Show Notes
Banking is one of the hardest categories in marketing.
Trust is fragile. Customer expectations are shaped by every app on their phone, not just other banks. And every interaction has the potential to redefine the relationship. In this episode of That’s What I Call Marketing, Conor Byrne sits down with Laura Lynch, CMO of Bank of Ireland, to explore what it actually means to build a modern banking brand in 2026. Laura takes us inside Bank of Ireland’s recent brand transformation, including the thinking behind the new “Right With You” platform, the role of customer experience in shaping strategy, and why the bank deliberately avoided category clichés in its latest advertising work. The conversation also explores: Why Laura stepped out of traditional marketing roles before becoming CMO How customer trust is rebuilt after the banking crisis The balance between AI, personalisation and human connection Why marketers can become too focused on attribution and performance metrics The challenge of creating distinctive advertising in regulated categories How Bank of Ireland uses customer insight, segmentation and CX to shape growth The role of leadership, resilience and timing in building a marketing career Laura also shares the inside story behind Bank of Ireland’s latest campaigns, including the strategic use of humour, movie references, and why every line, casting decision and creative choice was intentionally designed to create distinction. For marketers working in financial services, regulated industries, or legacy brands navigating change, this is a fascinating look at how modern brand building actually works inside one of Ireland’s most important organisations. Timestamps: 00:00 – Why trust in banking has to be earned every day 02:00 – Laura Lynch’s path to becoming CMO of Bank of Ireland 06:30 – Leaving traditional marketing to build customer experience capability 10:00 – Going “all in” to land the CMO role 13:00 – Leadership, intensity and avoiding groupthink 16:30 – The reality of leading marketing inside a major bank 18:00 – Rebuilding customer trust after the banking crisis 20:00 – Why banking competition has fundamentally changed 21:30 – Inside Bank of Ireland’s new brand strategy 24:00 – Building “Right With You” with customers and colleagues 27:00 – Why the strategy had to stretch the organisation 29:00 – The making of the new Bank of Ireland advertising 32:00 – Using humour to talk about fraud and financial confidence 35:00 – Creating distinctive work in a regulated category 37:00 – AI, personalisation and the future of marketing teams 39:00 – Why performance marketing alone is not enough
Brought to you by Tracksuit Tracksuit is the always-on brand tracking platform helping marketers understand brand health, measure impact, and make better decisions over time. 👉 https://gotracksuit.com Listen / Follow That’s What I Call Marketing: 🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7MXhujDpTzbSRRbyQFgdWp 📩 Email: [email protected] Subscribe for weekly conversations with leading marketers. That’s What I Call Marketing is where marketers come for real conversations about brand, B2B, creativity, effectiveness and the future of the profession. Hosted by Conor Byrne, the show features conversations with CMOs, marketing leaders, agency leaders, authors, thinkers and practitioners about what good marketing looks like in practice.
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