In British culture, boasting about one’s achievements is generally not considered a particularly desirable trait. But when first direct was named the best banking brand at this year’s Which? Awards, the bank decided to make an exception. And a rather conspicuous one. A giant trumpet housed inside a glass-sided van set off on a tour of London, passing Buckingham Palace, Big Ben and the London Eye.
Behind the Blow Its Own Trumpet campaign is agency VML UK, which turned the English expression “blow your own trumpet”, meaning to boast about one’s achievements, into a literal creative idea. The van, built by experiential marketing agency We Love This, carried the message: “We hate to blow our own trumpet, but we’ve won Which? Banking Brand of the Year.”
The bank received the award in May 2026, while the October campaign was designed to bring the news to a wider audience. Rather than limiting its communication to announcing the award, first direct used its own achievement as an opportunity to engage consumers.
The activation on London’s streets thus became the starting point for a broader social-first campaign. VML UK developed an AR filter available on TikTok and Meta platforms, allowing users to share the reasons they are proud of themselves and enter for a chance to win a £100 voucher. The campaign is supported by paid advertising and influencer collaborations, with creators taking real trumpets onto the streets and inviting passersby to talk about their biggest achievements of 2026.
Alice Tabberer, marketing leader at first direct, explained that the idea emerged from the British reluctance to publicly celebrate personal achievements. “As a nation we’re pretty terrible at blowing our own trumpets, so when first direct was named Which? Banking Brand of the Year 2026, we decided to do the opposite, while encouraging members of the public to do the same. It’s built great momentum for our brand, but ultimately the award and the shoutout goes to our people who are picking up the phones and helping our customers every day.” said Tabberer.
The recognition for the quality of the bank’s services thus became the starting point for a campaign in which the audience plays an active role. While the giant trumpet toured London’s streets to celebrate the bank’s award win, the same invitation was extended on social media to everyone with a reason of their own to celebrate.
