Building Local Awareness Through Community-Focused Content

CLIENT Barclays

A Barclays employee woman with shoulder-length red hair smiling and wearing a navy blazer with a name tag, standing on a city street.
Text with icons; a group of people, Local; a checkmark, Real; and an award ribbon, Brand Awareness.
A Barclays employee woman standing outside of a building with a sign that reads 'Libary'. She is gesturing towards the building with her right hand and is smiling. She is wearing a black cardigan, white shirt, and has a name tag.
Red brick houses with white-framed windows and a small garden area with bushes, a tree, and a curved metal fence.
A Barclays employee woman standing outside the Keighley Civic Centre, with a blue fence and a barred window behind her. She is wearing a dark blazer, a dark blouse, and a blue neckerchief.

THE CHALLENGE

Barclays wanted to produce a series of social videos aimed at raising awareness of their community sites and building a stronger local identity. These sites, often located in smaller towns or rural areas, tend to fly under the radar - frequently tucked away in libraries or community centres. To tackle the issue of low visibility, Barclays wanted to run mini activation campaigns using targeted local media. That’s where we came in. 

A Barclays employee man in a black jacket is showing his phone to a healthcare professional in a light blue shirt during a consultation.
A busy street with shops, pedestrians, and parked cars in a small town or city. storefront signs for Costa, Marks & Spencer, and other retail stores are visible, along with pedestrians walking along the sidewalk. The buildings are a mix of brick and timber framing, with overcast weather.

THE CREATION

Working closely with Barclays colleagues on the ground, we created two short-form social videos for each Community Site. 

The first video was all about visibility - quite literally. We designed it to show exactly where the Community Site was located, taking viewers on a visual journey from a recognisable local landmark straight to the front door. 

The second video highlighted a key service available at that specific site. After speaking with the local team about what was most popular or useful in their area, we scripted a scenario featuring an actor as a typical customer, helping to demonstrate the service in a relatable and accessible way. 

These videos were created specifically for local social media platforms, so we tailored not just the creative but also our equipment setup to meet that need. We shot everything in a vertical 9:16 ratio for Reels, with the option to crop to 1:1 for main feed posts. This meant reconfiguring our camera rig and monitoring setup to suit the format - a bit unusual at first, but by overlaying Barclays’ brand graphics live on set, we had a clear, accurate view of the final frame throughout the shoot. It was a bespoke approach designed to ensure every frame worked hard for the platform and the brand. 

A man and a woman sitting at a table, looking at a smartphone and a laptop, with a potted plant in the background.
A Barclays employee woman in a dark jacket and a blue pattern scarf standing in a lobby area near a sign that reads 'Welcome to Barclays Local Trowbridge'.

THE OUTCOME

The response was fantastic. The videos were rolled out across the Barclays Community Sites' social media channels, and the client was delighted - not just with the look and feel of the final edits, but with how smooth and enjoyable the process had been from start to finish. 

The on-site colleagues were brilliant - welcoming, enthusiastic, and an essential part of making each video feel genuinely local and authentic. For many of them, it was their first time on camera, but they handled it like professionals and brought a warmth that couldn’t have been scripted. 

The result? A series of short, engaging videos that feel genuinely local, are easy to understand, and showcase the friendly face of Barclays in communities across the UK. 

A woman in a navy blazer and blue polka dot scarf hands a card to a man in a light blue polo shirt sitting at a table with an open HP laptop and a mouse. The woman has blonde hair and is looking down at the card, while the man is looking at the card with a slight smile. There is a blue eagle logo in the top right corner.
A door with a blue sign hanging on the lock that reads ''Meeting in progress. Please take a seat, someone will be with you shortly.'' In the background, there is a blurred view of a room with people sitting at a table.
Three Barclays employee woman in business attire standing indoors near a large window, engaged in conversation, with a brick building visible outside.
A bronze statue of a soldier holding a rifle, with a seagull perched on his head, situated on a stone pedestal in a park. Leaves are bare on the trees in the background, suggesting winter or early spring.
Two Barclays employees women in navy blue uniforms with scarves, engaged in conversation inside a building with beige stone walls and large windows.
A Barclays employee woman with short red hair, wearing a navy blazer and white shirt, standing outdoors in front of a brick building with a sign that reads "Mill Arts" and another sign that says "Barclays," some greenery, and palm trees.
A man wearing an orange sweater and a woman in a navy blazer sitting at a table with a blue tablecloth, looking at a green smartphone together inside a building with large windows, with a brick building visible outside.