This is not your typical bank ad for Barclaycard Business

A reassuring arm to small UK businesses throughout the pandemic, Barclaycard Business has now set its sights on growth, as it positions itself as the go-to for all SMEs looking for a partner to take their business to the next chapter.

To get small businesses rethinking what payments can do for their businesses, Barclaycard Business enlisted the help of Droga5. 

Droga5 uncovered that most business owners think of payments in a purely transactional way, which often discounts all the other benefits payments can do for their business.

Rather, payments can help businesses manage their stock better, improve cashflow and develop relationships with suppliers. They can even protect customers from fraud. 

To showcase the overlooked potential, Droga5 worked with director Jeff Low, through Biscuit Filmworks.

The launch film opens in a hardware store with a business owner winding down what feels like a typical bank ad for Barclaycard Business.

The logo appears, signalling the end of the ad. But the footage keeps rolling as a customer engages her in what seems to be a completely irrelevant yet strangely intriguing philosophical debate.

It eventually winds back to payments and at the mention of her business, our SME owner snaps back to camera to continue the ad: because "the payment part is just the start".

Chris Russell and Ahmed Ellabib were the creatives on the campaign. 

The campaign will be live with 30” TVC spots across Sky from March, as well as OOH, press and social which went live at the start of the new year.

The second phase of activity will begin in June with a new 30” TVC spot.