Advertising, promotion, and the rise of a national building society movement in interwar Britain

This article examines the role of advertisement and promotion in the successful development of nationwide building societies in interwar Britain and the rapid overall growth of the building society movement. Major building societies are shown to have used extensive advertising to compensate for thei...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Business history 2012-06, Vol.54 (3), p.399-423
Main Authors: Scott, Peter, Newton, Lucy Ann
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Advertising
British history, 1914-1945
Building societies
Company marketing practices
European history
Expansion
History
Home ownership
interwar Britain
Marketing
Mortgages
mutual organisations
Sales promotions
Savings
Savings and loan associations
State building
Studies
United Kingdom
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Summary:This article examines the role of advertisement and promotion in the successful development of nationwide building societies in interwar Britain and the rapid overall growth of the building society movement. Major building societies are shown to have used extensive advertising to compensate for their initial lack of established national brands, promote home-ownership, and make savers aware of the attractive earnings and high security of building society savings. During a period when most building societies had very limited branch networks, extensive advertising increased the public profile of the major societies and thus assisted their rapid expansion via lower-cost modes such as agency networks.
ISSN:0007-6791
1743-7938
DOI:10.1080/00076791.2011.638489