Creating personalised experiences is now a critical business necessity. 

Consumers expect brands to understand their needs, preferences and behaviours, rewarding those who do so with increased loyalty and engagement. Almost two thirds of customers now say they expect companies to adapt experiences to match their changing needs and preferences1 and more than half that they’d likely become repeat buyers after a personalised experience2. Businesses that don’t adapt will find themselves outpaced by competitors and at odds with regulatory mandates including Consumer Duty. 

Despite 80% of financial institutions seeing personalisation as essential to meet the expected and required standards3, many still underinvest and deprioritise this within marketing strategies. With fewer than one in four businesses having the required technology to deliver consistent personalised experiences across channels2, the risk is customer disengagement and shallow, transactional relationships.

__The importance of cross-channel__

AI-driven data processing is fast-tracking personalisation across all customer touchpoints, further raising expectations. Without an accurate, cross channel view, insights are limited. 63% of buyers say experiences fall short of what’s possible4 – the same percentage stated they’d stop purchasing following poorly executed personalisation5. Businesses must invest in the right tech and test rigorously sooner rather than later. 

Prioritising personalisation will boost revenue, strengthen brand loyalty and support meeting regulations. This means building targeted, impactful and well-executed personalisation strategies that evolve with customer needs, fostering trust and differentiation. Investing in these efforts will outweigh potential losses, positioning brands for success in an increasingly regulated, customer-centric landscape.

This blog comes from our recent insight paper ‘Signals’, which includes fourteen thought pieces from departmental experts at Teamspirit on emerging trends, opportunities - and how marketers can stay ahead of them. You can download the full ‘Signals’ report [here](https://downloads.ctfassets.net/sxw14dxmazhg/6BG5pebjty67CF7a8VnEAk/fe62e6890db19c99797987852c736d94/TS_2025_Signals_Report.pdf).

### Sources
1. [https://www.salesforce.com/uk/resources/research-reports/state-of-the-connected-customer/](https://www.salesforce.com/uk/resources/research-reports/state-of-the-connected-customer/)
2. [https://www.twilio.com/en-us/blog/announcing-the-state-of-personalization-2021](https://www.twilio.com/en-us/blog/announcing-the-state-of-personalization-2021)
3. [https://www.dynamicyield.com/personalization-maturity-report-for-finance-2023/](https://www.dynamicyield.com/personalization-maturity-report-for-finance-2023/)
4. [https://www.salesforce.com/blog/what-is-customer-experience/](https://www.salesforce.com/blog/what-is-customer-experience/)
5. [https://www.smartinsights.com/ecommerce/web-personalisation/consumers-personalized-marketing-engagement/](https://www.smartinsights.com/ecommerce/web-personalisation/consumers-personalized-marketing-engagement/)

How can financial services best respond to customers’ growing expectations of personalised experiences?

The power of personalised experiences

As the popular myth of ‘shrinking attention spans’ is further debunked, [most recently by James Hurman’s post](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jameshurman_no-attention-spans-are-not-declining-ive-activity-7354292475722645504-tR8Y/), I’d argue that the perceived dwindling attention to advertising has another explanation.

Rather than attention spans getting shorter, I think that our media consumption behaviours have just caught up with our reaction times.

Humans have always been quick to react. From first impressions to split-second judgements.
And modern media, with the infinite scroll, has supercharged that tendency.

With so much choice available, if our immediate reaction isn’t to lean in then it’s to move on.
If the song on Spotify doesn’t have a strong opening hook, we move on.
But, if we like it, we put that song / artist on repeat and it climbs up into our Spotify Unwrapped.
If the first episode of the Netflix series disappoints, we move on.
But, if hooked, we binge the whole series and watch 8 hours in a row.

We have the attention span when we’re engaged. But, the decision of whether or not to engage happens more quickly.

It’s a subtle shift, but has meaningful implications for how we, as marketers, react.

If we believe that __attention spans__ are short, then we focus on immediacy. Get the logo in the first two seconds. Make the message direct, and beat them over the head with it. Scream at the viewer before they have a chance to look away. 
Which, ironically, further serves to push audiences away. [No wonder 35% of Brits use ad blockers.](https://business.yougov.com/content/49359-understanding-the-internet-habits-of-britons-as-third-party-cookies-phase-out)
It can work if you really throw money at the problem, but it’s neither effective nor efficient, nor elegant.

However, if we believe that it’s a matter of __instant reactions__, it becomes our job to give the audience something they immediately react positively to.
Something interesting. Entertaining. Useful. Beautiful. Funny. Shocking.
When I say ‘react positively’ I don’t necessarily mean that they like it; just that it catches their eye or their ear, evokes a response, and lodges in their memory. It leaves a mark; preferably an emotional one.

This isn’t a new idea. In fact, it’s a very old idea. Just ask Paul Feldwick, PT Barnum, etc. about the power of iconic visuals, absurdity, earworms, ‘in media res’ action, etc. But it’s an idea that bears repeating.

Now, what are most people’s instinctive reactions to financial services? In the general public? A wrinkling of the nose. A furrowing of the brow. ‘It’s complicated’. ‘That’s not something for me’. ‘They’re all the same anyway’.

It’s not much better for marketers in B2B. Time-poor professionals with myriad other pressures and demands on their time. Responsibilities to do what’s best for their clients, their customers, their buyers, their business. Where a change requires additional due diligence, procurement, oversight, analysis.

It’s a category where people are quick to move on, or stick to what they know, because of these instinctive immediate emotional reactions.
We, as marketers specialising in this area, need to make a better first impression in order to leave a lasting impression.
We need people to notice us (as made abundantly clear in our [Notice Me report](https://www.teamspirit.co.uk/news-insights/notice-me)).
And we need to change how people react from the very first moment if we’re ever going to change how people think and feel and behave; especially when it comes to their money.

As the myth of shrinking attention spans is further debunked, Strategy Director Dan Perry suggests that what we’re really seeing is a challenge for marketers to make better first impressions

Reactionary advertising

Since the TV era was born, celebrities have played an integral part in building brand awareness and loyalty. 

Over the years, the financial services sector has also learnt to take advantage of celebrity stardust. Not only can a sprinkling of celebrity help build familiarity and trust, it can also help with cut-through in a noisy media landscape where media consumption habits evolve at speed. 

While some have relied heavily on the ‘national treasure status’ of celebrities, others have been the vehicle to put a celebrity right at the heart of British culture.

Over the last thirty years, these campaigns have typically fallen into four different groups:

__Campaign cut through__
1. [Big Zuu](https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/embed/video/2767205.html) / [Timmy Mallet](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/video/news/video-3020805/Video-Timmy-Malletts-nostalgia-gameshow-promote-pensions.html) / [GC](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhefWZx26qs) – ABI/ PLSA ‘Pension Attention’
2. [Myleeen Klass](https://x.com/KlassMyleene/status/1816084462985244830) – Bupa Mental Health
3. [Dame Judi Dench](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKTPKlyEKpo) – MoneySuperMarket

__Familiarity through wit__
1. [Ant & Dec](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nr_aHaq8Eno) – Santander
2. [Rowan Atkinson](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RylTP_5fG0s) – Barclaycard
3. [John Cleese](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J50wR1KB17s) – Avalon

__Reassurance & expertise__
1. [George Clarke, Scarlette Douglas & Jason Fox](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02XMe4xUGN8) – AXA UK
2. [Michael Parkinson](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzMm00NaDvw) – Sun Life 
3. [Carol Vorderman](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cw7kezrUGIQ) – First Plus

__Building a national treasure__
1. [Sergei & the meerkat family](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gI_J-MZ6fiY) – Compare the Market
2. [Churchill (the dog)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_eCLJglhy4) – Churchill Insurance
3. [Workie the pension monster](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/video/news/video-1222999/Meet-pensions-monster-latest-government-ad-campaign.html) – Department of Work & Pensions, Workplace Pension campaign

With financial services providers especially reliant on establishing and growing long term relationships with customers, the transformative potential of these partnerships for a brand is significant.

But as culture continues to fragment, those brands looking for a ‘one size fits all’ celebrity may well struggle. While larger than life campaigns will still help build brand fame, it is those that are more tactical and bespoke to demographics that will likely bear the most fruit.

*Read our report, ‘[NoticeMe! Why financial services need fame](https://downloads.ctfassets.net/sxw14dxmazhg/3f5Ii0cJv8Dxd1x76biHyq/8f3217202291e6c5e2a6be8f395d2349/9988_TS_Notice_Me_Report_2025_RGB_UK_AW4_MO.pdf)’, to read our view on why financial services need to unashamedly chase fame; our definition of what we mean by fame; a host of noteworthy examples from within and outside the sector; and how to create it with behavioural science tips aka CHESS.*

With financial services providers reliant on establishing and growing long term relationships with customers, the role of celebrities to strengthen that bond continues to evolve.

Looking for a celeb in finance

I’ve been a DJ since I was 15, which is pushing on 25 years now (I hesitate to say out loud). And I fell in love with every aspect of it. The equipment, the vinyl, and the playing of music. But more specifically I fell in love with manipulating tracks. Blending things together to make something completely new, like remixes and mash ups that had never been heard before. Taking two tracks I already loved and blending them together to make something even better. There’s a real satisfaction in it and I absolutely LOVED being able to bring a whole new energy to already amazing music.

A few years back I decided to push that a little further and branch out from DJ to Producer. I taught myself music production and started making the music I wanted to hear. Creating those blends I’d been making from scratch and it’s been one of the most fulfilling creative decisions I’ve made.

The hard part (as I’m sure many producers will tell you) is finding your own sound. You learn the trade by following others and their style. It’s also advised to make music that fits into a category. But I found this was holding me back. I found I was getting hung up on whether what I was making sounded ‘right’ or not. But recently I’ve decided to forget that, follow creative instincts and just make exactly what I want to, no matter what ‘category’ comes out the other side. It’s been liberating.

So my message to all creatives out there is to trust your gut and sometimes, simply, just make what you feel you should make. 

Most importantly, if you love making what you make - keep at it. If you’re enjoying it, then what else actually matters? Do what makes you happy.

Want to listen to more Wingman creations? Check out the links below:

__Spotify__
[https://open.spotify.com/artist/4MGlatuY78dtpYYMezxIZF?si=9jgupsKTSDeocisIFLcjiA](https://open.spotify.com/artist/4MGlatuY78dtpYYMezxIZF?si=9jgupsKTSDeocisIFLcjiA)

__Soundcloud__
[https://soundcloud.com/wingman-292379330/tracks](https://soundcloud.com/wingman-292379330/tracks)

__MixCloud__
[https://www.mixcloud.com/Wingman_mixes/](https://www.mixcloud.com/Wingman_mixes/)

__Instagram__
@wingman_mixes

__TikTok__
@wingman_productions

<iframe width="100%" height="166" scrolling="no" frameborder="no" allow="autoplay" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/2130158229&color=%23ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true"></iframe>

 
 
And if you’d like to hear more from the Teamspiriters, check out some of [our previous episodes](https://www.teamspirit.co.uk/insights/the-teamspiriters).

Paul Hunt, Senior Brand Designer and resident music maestro, has produced a piece around creative freedom and his vision for his music.

Make what I want

Critical illness is not traditionally the easiest category to gain positive awareness for in consumer media.

But our work for AIG Life was recently recognized for doing just this, winning gold in the PR and Brand Storytelling category at the Marketing Week Masters awards.

Beating shortlisted entries from Lego, Vodafone, Greenpeace and the Roald Dahl Foundation, our winning campaign told the story of Max, a toddler who was
diagnosed at birth as being profoundly deaf. Protected by AIG Life, Max’s parents received a no quibble pay out for their claim, allowing them to give Max the care and quality of life he – and his family - needed.

An innovative content and PR strategy led to interviews on ITV’s Lorraine, BBC and ITV news, sending the story viral.  Well over 200,000 views were achieved across YouTube, national media, Facebook and Twitter. Cover magazine described the activity as ‘a communications vision for the industry’.

Critical illness is not traditionally the easiest category to gain positive awareness for in consumer media. But our work for AIG Life was recently recognized for doing just this...

‘Max’s Story’ wins Marketing Week Masters

Related News

Sun 17 Aug 2025

The power of personalised experiences

Tue 12 Aug 2025

Reactionary advertising

Tue 29 Jul 2025

Looking for a celeb in finance

Mon 14 Jul 2025

Make what I want