How Bank of London Built Strategic Foundations with DOJO AI
Dec 1, 2025
Sarah Baker, CMO Bank of London
Sometimes timing is everything.
I joined Bank of London during a complete transformation – new ownership, new leadership, fresh brand identity. The kind of moment that doesn't come around often. And it struck me: if there was ever a perfect time to reset marketing and build it properly from the ground up, this was it.
We're one of only six UK clearing banks, offering modern cloud-native banking infrastructure with direct access to UK payment systems. The story is compelling. The opportunity is massive. And with everything else resetting around us, we had the chance to do marketing differently this time.
The reality: small team, big ambition
With new brand work completed earlier this year and new strategic direction from leadership, we had a clean slate. But we're still a small team with a huge remit. The traditional playbook – hire consultancies, commission extensive research, build the team first – wasn't realistic for us.
We needed to build strategic foundations intelligently, at pace, with the resources we actually have.
That's where DOJO came in.
What we're building (and we're only a month in)
We're using DOJO AI to tackle the foundational work that will set everything else up properly:
Positioning: Taking our new brand work and building the strategic layer underneath – articulating our value, defining what makes us different, refining how we talk about it.
Audience understanding: Without budget for extensive primary research, we're using DOJO to analyse our market, understand pain points across our customer segments, and build a real picture of who we're serving and what matters to them.
Strategic thinking: This is the big one for me personally. With a tiny team managing everything from brand to demand gen to partnerships, I'm using DOJO as a thinking partner – to challenge my assumptions when I'm building business cases, to play devil's advocate, to make sure I'm not just operating on gut instinct.
It's early days. We're a month in. But the efficiency gain is already real, and more importantly, we're building the foundations that will make everything else possible.
Why now matters
This moment – new brand, new ownership, new leadership – is exactly when you want to get the fundamentals right. Because everything you build from here will sit on those foundations.
We're not trying to fix the past. We're taking advantage of a genuine opportunity to build marketing the right way, at exactly the right time. And DOJO is giving us the strategic capability to do it properly, even with a lean team.
Six months from now, I want to look back and know we made the most of this reset. We're building something that will last.
And honestly? A month in, it feels like we're on the right track.
About Bank of London
Bank of London is one of only six UK clearing banks, offering modern cloud-native banking infrastructure with direct access to UK payment systems.
About DOJO AI
DOJO AI is an AI Marketing Operating System built for challenger brands that need enterprise-grade marketing capabilities without enterprise complexity or budgets. Start your free trial to see how AI agents can transform your marketing strategy and execution.
Sometimes timing is everything.
I joined Bank of London during a complete transformation – new ownership, new leadership, fresh brand identity. The kind of moment that doesn't come around often. And it struck me: if there was ever a perfect time to reset marketing and build it properly from the ground up, this was it.
We're one of only six UK clearing banks, offering modern cloud-native banking infrastructure with direct access to UK payment systems. The story is compelling. The opportunity is massive. And with everything else resetting around us, we had the chance to do marketing differently this time.
The reality: small team, big ambition
With new brand work completed earlier this year and new strategic direction from leadership, we had a clean slate. But we're still a small team with a huge remit. The traditional playbook – hire consultancies, commission extensive research, build the team first – wasn't realistic for us.
We needed to build strategic foundations intelligently, at pace, with the resources we actually have.
That's where DOJO came in.
What we're building (and we're only a month in)
We're using DOJO AI to tackle the foundational work that will set everything else up properly:
Positioning: Taking our new brand work and building the strategic layer underneath – articulating our value, defining what makes us different, refining how we talk about it.
Audience understanding: Without budget for extensive primary research, we're using DOJO to analyse our market, understand pain points across our customer segments, and build a real picture of who we're serving and what matters to them.
Strategic thinking: This is the big one for me personally. With a tiny team managing everything from brand to demand gen to partnerships, I'm using DOJO as a thinking partner – to challenge my assumptions when I'm building business cases, to play devil's advocate, to make sure I'm not just operating on gut instinct.
It's early days. We're a month in. But the efficiency gain is already real, and more importantly, we're building the foundations that will make everything else possible.
Why now matters
This moment – new brand, new ownership, new leadership – is exactly when you want to get the fundamentals right. Because everything you build from here will sit on those foundations.
We're not trying to fix the past. We're taking advantage of a genuine opportunity to build marketing the right way, at exactly the right time. And DOJO is giving us the strategic capability to do it properly, even with a lean team.
Six months from now, I want to look back and know we made the most of this reset. We're building something that will last.
And honestly? A month in, it feels like we're on the right track.
About Bank of London
Bank of London is one of only six UK clearing banks, offering modern cloud-native banking infrastructure with direct access to UK payment systems.
About DOJO AI
DOJO AI is an AI Marketing Operating System built for challenger brands that need enterprise-grade marketing capabilities without enterprise complexity or budgets. Start your free trial to see how AI agents can transform your marketing strategy and execution.