ING Belgium’s ‘Start Like a Lion’ campaign wins Effie for helping entrepreneurs grow
Recognition highlights how ING Business Banking Belgium uses its reach to give Belgian starters greater visibility
Brussels - ING Belgium’s Start Like a Lion campaign has received a Bronze Effie Award in the Best B2B Campaign category. The recognition underlines the effectiveness of an approach designed to support the growth of both Belgian entrepreneurs and ING Business Banking Belgium.
The idea behind the campaign was simple: instead of only advertising to starters, ING advertises for them. Through Start Like a Lion, starting entrepreneurs were given visibility for their own businesses, helping them reach potential customers and build awareness.
The campaign featured real entrepreneurs and ING clients. By putting their businesses in the spotlight across different media channels, ING aimed to go beyond traditional banking support and contribute directly to their development. The campaign also supported ING Business Banking Belgium’s ambition to grow and strengthen its position as a committed financial partner for Belgium’s self-employed and entrepreneurs.
“One of our ambitions as a bank is to help entrepreneurs grow and succeed. With Start Like a Lion, we challenged ourselves to do that differently. Instead of only advertising to starters, we decided to advertise for them. This Effie is a welcome recognition of an idea that creates value for entrepreneurs while supporting the growth of ING Business Banking Belgium. It shows what is possible when we look beyond banking services and use our reach to help our clients move forward,” says Saskia Bauters, Head of Business Banking at ING Belgium.
The campaign was developed in collaboration with AdSomeNoise and brought together teams across ING, from customer insights and strategy to creative development, execution and optimisation.
“This recognition reflects the progress we are making in how we connect with starters and help turn their ambitions into reality. The strength of Start Like a Lion lies in the combination of a clear business objective and genuine value for entrepreneurs. By giving real business owners a platform, we help them gain visibility while building stronger and more relevant relationships with the entrepreneurial community,” says Raoul Morano, Head of Easy Banking, Self-employed & Micro Businesses and Start-ups at ING Business Banking Belgium.
Start Like a Lion forms part of ING Belgium’s broader commitment to supporting entrepreneurship and helping self-employed people and young businesses take their first steps, attract customers and pursue sustainable growth.
Gianni De Muynck
About ING
ING Belgium is a universal bank that provides financial services for private individuals, businesses and institutional customers. ING Belgium S.A./N.V. is a subsidiary of ING Group N.V. via ING Bank N.V. (www.ing.com).
ING is a global financial institution with a strong European base, offering banking services through its operating company ING Bank. The purpose of ING is: empowering people to stay a step ahead in life and in business. ING’s more than 60,000 employees offer retail and wholesale banking services to customers in over 100 countries.
ING Group shares are listed on the exchanges of Amsterdam (INGA NA, INGA.AS), Brussels and on the New York Stock Exchange (ADRs: ING US, ING.N).
ING aims to put sustainability at the heart of what we do. Our policies and actions are assessed by independent research and ratings providers, which give updates on them annually. ING’s ESG rating by MSCI has been upgraded from ‘AA’ to ‘AAA’ in October 2025. As of June 2025, in Sustainalytics’ view, ING’s management of ESG material risk is ‘Strong’ with an ESG risk rating of 18.0 (low risk). ING Group shares are included in major sustainability and ESG index products of leading providers. Here are some examples: Euronext, STOXX, Morningstar and FTSE Russell.