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Marketing Featured East Asia

This AR campaign by HSBC invites Hongkongers to make a wish and move forward

Hong Kong – Financial services company HSBC has launched an augmented reality (AR) campaign alongside Wunderman Thompson Hong Kong to empower Hongkongers to move towards their goals this new year and open up a world of opportunity.

The campaign depicts a virtual wishing tree that carries the wishes of seven million Hongkongers. The wish-making tradition was gamified together with a lucky draw to incentivise city-wide participation. This is all supported by a full suite of product offers including payment, account opening, and investments, amongst others.

Hongkongers can participate by pointing their phone towards the HSBC Main Building, selecting the seed that befits their wish and tossing it towards the building to add their ‘blossom’ to the ‘HSBC Wishing Tree for 7,000,000.’ 

Participants are then prompted to register for the Lucky Draw with a total prize pool of $1,230,000 RewardCash.

“Each seed of the Wishing Tree for 7,000,000 is a visual representation of the wishes that people make, which then blossoms into an auspicious flower to symbolise how their dreams would come true with the support of HSBC. The words of blessings were creatively crafted to be witty and culturally relevant to engage with local audience in an entertaining and resonating way,” HSBC explained in a press statement.

HSBC also recently launched a campaign alongside MSL Hong Kong, which turned Hong Kong into an ‘open canvas’, coinciding with the launch of HSBC’s Metaverse Gallery, targeted at giving local emerging artists more exposure.

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Marketing Featured East Asia

HSBC transforms HK into an open canvas, launches metaverse gallery for local artists

Hong Kong Aimed at transforming and modernising people’s access to art and the way they experience various forms of art and culture, financial services HSBC has launched its year-long ‘Open to Art’ initiative in Hong Kong.

The initiative will be done via turning Hong Kong into an ‘open canvas’, plus the launch of HSBC’s Metaverse Gallery, which is targeted at giving local emerging artists more exposure.

Kicking off the campaign, HSBC has transformed a 3D digital billboard in Hong Kong’s Tsim Sha Tsui Star Ferry Pier into an immersive art experience. The art piece was done in collaboration with MSL Hong Kong and new media creator Henry Chu.

Meanwhile, the Metaverse Gallery is a new platform where local artists can showcase their work and transform traditional art into immersive digital experiences. Local artists showcasing their work include Flyingpig, Wong Ping, and Yeung Hok Tak.

“Stemming from our HSBC brand promise of ‘Open up a world of opportunity’, this will also serve as a long-term platform where HSBC aims to open up the community to more things, like Open to Sports, Open to Tech, and beyond,” said Brian Hui, head of customer propositions and marketing at HSBC.

Alexis Chiu, group managing director at MSL Hong Kong, also explained that the initiative was done to show the company’s support for the city’s local art scene and to make contemporary visual culture more accessible.

“This installation is part of the bigger picture of transforming the city into a canvas for people to access and appreciate art in a new way,” he added.

HSBC has also previously launched its duo real-world and metaverse music show experience titled ‘DuoVerse’, which featured two Hong Kong artists Tyson Yoshi and Serrini.

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Main Feature Marketing Partners APAC

MARKETECH APAC delves deep into metaverse marketing activations in recent webinar

Singapore As it gains more traction and public knowledge, the metaverse space opens limitless possibilities for brands and businesses alike. But because many still seem to be intimidated by its concept, how will marketers be able to instil their metaverse activations in their consumers and audiences? 

MARKETECH APAC, in partnership with consumer intelligence platform Talkwalker, gathered industry leaders to give light to this question through its recent webinar titled, ‘What’s NEXT 2023: Metaverse Marketing Activations in APAC’. Benjamin Soubies, managing director for APAC and Japan for Talkwalker, delivered a keynote presentation that tackled how metaverse can be leveraged to effectively engage communities. 

In his presentation, Soubies shared that the metaverse has paved the way for people to create connections that are even further engaging and with it, brands may be able to reach their consumers and potential consumers in more ways than earlier imagined. He also shared about the metaverse conversation hotspots in the APAC region, different ways brands are engaging their communities in the space, key features of metaverse brand campaigns, and the metaverse-gaming connection, amongst others.

“As more players join in the game, it is extremely important to leverage consumer insights in order to identify the most promising opportunities in the metaverse that you should be investing in,” he said.

To further discuss the topic, a panel discussion was conducted which was joined by industry leaders Ramakrishnan C.N., managing director for SEA and metaverse lead at Accenture Song, Amrita Mallik, vice president of HSBC, and Chris Gurney, group creative director for APAC at Virtue Worldwide. Each of them discussed the trends, opportunities, and challenges, amongst others, that the metaverse space presents to the marketing industry.

The experts also shared their insights on how to activate marketing campaigns in the space through their perspectives from the brand and agency sides as well as some metaverse marketing initiatives that have proven to be successful.

The webinar was attended by 180 professionals from various industries such as marketing, advertising, banking, and technologies, amongst others. Brands and companies ePLDT,  Inc., Estée Lauder, Metrobank, Netflix, Nielsen, Philips, Publicis Groupe, TBWA, The Coca-Cola Company, and VICE also took part in the event. The top markets present were Malaysia, the Philippines, and Singapore. 

Concluding the webinar, MARKETECH APAC’s Founder & CEO Joven Barceñas, who also hosted the webinar and moderated the panel discussion, remarked, “We began the discussion with the goal of discovering the different challenges and opportunities in the metaverse that await brands and agencies as we enter the new year filled with new trends. I am sure our audiences looking to adopt the virtual space are more than excited to explore the opportunities we’ve talked about.”

Soubies further commented, ”I hope the webinar gave some clarity to brands out there who are contemplating their own 2023 metaverse activations. After discussing the ways brands can engage communities in the metaverse, and hearing from our expert panelists on trends, opportunities and challenges in the space, it will be exciting to see how the newer players find their spot in the metaverse.” 

He also added that in order to succeed, brands and marketers must ensure that they have a solid understanding of their consumers to create “relevant and impactful” metaverse experiences.

Learn more about marketing leaders’ insights on metaverse by getting your on-demand access to the webinar here.

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Platforms Featured East Asia

HSBC’s digital series WoW Talk to launch episode on arts & culture

Hong Kong – HSBC’s flagship executive exchanges series, ‘Wisdom of Wealth Talk’ (WoW Talk), will be releasing its third episode to focus on Hong Kong’s arts and culture scene. This will be done through a conversation with Suhanya Raffel, museum director of M+, Hong Kong’s global museum of visual culture, and Maggie Ng, head of Wealth and Personal Banking at HSBC Hong Kong. 

In each episode of WoW Talk, HSBC has been inviting prominent leaders across different sectors to discuss Asia’s booming wealth opportunities, as well as to share their secret to success and wisdom on wealth generation. In the last two episodes, the series discussed the relationship between the metaverse and healthtech and wealth opportunities. 

In the latest instalment, Raffel and Ng will be talking about the connection between HSBC and the museum and how HSBC’s lead partnership with M+ will raise public awareness of arts and culture. Located in Hong Kong’s West Kowloon Cultural District, M+ is Asia’s first global museum of contemporary visual culture that reflects Hong Kong’s unique time and place and is built on Hong Kong’s historic balance of the local and the international to define a distinctive and innovative voice for Asia’s twenty-first century.

The spotlight on the topic emerges as well from one of the growing value propositions of HSBC. According to the financial services, there has been a rapid rise in investment in the art market in recent years. HSBC’s younger generations of customers and emerging entrepreneurs are now more interested in arts than ever, while millennial collectors and enthusiasts are increasingly spending more on this new asset class, said HSBC.

“I think Hong Kong has great artists, creative makers and designers. With the support of large business institutions like HSBC, we have seen Hong Kong’s cultural scene becoming more cohesive and visible. In the last decade, Hong Kong has developed into one of the world’s cultural capitals,” said Raffel. 

Starting November 2022, HSBC will become the first lead partner of M+. HSBC will be the lead sponsor for M+’s first Special Exhibition titled ‘Yayoi Kusama: 1945 to Now’, featuring the works of internationally renowned visionary artist, Yayoi Kusama. The two parties will work on organising a series of free guided tours for NGOs, schools, and staff events to promote contemporary visual culture to the world. 

Ng commented, “HSBC has always been rooted in Hong Kong and has grown up with all Hong Kong people, we are honoured to be the first lead partner of M+ to actively promote the development of the arts and culture.” 

On the partnership with HSBC, Raffel said, “HSBC has a strong presence in Hong Kong throughout the years and shares with M+ a common vision for bringing contemporary visual culture within an Asian context to the world. The partnership with HSBC will enable M+ to take a significant step towards greater accessibility of contemporary visual culture as the partnership will substantially enhance our ability in audience engagement.” 

The third episode of WoW Talk is now available on HSBC’s official YouTube channel.

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SME Featured Southeast Asia

Funding Societies, HSBC sign US$50m credit facility to drive SME growth in SEA

Singapore – Small and medium enterprise (SME) digital financing platform Funding Societies has signed a US$50m credit facility with HSBC Singapore to drive SME growth in the Southeast Asia region, especially underserved SMEs.

Through this new facility, the fintech lender will be able to channel the funds via its range of tailored financing solutions across SME segments across all its five markets.

Kelvin Teo, co-founder and group CEO of Funding Societies and Modalku, said, “We’re honoured to receive such a sizable facility from a global bank such as HSBC. This marks a critical milestone for us and is a testament to our credit track record through COVID-19.” 

He added, “HSBC’s foresight, global capabilities and scalable approach further equips us to better satisfy the underserved SME segments in the region. We appreciate HSBC’s confidence in us and are excited about this signing.”

The signing will also enable HSBC to extend its global capabilities by tapping on the underserved segments across the region. Furthermore, HSBC will act as the structuring bank, lender, facility and security agent in providing a flexible, scalable and pan-regional financing solution to support Funding Societies’ business expansion in the region.

Meanwhile, Regina Lee, Head of Commercial Banking, HSBC Singapore, said, “As a leading SME digital financing platform, Funding Societies is playing an important role in contributing to Southeast Asia’s new economic growth by driving broader financial inclusion and supporting homegrown companies which are the building blocks of these economies. We are thrilled to support Funding Societies as they expand their reach to serving underserved SMEs in the region.”

This announcement comes at the heels of Funding Societies’ most recent acquisition of regional digital payments platform CardUp, subject to regulatory approvals, as part of a series of efforts to diversify its services beyond lending.

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Marketing Featured Southeast Asia

HSBC launches film experience ‘HSBC Futureverse’ in Singapore

Singapore – Financial service giant HSBC in Singapore has launched the ‘HSBC Futureverse’, a new experience that allows Singaporeans to view almost six million possible visions of their financial future. This campaign believes the path to a sustainable future is not about predicting the future, but about embracing its uncertainty. 

Created in partnership with Wunderman Thompson, PHD, Meta, and Ad-lib.io, the ‘HSBC Futureverse’ is a film experience and technology engine that can generate almost six million possible futures. The experience takes place on Facebook Messenger, delivering a unique and different film experience to every single person who watches it on the platform.

HSBC Singapore said, “The financial decisions driven by emotions are often where mistakes are made, and by generating acceptance and awareness of the ups and downs the future will hold, Singapore-based customers can adopt a mindset that will help them embrace uncertainty and focus on building sustainable wealth for the future.”

Together with the ‘HSBC Futureverse Experience’, HSBC Singapore is also launching an integrated marketing campaign across cinema, out-of-home, digital, and social channels to create excitement around this mindset of embracing uncertainty.

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Marketing Featured Southeast Asia

HSBC elevates Alan Ng as new head of SME banking in Singapore

Singapore – Financial service giant HSBC in Singapore has elevated Alan Ng, former country head of global trade and receivables finance at HSBC Vietnam, to be its new head of SME banking, HSBC’s specialist coverage division supporting small businesses.

In his new role, Ng will be reporting to Regina Lee, HSBC Singapore’s head of commercial banking. This appointment succeeds Li Lian Ng, who was appointed to lead a new coverage division in March 2022, supporting internationally-minded mid-sized businesses in Singapore.

Ng joined HSBC in Singapore in 2008 and has since held coverage and sales roles across the bank’s trade and commodities divisions. Aside from his recent role at HSBC Vietnam, Ng was also the head of global trade and receivables finance at HSBC Taiwan in 2017. He also spent over 10 years at various banks in Singapore.

Commenting on Ng’s elevation, Lee said, “Alan’s many decades of experience both in Singapore and around Southeast Asia will be of great benefit to our SME customers, and will enable HSBC to continue to capture more share of this growing market.”

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Marketing Featured East Asia

HSBC launches new local campaign to support HK community

Hong Kong – With the COVID-19 pandemic’s fifth wave gradually subsiding in Hong Kong, financial service giant HSBC has launched a new local campaign to support the local community, conceptualised alongside Grey Hong Kong.

Eighteen designated HSBC branches will become Hong Kong’s photo-worthy spots. To spread positivity and unveil the city’s hidden gems, each branch across the eighteen districts will showcase signature landmarks and sights of the district along with a dedicated, inspirational quote. 

The HSBC Main Building in Central also recently launched the ‘Branching Out Our Support’ light show – urging the Hong Kong community to slow down and enjoy life while capturing new opportunities. 

Luanne Lim, CEO for Hong Kong HSBC, said, “HSBC has been supporting the HK community for 157 years. Launching the ‘Branching Out Our Support” campaign allows us to stay closely connected with the community, which we hope will continue to thrive.”

Meanwhile, Sonic Choy, creative partner at Grey HK, commented, “The people in HK have been making a concerted effort to meet with all the challenges posed by the pandemic. We want to give them the opportunity to experience some joy, and enjoy all the photo-worthy spots, accompanied with inspirational quotes.”

The campaign will be rolled out in HSBC branches and on social media for the Hong Kong market. In addition, HSBC has launched a check-in mini-game on Facebook and Instagram to encourage people to tour different districts of Hong Kong. They will also randomly select 40 lucky winners to each receive an HKD2,000 HKTV Mall coupon.

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Marketing Featured APAC

HSBC jumps into the metaverse with The SandBox tie-up

London, United Kingdom — Financial institution HSBC has announced its partnership with The Sandbox as it acquires a plot of LAND, a virtual real estate in The Sandbox metaverse, where it plans to engage and connect with virtual communities through gaming and esports in the future.

Suresh Balaji, chief marketing officer of HSBC Asia Pacific, said that the metaverse is how people will experience Web3, the next generation of the Internet — using immersive technologies like augmented reality, virtual reality and extended reality.

“At HSBC, we see great potential to create new experiences through emerging platforms, opening up a world of opportunity for our current and future customers and for the communities we serve. Through our partnership with The Sandbox, we are making our foray into the metaverse, allowing us to create innovative brand experiences for new and existing customers. We’re excited to be working with our sports partners, brand ambassadors, and Animoca Brands to co-create experiences that are educational, inclusive and accessible,” Balaji said.

Sebastien Borget, COO and co-founder of The Sandbox, commented, “We’re pleased to see large, trusted institutions such as HSBC join The Sandbox open metaverse and embrace the culture of Web3, connecting with users through entertainment, gaming and user-generated content. We believe this is the beginning of broader adoption of Web3 and the metaverse by institutions driving brand experiences and engagement within this new ecosystem.”

HSBC joins over 200 existing partnerships including Havas Group, Warner Music Group, Gucci, Snoop Dogg, Adidas, and Atari, all following The Sandbox’s vision of empowering players to create their own experiences using both original and well-known characters and worlds.

The agreement opens the door for other global institutions to continue innovating in Web3 as consumer adoption demands more robust experiences in the metaverse through decentralized and gamified offerings.

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Marketing Featured East Asia

HSBC Premier celebrates all families that make bold decisions in latest campaign

Hong Kong – In a bid to support families in Hong Kong in every step of their way. HSBC Premier has launched a new campaign called ‘#ThisIsMyFamily’, whose core is all about the belief that a family can be however the family defines it, and that the future of families lies in their determination to make bold moves.

Conceptualised alongside Wunderman Thompson Hong Kong, the campaign features three stories, where three celebrity actors encapsulate three distinct Hong Kong families who face various life changes. The celebrities who played the characters were also carefully selected based on their personal stories to better connect with Hongkongers.

In addition, the stories were delivered through a series of thematic videos followed by a number of functional ads, depicting how each family has embraced change and made bold life decisions with HSBC Premier.

Brian Hui, head of customer propositions, international and marketing, wealth and personal banking for Hong Kong at HSBC, said, “Since its rollout in 2007, HSBC Premier has been a market-leading proposition to support the wealth aspirations of families in Hong Kong. As their banking needs continue to evolve with time and the changing concepts of family, we have reimagined our service offerings by leveraging HSBC’s global presence and connectivity, as well as solid wealth credentials.” 

He added, “Under the service reinvention, we have significantly enriched our wealth and international banking services to drive wealth creation for customers and support their children’s overseas education needs.”

The campaign started with a teaser video to arouse public interest on 21 January 2022. The three thematic videos were launched in 3 phases via TV, digital and social media channels, spanning from late January to early March 2022, to touch the hearts of our target audience. 

To maximise awareness among the mass affluent audience, specific locations were strategically selected for out-of-home ad displays in Causeway Bay, Admiralty, Tsim Sha Tsui and Central as well as digital dominations to take over the city

Meanwhile, SheungYan Lo, APAC Regional Chief Creative Officer and HSBC Global Chief Creative Officer, commented, “To enlighten Hongkongers with the warmth and hope that “family” can bring in a time like now, has given this campaign a bigger purpose. Everyone in the client, agency and production team has put in a lot of love to make sure people feel it.”