Bank of Ireland: Personal Current Accounts

Folk VML's new campaign for Bank of Ireland promotes their innovative EcoSaver mortgage offering.

Bank of Ireland’s latest brand drive needed to do more than list features; it had to win the hearts, swipes and taps of a restless, value-seeking audience. ‘Boldly Reassuring’ – a fully-integrated, digitally-led campaign – reframed the everyday current account as an engine of calm control, spotlighting card freeze, instant fraud alerts and AI-powered spending insights. TV, OOH, social and campus activations worked in tandem to re-energise relevance nationwide.

Bank of Ireland Folk VML Advertising Dublin

Challenge

In a fiercely competitive sector awash with fintech upstarts, Bank of Ireland needed to prove its everyday current account could match, and exceed, the seamless experiences younger customers now expect. Yet banking apathy and low trust, particularly among Gen Z, meant function alone wouldn’t cut through. The task was to create a brand moment big enough to shift behaviour while small enough to feel personal, helpful and human.

Inspiration

Research showed that genuine reassurance, not clever perks, calms customers when money mishaps happen. The team reframed the current account’s hidden safety nets - freeze, fraud support, forgotten PIN retrieval - as instant ‘keep-your-cool’ tools. If the product could let people stay calm in stressful moments, the creative had permission to be equally relaxed, witty and bold, mirroring the audience’s tone online.

Idea

The resulting platform places everyday slip-ups it's heart, showing lost cards, late-night taxis and overspending spirals resolved with a single tap, leaving protagonists unflustered and literally - chilling.

Running across TV, radio, social, and digital platforms, the campaign will continue through to the end of 2025. It includes a targeted on-campus presence in September and October, and leverages a data-driven approach across social and search channels to reach and engage younger audiences

This campaign reflects Bank of Ireland’s sustained investment in brand relevance and customer acquisition, reinforcing its commitment to being a trusted and forward-thinking financial partner.