Customer spotlight

How Santander leverages Vimeo to deliver over 200 events annually and generate new subscribers

Santander UK is a subsidiary of the global financial institution Banco Santander, the multinational financial services firm founded in 1857. Headquartered in London, Santander UK has over 20,000 employees and offers banking services to 14 million customers.

200+

live events per year

90%

subscriber generation

35

international markets

Challenge

Santander UK is one of the largest providers of financial services in the United Kingdom. Tasked with serving businesses of all sizes, Santander UK continually assesses how to better serve its customers at scale. 

To that end, Santander Navigator launched in 2022 as an end-to-end trade facilitation platform to help small-to-medium-sized businesses trade more effectively abroad. With a Santander Navigator subscription, customers can connect with third parties to help them on that journey — whether it’s finding accountants, solicitors, or distributors — and stay informed of the ever-changing world of global trade regulations. 

“Santander Navigator is one of the biggest projects our team has worked on,” says Phil Bennett, Domain Head. “It has had significant investment and is a big focus.” To drive success, a key part of Santander’s strategy is bringing industry experts front and center with Navigator customers through face-to-face interactions. To do so at scale, they focused on virtual events as a hook to attract subscribers. “We needed to create digitized experiences where we could replicate an in-person event between our team, industry experts, and small businesses,” says Phil.

“We initially discussed using a standard video conference platform, but it became evident that we wanted something that looked slicker and more professional. That’s when we reached out to Vimeo.”

Phil Bennett Santander’s Domain Head

Solution

Because Santander Navigator has a presence in 35 international markets, a dedicated team of employees runs multiple events every year, entirely on their own. “In order for us to hit our objectives and deliver what we need for companies, we needed a platform that could support us and wouldn’t require too much manual intervention,” says Adam Payne, Head of Origination and Activity. “The last thing we need is to be struggling with tech.” 

Using Vimeo’s browser-based live event tools, the Santander Navigator team can package events with a mix of content, from a live panel of industry pros to pre-recorded videos and audience Q&A, all while keeping customers and prospects informed and engaged (and all on their own). 

“Vimeo’s event platform is really simple to use, and I think that’s part of why we’ve seen the success that we have,” says Magda Maleszewska, a Marketing Manager at Santander who regularly runs events on Vimeo. “A common challenge at any company is getting employees on board with a new system or technology, but our team is not afraid to use it. It’s absolutely brilliant.” 

“We’re able to fold in picture-in-picture, graphics, and customer branding — all of that is really important,” adds Adam. 

“We can do so much in the back end of Vimeo that makes our lives so easy.”

Adam Payne Santander’s Head of Origination and Activity

Outcome

But Santander’s video strategy doesn’t end with virtual events. With automatic archiving and robust VOD tools, the team can repurpose live streams into on-demand content. “After an event ends, we’ll edit it, add subtitles, and embed it on the Santander Navigator platform,” says Magda. “It’s not like we do a live recording and forget about it. It becomes part of our digital library, ready for people to either re-watch or watch for the first time, on their own time.” 

In its first year, Santander Navigator delivered over 200 events, almost all of which were powered by Vimeo. Looking back, it’s clear the live streams have proved invaluable as a key lever to Santander Navigator’s growth. 

“When we look at our growing subscriber base on Navigator, 90% of them are coming in via our webinars and activities that we run on Vimeo,” says Adam. “Most of their first engagements with us are through Vimeo. It is key to pulling in the audience and helping us engage with them.” 

With several live events under her belt, Magda concurs. “Every single person running an event on Vimeo will have a story about how our events are helping our customers learn how to grow their business overseas,” she says. 

Looking ahead, Adam expects to only grow Navigator’s events (and subscribers) even more. 


"With Vimeo, we're only limited by our own imagination."

Adam Payne, Santander's Head of Origination and Activity

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