• by Fern Siegel , September 8, 2022

Crypto exchanges, where one can buy and sell cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, Ether or Dogecoin, are new to many.

OKX claims to be the world’s second-largest crypto exchange by trading volume, but the company is not well-known. To change that, BBDO New York created its first global brand campaign, targeted to the "crypto-curious," which just debuted.

The purpose is multifaceted: to drive awareness and name recognition, and to position OKX as users’ preferred crypto trading app. Three athletes — Man City Football Club Manager Pep Guardiola, McLaren Formula 1 driver Daniel Ricardo, and Olympic medal winning snowboarder Scotty James — were also part of the spots.

The campaign appears as long- and short-form content, out-of-home billboard, social and digital. It will run in the U.K., Turkey, Vietnam, Korea, Argentina, Australia, Japan, Brazil, India and the Philippines.

“In a market of fractured opinions on crypto, we felt it was important to not pressure people to invest, be brave, or tell them at all what to do with their money. Our primary focus at this time is to raise awareness of the brand and what we have to offer, more so than convince people of the virtues of crypto, which immediately makes people take sides,” Phil Sicklinger, executive creative director, BBDO New York, told Agency Daily.

The creative work, directed by Andreas Nilsson of Biscuit Filmworks, asks people what OKX is — and the answers are varied. None, however, guess its true purpose. 

Haider Rafique, OKX Chief Marketing Officer, adds: “It’s time for crypto to go beyond the typical “revolution-isk” ads and get back to the creative principals that the audience may be seeking at this stage of the industry.”