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The advertising agency WPP has been asked to work up potential ideas for a government-endorsed advertising blitz that will urge more consumers to invest in stocks and shares.
Plans for the multimillion-pound “Tell Sid”-style push were announced by Rachel Reeves on Tuesday, alongside a fresh deregulation drive meant to increase financial risk-taking by savers in an effort to spur growth.
The City is desperate to get money out of personal cash accounts and into stocks. The chancellor’s move is a victory for lobbyists who say it will not only deliver better returns for savers but also help revive the UK stock market.
The announcement comes as the London Stock Exchange continues to lose stock market listings and floats to foreign rivals.
Industry sources told the Guardian that the advertising agency WPP has been approached to work up potential ideas for the campaign, with a formal appointment still pending.
Bidding agencies are expected to take inspiration from past drives touting public share ownership across Europe and the US, some of which were outlined in a report published by Barclays earlier this year.
This highlighted the Thatcher-era “Tell Sid” adverts, which encouraged everyday consumers to buy shares in the newly privatised British Gas in 1986. “If you see Sid, tell him,” the catchphrase declared.
Decades earlier, the US launched the “Own your share of American business” investment campaign. This ran from 1954 to 1969 and, the Barclays report said, was aimed at improving the reputation of the New York Stock Exchange and “staving off communism”. It is credited with boosting the number of share owners across the US from 4.2% to 10.4%.
As of 2022, around 16% of US households directly owned stocks and shares. That compares with 11% of households in the UK.
The Treasury said the new campaign “will help to explain the benefits of investing”. It will be directed and funded by City firms including investment platforms and the big five high street banks.
Of these, Lloyds, HSBC and Natwest already work with the WPP-owned agencies Ogilvy, VML and The & Partnership, which is likely to have influenced the decision to open discussions with the London-listed marketing services giant.
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WPP declined to comment.
Last year, Reeves scrapped plans by the previous government for a separate “Tell Sid”-style campaign featuring the former newsreader Sir Trevor McDonald. This was aimed at selling the government’s remaining stake in NatWest.
The direction of the new campaign will ultimately be in the hands of its backers, who are due to set out their next steps later this summer. This will involve appointing a chair, setting the budget and formally appointing an advertising agency.
The group is being steered by asset management lobby group the Investment Association and includes the London Stock Exchange, asset managers Schroders and investment platforms AJ Bell, Hargreaves Lansdown, Interactive Investor, and Robinhood UK.
They will collectively cover the campaign’s budget, which one expert said was likely to be between £50m and £60m. The campaign is expected to be “multichannel”, meaning it will run online, on TV and radio and via billboards and transport advertising.
The Treasury, Money and Pensions Service and the Financial Conduct Authority will support the campaign in an advisory capacity.
English (US) ·