Tackling Scotland's debt crisis.
How a data-led national campaign helped Scotland's largest provider of statutory debt solutions challenge stigma and drive record engagement.
The Challenge
Trust Deed Scotland is Scotland's largest provider of statutory debt solutions. The people who need them most are often the last to ask for help. Research commissioned for the campaign, drawn from 2,829 customers, confirmed what the brief already suspected: debt in Scotland is wrapped in shame.
Almost half of people waited a year or more before seeking help. Six in ten felt ashamed or embarrassed. Nearly half believed they could handle it alone. Meanwhile, 91% were losing sleep. 90% said their mental health was suffering. 88% were hiding it from family and friends.
The brief was to launch Trust Deed Scotland's largest-ever national awareness campaign, with a single clear message: you are not alone, and asking for help sooner can change everything.
The
Research
The survey of 2,829 Trust Deed Scotland customers provided one of the clearest pictures yet of how debt affects lives across Scotland, financially, emotionally and mentally.
Cost-of-living pressures were a major driver. Two-thirds reduced spending on socialising and hobbies. A third cut back on food. More than half worked longer hours or multiple jobs to stay afloat. These were not abstract statistics. They were the audience.
Our Approach
The research did not just inform the campaign. It was the campaign. We led with the data because the data was more powerful than any creative claim. Real numbers from real people, describing the real cost of waiting too long.
The media strategy was built to be unmissable. Radio put the message into everyday moments, reaching Scots at home, in the car and at work across the national network. Out-of-home advertising on bus shelters extended that reach into high-footfall environments, keeping the message visible in the communities where financial pressure was highest.
The campaign's centrepiece was a large-scale 3D special-build billboard featuring a striking three-dimensional phone displaying the average debt of people seeking help. Physically unmissable. Impossible to walk past without registering. A bold, visible symbol of a problem that most people had been conditioned to hide.
The creative strategy reflected the research insight directly. Debt is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance. The campaign humanised it, and in doing so, gave people permission to act.
The Results
97% of customers say they wish they had sought debt advice sooner.
After entering a debt solution, 90% say their mental health improved and 94% feel more confident managing their household budget.