Singapore – Singapore’s first digitally-native bank Trust Bank has recently launched its second credit card: the all-new Trust Cashback card, with S$1m up for grabs for one lucky customer and a campaign full of exciting promotions.

The campaign, created by the participation agency Iris Singapore in partnership with Havas Media Singapore, amplifies the launch of the Trust Cashback card which offers an experience of ease and transparency. 

Bringing this to life meant that Iris needed to channel million-dollar vibes through imaginative and striking visuals and powerful calls to action. To amplify this, Havas Media Singapore strategically deployed a mix of offline and online channels across out-of-home, radio, digital, and social platforms to ensure maximum reach and impact.

Moreover, the campaign casts two main questions in its messaging: ‘Who doesn’t want to be a millionaire? (Everyone does!)’ and second, ‘What would you do if you had a million dollars?’ By posing these questions in fun and cheeky ways, the campaign aims to delight Trust customers and drive the brand’s commitment to be an easy and rewarding banking experience for everyone.

Leading the campaign is a film entitled “If Only” and directed by Tanya Kneale (Atypicalfilms). It leans in on humour and levity by asking the main characters a question that most people would undoubtedly have asked themselves: “What would you do if you won a million dollars?”

In addition, from bus stops to MRT thoroughfares to in-train displays, the campaign covers Singapore in joyous, cash-filled key visuals. These placements also set the scene for a scavenger hunt in which all Trust Cashback card customers are invited to participate. Part of the campaign’s outreach as well to social media personalities is a press kit in the form of a ubiquitous pop culture trope: the nondescript silver briefcase. Though it contains no actual cash (merely references to cash, including a cash-themed blanket), the press kit means to convey that same million-dollar vibe with a wink and a nudge.

Lastly, the campaign invites Trust Cashback card customers to physically experience what could feel more like a million bucks than stepping into a wind chamber to catch some cash through an on-ground activation that will run for a total of four days at prime locations in Singapore.

Mira Bharin, chief marketing officer of Trust Bank, said, “The Trust Cashback card is innovative and differentiated through an experience which is instant, transparent and flexible. We believe that customers will love how it offers instant cashback credit and real-time tracking of earnings – which no other cashback card in the market offers. We are thrilled to partner with Iris and Havas Media for this campaign to perfectly encapsulate the excitement and potential of our latest offering.”

Meanwhile, Rebecca Nadilo, managing director of Iris Singapore, commented, “The chance for Everyday Singaporeans to win a million dollars needed to be launched in an equally big, joyful, surprising way that gets Singaporeans excited and participating. “We’re delighted to paint the town blue and do what Trust does best: give back to Everyday Singaporeans”.

Lastly, Kelvin Goh, media director at Havas Media Singapore, stated, “Having laid a strong foundation for our collaboration with Trust’s highly successful launch in 2022, we are excited to embark on another exciting launch and invite Singaporeans to experience Trust’s latest offering.”

This cashback card provides instant cashback credit, and real-time tracking of earnings and allows customers to pay a consolidated credit card bill with both the Trust Link card and the Cashback card. This is coupled with a market-leading quarterly bonus rate of up to 15% on a preferred spend category and unlimited cashback rate of 1.5% on other categories for new Trust customers, while existing Trust customers get 1%.

Singapore – Popular fast-food chain KFC in Singapore has rolled a new local interactive campaign for its revamped KFC Zinger Double Down menu offering–by blending indulgence and fitness in a ‘whack-a-mole’ game, placed at a Serangoon MRT Station wallscape.

Conceptualised by Havas Media Singapore, this game encourages individuals with S$1 off to shed any guilt and relish the irresistible Cheesy Mushroom Zinger Double Down. Commuters may also upload a video of their gameplay to Instagram and tag @kfc_sg to redeem free fries.

Meanwhile, the execution features creatives by R/GA to entice commuters with the campaign tagline “Go On. Give In.” to drive them to the closest KFC outlet.

Juliana Lim, senior director for marketing and food innovation at KFC Singapore, said, “KFC’s Double Down is usually seen as a sinful treat. With this campaign, we hope to show fried chicken lovers how they can go ahead to indulge, and how KFC can be a part of their everyday lives – without the need to feel guilty for eating their favourite food.”

Meanwhile, Kelvin Goh, media director at Havas Media Group Singapore, commented, “The gamified wallscape speaks to the concept of guilt-free indulgence. Our collaboration with KFC to execute this innovative concept not only showcases the delectable appeal of their new launch but also offers fans an experiential incentive to treat themselves.”

For Jacqui Lim, the CEO of Havas Media Group in Singapore, there’s nothing grandiose to excellent leadership where simply the values of good ‘ol humility and service are king. She says that a large part of the organisation’s culture stems from the top, and this means that the demand for transparency and accountability is higher from this level of the firm than anybody else. 

“If we are not transparent and hold even the most senior person in the organisation accountable to upholding the core values we stand for, we won’t be able to build motivated teams who truly believe in building their career with us,” says Jacqui. 

She said that in addition to active listening and transparent communication, it’s about “Exuding the right vibes.” What does this exactly mean?

Cultivating ‘meaningful work’ experiences

For Havas Media Group in Singapore, the goal is to nurture and create meaningful experiences within the team so that in turn, they are able to manifest ‘meaning’ and ‘substance’ through the work they do – a meaningful difference. 

As an agency network whose mission is to make a meaningful difference, we continuously strive to promote a positive work environment. All the initiatives we embark on for our staff are done with the sole purpose of creating a meaningful core to all that we do.

Jacqui Lim, CEO, Havas Media Group Singapore

Of course, in order to put forth notable work that shakes audiences, the agency must set up an environment that effectively breeds this ingenuity and Jacqui says that the Singapore team does this by prioritising inclusivity – where everyone has an equal voice – at all times. 

Regardless of how junior or new they are in the industry, we are often pleasantly surprised by their perspectives and ideas if we offer them the platform to be heard.

Jacqui Lim, CEO, Havas Media Group Singapore

This step pays off in multi-folds, shares Jacqui, as they cultivate a space of empowerment and inclusivity, where everyone has an equal chance to speak up and become more engaged and involved in the organisation’s journey.

Meaningful’ internal initiatives

When Havas says they aim to do meaningful work together, they literally mean being a team and engaging in valuable activities as a group.

One of the initiatives in line with this is pro-bono work. The aim is to marry multi-talented teams and their capabilities for a good cause to be able to give back to society. Doing ‘meaningful work’ also means helping to create a sustainable future together. One such activity is called Green Nudge where teams came together to clean up the Sembawang shoreline in Singapore and collected over 150kg of trash. 

Meanwhile, another initiative was the #OneDabaoAtATime where they encouraged agency members to maximise reusable containers for packing their lunches instead of disposables.

Jacqui said that while the agency has always had various employee initiatives in the past, the pandemic has taught them that more effort is required to promote mental wellness, work-life balance, and a sense of belonging. 

The collective of our initiatives are centred around achieving these larger objectives of providing motivation and appreciation to the people as teams and as individual.

Jacqui Lim, CEO, Havas Media Group Singapore

Keeping the Havas Village happy 

Havas Media Group is known for calling their integrated teams ‘Village’, and suffice to say, the Singapore village of the group is consistently being kept happy and empowered. 

According to its HavasSay Survey which serves as a report card after all the programs and initiatives are rolled out during the year, the agency has had a +35% overall improvement in scores across various categories such as sense of belonging to the agency, fairness, and confidence in the future, amongst others. The interactions among its people, in-person and online on the agency’s social pages, also show how the initiatives have taken effect to its Villagers having a happier and more fulfilling time at work, shared Jacqui.

She says that the key will always be walking with them and not ahead of them – the virtue of servant leadership

Be authentic and a servant-leader.

Jacqui Lim, CEO, Havas Media Group Singapore

For her, to be a servant-leader is to have the mindset of growing, learning, and thriving together with the team. “Only then,” Jacqui continued, “ will there be a sense of fulfilment and purpose for all that will invariably lead to a flourishing organisation. The heart always guides the mind to achieve greatness” 

Singapore – Havas Media Group Singapore, the media arm of global marketing and communications group Havas, has elevated Russell Lai to chief commercial officer. In his new role, he will be overseeing the media offerings and commercial priorities of the group, covering 2 agency brands – Havas Media and Arena Media. His elevation to the group function comes after a strong and steady track record of client retentions, service diversification and business growth over the last 2 years in high-growth categories such as fintech, digital banking, gaming and other e-commerce clients. 

Lai will be reporting to Jacqui Lim, who recently expanded her role as CEO of Havas Media Group SG, to take on an additional title as Chief Growth Officer of SEA & North Asia of Havas Group

On his promotion, Lai said, “I am very proud of the growth strides we have accomplished in the last 7 years and thrilled with the opportunity to accelerate our growth. As Chief Commercial Officer, I will continue to focus on future-proofing, empowerment and collaboration in order to build and strengthen Havas Media Group’s position as a leader in the local media industry. I truly believe our best days are still ahead.” 

Meanwhile, Lim shared that the promotion is a well-deserved recognition for Lai’s contribution to the agency’s evolution journey.

“With the speed at which the industry is evolving across media, data, content, entertainment and web 3.0, it is paramount to identify strong and agile leaders that have their pulse on the market trajectory. Someone who will lead the navigation of these complexities together with clients, partners and internal teams to deliver augmented customer experiences and business accountability in the coming time ahead. Russell has proven to be the progressive leader of choice to chart this growth path for the group,” Lim said.