HSBC Focuses On The Big Apple

by Tanya Irwin, Jul 8, 2009, 2:22 PM

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HSBC is focusing its latest marketing efforts on New York City and its boroughs. The bank has launched an extension of its "Different Values" campaign, including a 30-second teaser TV spot inviting New Yorkers to go to Madison Square Park and get up on a soapbox to voice their values.

Event attendees can speak their minds on values related to family, marriage, jobs, immigration, nuclear energy, privacy or whatever is on their minds. Video from the event -- which takes place July 16 from 1 to 8 p.m. -- will end up in a digital ad campaign created by JWT New York. New TV spots that are specifically for the New York market will be filmed on the day of that event, yards from the experiential event. TV breaks July 28, while radio begins in mid-July, according to Johanna Breman, SVP and head of HSBC brand and advertising (USA). Both will run in New York only.

"We are focusing in on our footprint by taking the 'Values' campaign and bringing it home to New York and letting real people own it," Breman tells Marketing Daily. "We as a bank are really interested in learning what drives people's life decisions and how might we best get at what really matters so we can develop the best products that meet their needs."

Soapbox speaking was an early-20th-century kind of "blog," which enabled people to speak their mind, often on the political issues of the day. It is a metaphor for speaking the values that are important to the individual, Breman says. "There's something very unique about face-to-face dialogue," she says.

Event attendees also will have the opportunity to participate in additional interactive events throughout the day, including an art installation, a "Values" video wall to see and hear what other New Yorkers value, and a "Values" vote where they can fill out a ballot and receive a gift from HSBC, which bills itself as "The world's local bank."

The teaser spot, from JWT New York, can be viewed at www.us.hsbc.com/values, and includes the line: why should a bank care about what people value?" HSBC storefront wraps in New York and Grand Central Terminal North domination also are planned for late July. The digital portion of the campaign goes beyond banner ads, Breman says. "We are looking at taking over digital properties," including forums that will allow people to share their values, she says.

The "Different Values" campaign debuted Oct. 20 with 17 print ads in New York magazine. The largest-ever run-of-book ad representation in a single issue of New York was the most significant print buy in the "Different Values" campaign. It was also a first for both HSBC and New York in terms of one advertiser's presence in a single issue and the corresponding week online.

In each "Different Values" ad, created by JWT, New York and London, a single image repeats three times, with a different one-word interpretation imposed over each photo. Initial ads were first seen in out-of-home and newspapers in early September.

The print ads also have run in New York editions of national magazines, including Time, Newsweek, Vanity Fair, Vogue, GQ, Harper's Bazaar, Esquire, Smart Money, O and Money.

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