Appointed by Newcastle Building Society Group in 2024 to support the launch of its new Manchester Building Society brand, we entered 2025 with the following objectives:
– Introduce the Manchester Building Society brand to a range of stakeholders across Manchester and the wider region
– Tell a powerful story around the role Manchester Building Society will play for its communities and members
– Create a communications platform that supports the roll out of new products, Manchester based senior recruitment, and re-introduction of branches as part of a physical high street presence
– Create meaningful connections with those stakeholders to support long term engagement and business growth.
Our approach was to identify human interest stories that would help to bring the new brand to life for our target audiences.
In the first few months of the year, we focused on the corporate message – announcing the investment and the return of Manchester Building Society to the high street – before dialling up the consumer-facing messaging in the second half of the year.
Approach
To prepare for the kick-off of PR activity in January 2025, we first held a narrative workshop bringing together a senior group including the Building Society’s CEO to refine and test the messaging ahead of launch. We then prepared key documents including the narrative, Q&A, launch press release and stakeholder letter to introduce the Manchester Building Society brand to opinion formers.
Through 2025, we:
– Drafted and issued 10 media stories
– Generated more than 50 pieces of editorial media coverage in key target media, including multiple executive interviews, and leading to reach of over 1.1 million
– Held a stakeholder engagement workshop and created a comprehensive stakeholder engagement tracker
– Organised photography for each media moment to support outreach and fuel social content
– Concieved and led creation of multiple content assets for Manchester Building Society’s first brand campaign, launching its Rainy Day Saver product. This included video, photography, written press materials, working with local community dance groups, and commissioning first-of-its-kind consumer research spanning all 10 boroughs of Greater Manchester
Kathryn McLaughlin,
Head of Group Corporate Affairs, Newcastle Building Society Group
