The “Barclaycard stories about couples’ clashing tastes” was a popular advertising campaign by Droga5 London in 2019, highlighting the entertainment and ticketing perks available to cardholders. Barclaycard is our third Brand Master of Storytelling.

This campaign was highly praised for its clever “parallel narrative” structure.

The Core Concept & Twin Ads

Barclaycard explored a couple’s vastly different interests in a national campaign promoting the entertainment perks available to cardholders.

Two new spots, created by Droga5 London, boomerang between the perspectives of a man and a woman who put up with each other’s passions while daydreaming about escaping to their own “happy place”.

The first ad takes place at a wrestling match, where the woman is clearly a big fan. Meanwhile, her patient partner consoles himself with the fact that he saved money on tickets through Barclaycard, as his mind wanders to the event he would rather be at: a music festival.

In the second, the opposite situation plays out. While at a music festival, where the man is having the time of his life, the woman’s attention drifts to her fantasy of taking the starring role in a wrestling ring.

The campaign ran across TV, video-on-demand, digital out-of-home, social media, and cinemas for three weeks, featuring 30- and 15-second spots.

It highlighted the offers and perks available to Barclaycard cardholders at events, including savings on tickets, access to festival pre-sales, and 5% off food and drink at O2 Academy venues.

Alex Naylor, managing director, marketing communications, at Barclays UK, said: “When it comes to our love for entertainment, our passions and preferences are all unique – whether that’s attending a wrestling match or dancing in the crowd at a music festival. We are excited to bring this to life in an innovative way through mirrored storytelling. No matter what your interests or tastes are, it’s so much better when you know you’ve saved on the purchase of your tickets. And with a wide range of entertainment to choose from, we can help every customer get to their happy place.”

The campaign explicitly promoted Barclaycard Entertainment’s extensive range of ticket discounts and pre-sale access. The closing tagline promised “There’s a happy place for everyone,” positioning the credit card as the perfect tool to fund any passion, no matter how mismatched the couple might be.

The ads were written by creatives Nick Lindo and Seb Thomas and directed by Nick Ball at the production company Blink UK. They ran for three weeks across UK television, cinema, social media, and digital out-of-home platforms.

Previous Brand Storytelling Masters:
Nike – Winning Isn’t Comfortable
Guinness – Made of More

Brand Masters of Storytelling 3, written by Tor Kjolberg