The Cambridge Building Society Case Study

Founded in 1850, The Cambridge Building Society is a mutual organisation dedicated to helping individuals purchase homes and providing a secure place for their savings. As an independent, customer-focused building society, it continuously evolves to meet the needs of its members while maintaining a commitment to clear and compliant communication across all channels.

The Challenge

As marketing compliance regulations continue to evolve at pace, The Cambridge Building Society faced growing challenges in managing approvals, version control and regulatory documentation.

The team found themselves relying on manual processes, including spreadsheets, internal hard drives and email approvals, which made it difficult to track sign-offs, manage review cycles and provide clear evidence of compliance.

The need for robust evidence and audit trails became even more pressing with the introduction of Consumer Duty. While The Cambridge had always maintained strong compliance processes, the lack of a centralised platform made it difficult to efficiently track approvals, automate review reminders, and respond swiftly to auditors’ requests.

As a result, the marketing and compliance teams required a scalable, automated solution that could integrate seamlessly into their workflow, reducing the administrative burden while strengthening governance processes.

"Before bethebrand, our processes were incredibly manual. We relied on Outlook and shared drives, which made tracking approvals and version control difficult. If someone was off, it was tricky to pick up a project without a long handover. We needed a better way to manage compliance."

Our Solution

Just before the pandemic hit in early 2020, The Cambridge Building Society implemented bethebrand, replacing its fragmented manual processes with an automated workflow and digital asset management system.

This new platform enabled the team to:

• Centralise approvals and version control, ensuring every document has a clear sign-off trail.
• Automate compliance reminders, reducing reliance on calendar-based manual tracking.
• Streamline collaboration across marketing, compliance, and external agencies.
• Enhance audit readiness by providing an instant, trackable compliance history.

"The bethebrand team took the time to understand exactly how we worked and what we needed from the platform. The implementation process was smooth, and they provided great support throughout. The training sessions gave us confidence that we were using the system to its full potential."

The implementation process was highly collaborative, with bethebrand’s team working closely with The Cambridge to map existing workflows, identify pain points and tailor the system to meet their specific needs. Training sessions from bethebrand also ensured a smooth transition, allowing the marketing team to quickly adopt and maximise the platform’s functionality.

The Results

Within months of implementation, bethebrand transformed The Cambridge’s marketing compliance processes. Key benefits included:

• Improved efficiency
  • Approvals and compliance reviews became significantly faster, reducing manual admin and freeing up time for strategic work.
• Stronger audit trails
  • The marketing team can now easily evidence compliance, providing clear documentation for internal audits and regulatory reviews.
• Reduced risk of compliance issues
  • Automated workflows minimised the risk of errors, ensuring that all communications adhered to regulatory standards.
• Scalability within the team
  • The team can now manage a growing volume of marketing activity without increasing administrative time.

Additionally, with Consumer Duty coming into effect, bethebrand provided essential support by embedding compliance checks into marketing workflows. The team introduced a mandatory Consumer Duty checklist within job approvals, ensuring that every campaign met the necessary regulatory considerations before going live.

"The platform has allowed us to demonstrate compliance more easily. Now, when an auditor asks for evidence, we can instantly show a full sign-off history rather than piecing it together from multiple sources. It has made a huge difference. Approvals and compliance reviews are also much faster now. We’ve freed up time for more strategic work instead of chasing approvals and managing spreadsheets."

"When the pandemic hit, we needed to quickly transition to remote working, if we'd still been managing compliance manually the team and I would have been presented with a number of additional challenges. With bethebrand, we not only kept up with the pace of change, but we also significantly reduced the risk of compliance breaches."

The Cambridge Building Society continues to explore ways to enhance operational efficiency with bethebrand, ensuring that as the business grows, its compliance processes remain scalable and robust.

"We regularly check in with bethebrand to see how we can use the platform more effectively. There’s always more to explore, and as our business evolves, having a system that grows with us is invaluable."