The much-trumpeted relaunch of TSB bank has run into trouble within hours, after Lloyds Banking Group admitted that all its websites had already crashed this morning.
The company said there were “intermittent” issues with the site across all five brands, including Lloyds Banks, Halifax and TSB.
Some 631 branches of Lloyds Banking Group, including all of the Cheltenham and Gloucester branches and all Lloyds branches in Scotland, have been switched to the standalone TSB, which closed in 1995.
The relaunch is being backed by a £30m marketing campaign, including digital, press, cinema and broadcast media, devised by agency Joint.
Under the strapline “Welcome back to local banking”, the campaign pushes the heritage of the 200-year old brand as well as selling the local business proposition as an alternative to distance banking and global banking groups.
Lloyds is also getting in on the act by running a series of press ads which take the form of a letter from the group’s chief executive, António Horta-Osório.
The copy states:”TSB will once again stand proud on our high streets. Its roots go back to 1810 when the Reverend Henry Duncan believed local banking was an essential part of building strong local economies. That’s why today’s TSB will be a straightforward, balanced bank serving its millions of individual and small business customers, and the communities they live and work in.”
The move was prompted by the European Commission, which demanded the sell-off after parent Lloyds Banking Group received state aid in 2009.
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RT @DM_editor: Oh dear, TSB relaunch goes tits up as website crashes http://t.co/JUO8HavX8Z #digitalmarketing #datamarketing #directmarketi…