THE CHALLENGE

Help small business owners stay resilient in trying times

During the height of the cost of living crisis, research showed that 80% of small business owners were struggling with their mental health, and only 31% knew where to go for help. To show that Lloyds Bank understood its customers’ challenges and was there to help them thrive, we needed to offer people tangible support.

STRATEGY

Show business owners they are not alone

We aimed to highlight how a strong mindset and resilience can contribute to business success, whilst challenging the narrative that mental health must be sacrificed in the process. Importantly, statistics and stories highlighting the experiences of other business owners allowed people to feel less alone in their mental health challenges.

WHAT REAL PEOPLE THINK

“I knew running a small business wouldn’t be easy, but when you have to stay strong for your employees, colleagues and investors, it’s difficult to know where to turn for help.”

THE IDEA

Stronger minds, stronger business

WHAT WE MADE

Working in partnership with Mental Health UK, we developed an industry-first programme of over 3,000 free therapeutic coaching sessions for small business owners.

Business owners booked their sessions online through our campaign hub, choosing from a range of specialist MHUK coaches to suit their individual needs.

Our campaign hub included a whole host of expert advice on how to build mental resilience, including written guides on topics ranging from ‘5 early warning signs that mental health may be affecting your business’ to ‘How to deal with stress, anxiety and depression’. We also produced a series of written and video case studies, which showed business owners they not alone and helped them understand the benefits of therapeutic coaching from the voices of other small business owners. 

A paid media campaign (led by adam&eveDDB and Zenith) helped raise awareness of the initiative and drive traffic to our campaign hub on the Lloyds Bank website. This included outdoor, press, radio, podcast and digital advertising.

VALUE UNLOCKED

• The campaign landing page received over 20k visits
• The mental health articles generated over 13k visits  
• The hub drove 10k visits to the MHUK session booking page 
• A combined series of customer emails resulted in a further 8k visits to the hub 
• All 3,120 therapeutic coaching sessions with Mental Health UK were booked 
• 98% of business owners surveyed agreed they’d take some form of action as a result