Is ‘Helpful Banking’ an unhelpful tagline?

Developing a tagline is a strategic process. A tagline is an expression that reflects your brand attributes and value.

At Freshfield, we believe it’s one of the most important parts of the communication toolkit if…you get it right!

After a computer software upgrade at RBS failed last week, disrupting many payments into and out of accounts, one of the most high profile taglines in the professional and financial services world has come to the fore.

NatWest’s Helpful Banking has now been dubbed Unhelpful Banking by the media and angry customers. The iPaper ran Unhelpful Banking as its headline last week with consumers taking to the social media world and online comment facilities to vent their fury.

Mistakes are often made when trying to create a tagline. Some are too bland, some are too clichéd and many are never original. The best taglines often express brands with multiple or metaphorical meanings.

But one of the worst mistakes is having a tagline that is not being true to your brand.

In RBS’ / NatWest’s case, it has let its customers down and this has led to a huge negative news cycle. Bank chiefs now need to make a decision to back or sack the Helpful Banking tagline. This episode has blown a huge hole in that brand value.

Is it truly representative of its brand at this moment in time? No.

So it will be very interesting to see what happens in the next few days.