Alison Tarry: When ‘corporate’ won’t cut it… taking Lloyds Banking Group on a journey to a social-first strategy

2025

Apr 14

At SocialDay's Social Media Marketing Festival 2025, hosted at Phantom Peak London, we are excited to welcome Alison Tarry, Associate Director at CityPress, alongside Sophie Clutterham, Social Lead at Lloyds Banking Group. Alison and Sophie will be sharing insights from their collaborative journey in transforming Lloyds Banking Group’s corporate social media strategy.

About Alison Tarry

Alison Tarry is Associate Director at Citypress and a leading voice in corporate and B2B social media. With over a decade of agency-side experience, she’s grown from a department of one into a driving force behind some of the UK’s most innovative social programmes. Over the past eight years, Alison has built and led a 13-strong team at Citypress, launched internal specialist functions, and developed IP like the LinkedIn Impact Score — all while helping industry giants like Molson Coors, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, and Crown Paints unlock the full potential of social.

Her real passion? Long-term impact. And that’s exactly what she’s achieved with Lloyds Banking Group, where she’s spent almost seven years evolving their corporate social presence into a benchmark-setting programme. Alison brings equal parts strategic rigor, creative flair, and an unmatched knack for getting stakeholder buy-in, making her one of the most respected players in the space.

What to Expect from the Session:

When ‘Corporate’ Won’t Cut It… Taking Lloyds Banking Group on a Journey to a Social-First Strategy

This session brings together agency and brand in a candid conversation between Alison Tarry of Citypress and Sophie Clutterham, Social Lead at Lloyds Banking Group. Together, they’ll take you behind the scenes of how one of the UK’s biggest financial institutions went from a traditional corporate comms model to a best-in-class, social-first strategy.

You’ll hear how Alison and Sophie have worked hand-in-hand to challenge outdated perceptions, shift stakeholder mindsets, and build a dynamic, always-on social programme that delivers real business impact. Expect real talk, practical takeaways, and plenty of behind-the-scenes insights from a long-term brand-agency partnership that’s gotten results.

Key Takeaways

How to get internal buy-in and shift mindsets around social-first storytelling.
What it takes to evolve a corporate social programme over the long term — and keep it fresh.
Practical content planning, amplification, and measurement strategies that actually work.
Lessons from nearly seven years of collaboration between Lloyds Banking Group and Citypress.

Alison’s Perspective on Social Media Trends

Alison’s loving the explosion of employee-generated content. For her, it’s wild that it’s taken brands this long to realise the value of their own people in selling culture, services, and identity. EGC isn’t just a trend — it’s a game-changer.

A Social Media Success Story

While Alison’s pulled off some huge wins (including one lead-gen campaign that resulted in a seriously impressive investment for a private equity firm), her proudest achievement is the long-term evolution of Lloyds Banking Group’s corporate social media programme. From strategic innovation to creative risk-taking, it’s been a journey of continuous growth.

One standout moment? The LBGTeaBreak video series, where guests like Tia Kofi, Suzi Ruffell, and Michael Chakraverty chatted with colleague trailblazers. It broke new ground in both content format and representation — and proved just how powerful bold storytelling can be.

Favourite Social Media Campaign

Alison was blown away by the ‘Assume That I Can’ campaign for Global World Down Syndrome Day. From brilliant insight to flawless execution, it dominated feeds and challenged stereotypes in the most powerful way. It’s exactly the kind of social media that sticks with you.

What Alison Wants to See in the Future of Social Media

Here’s one for the wish list: Alison wants to experience other people’s feeds. Not just a screenshot or a shared post, but a deep dive into how someone else sees the digital world. As a tool for audience insight — and just good old-fashioned curiosity — that kind of transparency could be transformative.

Connect with Alison

Want to keep up with Alison and the work she’s doing at CityPress? Follow her here:

LinkedIn: Alison Tarry
Instagram: CityPress
LinkedIn: CityPress
Website: CityPress

Catch Alison and Sophie at SocialDay's Social Media Marketing Festival 2025, where top minds in social media marketing will share their insights and expertise.