Lloyds Banking Group:
Report writing and launch

Goals

To raise awareness of the opportunity for UK farming to be central to the solution to environmental degradation in the countryside; positively engaging agriculture, industry and policy audiences.

To position Lloyds Banking Group as the most trusted financial partner to UK agriculture by demonstrating how the bank works side by side with agribusinesses to achieve a more sustainable future.

Deliverables

Taking evidence from the Lloyds’ funded on-farm study of 685 farm participants spanning 240,000 hectares of land the strategy was to engage the audiences to ensure genuine on-farm benefits could be gleaned.

Pinstone’s combination of farm knowledge and comms expertise was needed to frame and write the report as well as guide the analysis and work closely with Lloyds to align to their bigger picture policy asks and positioning as the largest financier of farms in the UK.

• Structured the report to convey meaningful results from the farm study findings, showcasing barriers and opportunities for on-farm changes to improve sustainability and environmental enhancement. This was presented in the context of understanding what motivates farmers in the face of dramatic change in the sector.
• Applied farm sector specialist understanding to interpret findings and interview those integral to the study to inform the content, bringing skills in copywriting to produce a compelling report with actionable, accessible content.
• Brought communications insights to ensure content was compelling, relevant, on-message and accessible, developing press packs, Q&As and briefing materials.
• Engaged farm industry media, using knowledge, relationships with press and stakeholders, and insight on the stories and issues that resonate, to craft messages and a compelling angle to stimulate interest.
• Brought practical farm level understanding to ensure farm case study interviews got the best from the farmers and photography requirements.
• A consultative approach tailored to the differing audiences led to x2 media/industry briefings on successive days. One a farm visit to hear direct from a farmer facing challenges of farming profitably and for environmental gain, that included a farm tour. The second, was a central London roundtable briefing for industry, policymakers and stakeholders.
• Worked with the Lloyds corporate team to support and advise relating to their additional report outreach that included:
  • Their global activity at New York Climate Week.
  • Conveying findings to Ministers in Defra and HRH King Charles.
  • Attending the International Investment Summit and royal reception.
  • A full integrated PR service to convey measurable campaign results.

“It was an honour to be part of the Government’s International Investment Summit on Monday, that included the Royal Reception with the King, where the Lloyds report was discussed!”

Lloyds Banking Group

Results

The report named ‘Grounded in Evidence’ delivers a clear roadmap for improving soil health, reducing carbon emissions, and supporting biodiversity. It outlines a pathway for the UK agricultural industry to adopt, in order to achieve sustainability and profitability, in tandem. The report and subsequent media sell-ins to national, broadcast and regional print and online titles included farmer case studies to bring the issues to life.

It did justice to the findings and analysis from an unprecedented (in scale and breadth) farm level environmental baselining study.

Pinstone is credited in the report itself.

Added value

Our team’s understanding of the farming sector engaged the media in a positive dialogue with influential stakeholders as well as farming communities engaged in the hot topic of delivering both for the environment, for food production and for profitable farming, to take the sector towards a financially viable future.