Our look at Martins’ 1960s advertising begins in 1961, where we find two campaigns with the same theme, but quite different aims. One is to recruit new female staff to the bank, and other to recruit new student customers. x Calling all nice people… “The Nicest People” (right) shows an ordinary girl who is lucky enough to have landed a job at Martins. What is refreshing here, is that although the add is aimed at female staff, there is no attempt to paint a glamorous picture either of bank work, or bank employees themselves. The advertisement is straightforward and states only facts, right down to the pay being “quite good” (it was actually quite bad). The copy of the advert can also be adjusted for each region of the bank, so that nice people everywhere get the chance to work at Martins Bank. x An average kind of bloke… “My Bank’s Martins” (below) appeals to your average 1961 student, again with a no nonsense advertisement that does exactly what it says on the tin – student banking couldn’t be simpler, and you can’t find a better bank than Martins to help you make sense of the money. (Oh to be back in the days when students were paid to go to university… Or perhaps not.)						Image: Barclays Group Archive Ref 25-251
x					The World is your market… In 1963 Martins Bank information Department is in full flow, publishing guides, lists, answering endless correspondence about banking facilities in other countries, and providing a number of successful guides for farmers, exporters and those wishing to start a business in Britain. These are covered separately in our INFORMATION DEPARTMENT feature. One of the most popular guides is “The World is your Market” and it is interesting to note that it warrants its own newspaper advertising: With Britain still able to manufacture and export a wide variety of goods, Martins is keen to be of service by providing advice and paid for services to those existing and new exporters. The expertise of the Bank is seen as a valuable commodity in its own right.
1962 – We’re glad we use Martins Bank…
Businessmen, career chaps and career girls all over the country can take comfort from the fact that Martins has decentralised District Head Offices – no waiting around for decisions on those tricky business propositions, someone to take you seriously, and of course a friendly service to all…
1962 - Advantage, Martins…
Image: Martins Bank Archive
It was always going to be an advantage for any bank to have a branch at the centre court of Wimbledon, and OUR bank doesn’t disappoint. The advertisement above runs for nearly ten years, right up to the Barclays takeover. All in all, the ad campaigns of 1961 break new ground in attracting new business from people in all walks of life, and also recruiting the kind of staff who will later go to extremes to be helpful…
1965/6 Campaign – ordinary people?
									The theme of the 1965 campaign is “ordinary people”, and whether they work rest or play, Martins Bank can help them with a bank account, and tailor made advice for their situation. The fact that you only need to look at the picture and a couple of words to know exactly what the advert is about is typical of Martins’ new approach to advertising. The 1950s image of a stagecoach outside an old tavern struggles, in comparison, to get its message across. The swinging sixties gives Martins the opportunity to cash in on the youth market.
‘Counting up’ is one of a number of press advertisements in Autumn 1965 aimed at what Martins refers to as ‘the wage earner’. ‘Going Away’ takes every opportunity to sell the bank’s overseas services to non-business customers, providing solutions that enable you to travel abroad confident in the knowledge that you have both access to and control over your money. In the days before cash machines this is not an easy task, and exchange controls make things even more difficult. ‘I’m saving up’ appeals to the younger saver. Many of Martins 750 branches are situated in agricultural areas. The Bank is heavily involved in local events from flower shows to agricultural events where invariably one of Martins’ fleet of MOBILE BRANCHES will pitch up to offer service and advice. ‘It can be a Pig of a Problem’ highlights farmers’ uneven cash flow and the bank offers further help and advice through its free booklet ‘Finance for farmers and growers’, one of the most popular product publications in Martins’ history.
It’s a JUNGLE out there!
x
In 1965/6 these iconic and innovative ads are an instant hit for Martins. You can see the two restored copies shown here on the left, and read about the little girl who got to work with an elephant AND a camel in our special advertising feature: ANIMALS AND CHILDREN.
1968/9 Martinplanning gives you the key!
“The secret of all successful money management is wrapped up in one word… Martinplanning”
								It’s the end of the sixties, and this lady is being encouraged, to SAVE, not borrow, in order to buy the car of her dreams. The rise in competition between banks for their customers’ money leads inevitably to the need to grab the customer’s attention, no matter what. What were once seen as institutions that sold SERVICE, must rapidly become shops for financial products. Besides in-branch promotional materials, the main campaign ground is newspaper and magazine advertising, although some banks do venture on to Television despite the distaste for this medium often shown by the ‘stuffier’ ones. What makes Martins’ 1960s advertising stand out is the fact that they are not afraid to match the mood, look and feel of the ‘Swinging sixties’. The concept of Martinplanning buys into the idea of the “must have” generation, and then turns it on its head – not live now pay later, but SAVE now, BUY later. This is precisely the kind of genius marketing that British banks could do with today, reversing the decades long trend of living on credit…
Whilst the Martinplanning campaign is in full swing – celebrated here in a cartoon from national treasure of the day, artist Bill Tidy – Martins’ savings plans are on the march in other areas, too: The humble home safe money box is about to undergo a revolution, with the introduction of the short-lived but much loved Grasshopper Money Box. You can read more about this on our GIVEAWAYS page.
Selling a takeover…
							By 1969 the use of similar fonts by both banks and less subtle devices such as “a member of the Barclays Group” heralds the Barclays takeover, and the end of a brand, as the grasshopper gives way to the spread eagle… You can read more about this in more detail in our BEGINNING OF THE END feature…
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