borman

Stylist/costume designer: Hannah Edwards

Art director: Laurie Walters

1st AD: Rawdon De Fresnes

Editors: Trim Editing

Editor: Thomas Grove Carter

Assistant editor: Joey Henshaw

Offline producers: Ella Sedgwick, Noreen Khan

Post-production: Untold

Creative director: Ben Cronin

VFX supervisor: Alex Grey

VFX lead: Sebastian Caldwell

VFX artists: Scott Simmonds, Tom Humphrey, Dave Ince, Cristina Serreli, Fabrizio Giso, Nicola Borsari, Harry McCusker-Bland, Kerim Camdzic, Marco Grandinetti, Lubos Surzin, Grant Bonser, Valentin Beaumont, Rachel Bosc-Bierne, Clara Malleviale, Kornel Makarowicz, Craig Healy, Igor Velichko

Colourist: Julien Alary

Producer: Ella Glazer

Executive producer: Tom Igglesden

Audio post-production: Factory

Sound engineer: Mark Hills

Producer: Ciara Wakley

Music type: Original

Music artist: Gwen Stefani

Music track title: What You Waiting For?

Writers: Linda Perry, Gwen Stefani

Music negotiation: We Are Theodore

Music supervisor: Arnold Hattingh