Grace Jones and some very, very eye-catching styling give Barclaycard an edge by tapping into anti-trend, ie: when everything’s cool, it’s cool not to be cool. In the 60-second launch spot, Jones mocks the cool obsession which leads to a “very cool” way to explain Barclaycard’s benefits.
The campaign by Droga5 London has Barclaycard’s buy-now-pay-later rivals in its sights, brands that are pitching themselves aggressively to younger audiences. The Kool Kredit card payment fail (the card is shaped like a Dorito) seems to target one brand in particular. Jones states the simple truth that when it comes to payments, cool is overrated. Protection, rewards, and building a credit score matter more.
Matt Hubbard, creative director at Droga5, explained, “Today’s Buy Now, Pay Later providers like to pretend they have a lot to offer customers, but they’re really just the emperor’s new clothes.”
The unignorable TVC was directed by Andreas Nilsson and produced by Biscuit Filmworks.
The full campaign includes a 30 second TVC, short form social films and out-of-home media. The OOH components challenge people to question how they buy with lines such as, Did your new trainers help you improve your credit score, Is your holiday booking protected, When they say ‘pay later’, how much ‘later’ is ‘later’?, When you ordered your last flat white, did you get a tip?.
Barclaycard Buy Now Pay later service began in April when it extended a deal with Amazon to provide point-of-sale financing on its platform.
