At the end of July 2026, Monzo – the app-based bank that’s variously rumoured to be mulling either an IPO or a sale to private equity – launched “Get Busy Living”, an integrated campaign that the brand describes as its “first global brand platform.” Developed by BBH London, the advertising component of this campaign is comprised of ten spots narrated by Oscar-winning actress Olivia Colman, each of which positions the bank as a facilitator of life’s meaningful and mundane moments.
Given the campaign involved well-known talent and a library of iconic songs for the soundtrack (from “Baba O’Riley” by The Who to “Careless Whisper” by George Michael), it likely represents a significant investment. But is it actually paying off?
YouGov BrandIndex data shows that Monzo’s brand image has improved since launching the campaign. Its Ad Awareness scores, which measure whether the public have noticed an ad for the brand in the past two weeks, have risen from 12.2 on 27 July to 17.2 on 5 October – a five-point increase.
But beyond noticing the ads, Monzo’s net Buzz scores (which track whether consumers have heard anything positive or negative about a brand in the past two weeks) have also risen – from 7.9 to 12.1. So we can say that the campaign hasn’t made the noise around the neobank worse and may well have improved it.
Some other metrics show more modest improvement. For example, Impression score (which track whether consumers have a positive or negative disposition towards a brand) saw scores rise from 16.3 to 18.0 (+1.7)
Similarly, Monzo’s Quality score improved from 10.5 to 11.7 over the period in question (although it saw a peak of 14.1 on 15 August 2026). It was a similar situation with its Reputation score, which tracks whether consumers would be proud or embarrassed to work for a brand, with it improving from 11.8 to 14.1, but with a high point of 17.5 (22 August) in the weeks following the campaign’s launch.
YouGov’s data suggests the campaign also moved Monzo’s more commercially-focused metrics. We can see an improvement in Current Customer scores from 14.9 to 17.2 (+2.3), which may perhaps be difficult to attribute to the campaign in particular. Consideration scores show a similar improvement from 15.1 to 18.4 (+3.3).
Methodology
YouGov BrandIndex collects data on thousands of brands every day. Monzo’s scores are reported as net scores from –100 to +100, and are based on daily surveys of UK adults. Data is weighted by age, gender, region, social grade, and ethnicity using a raking methodology. Figures are shown as a 3-week moving average.
Image: Getty
