Wunderman Thompson UK

Client: HSBC
Product: HSBC
Title: We Are Not An Island
Media: Outdoor
Country: UK
Date Of Campaign: 02/01/2019 to 31/01/2019

Background: At a time when the United Kingdom was questioning its relationship with the rest of the world, we needed to reframe HSBC UK’s international-ness to make it relevant to our local audience – a group we identified as Explorers who are characterised by their optimism and open-minded nature. We also needed to help the brand rediscover its voice in a competitive market dominated by nostalgic and inward-looking ‘we’ve been with you since the good old days’ campaigns.

Idea: With our brand platform ‘Together we thrive’ we took advantage of the conversation around Brexit to share our belief that people, communities and businesses always thrive more when they’re connected to something bigger. By celebrating how many of the things which make us quintessentially British, also make us inescapably international, we engaged in a countrywide conversation and proved with local executions that no one, no matter where they’re from is an island.

Results: The topical nature of our brand message touched a nerve in culture and not only got the nation talking about it but got them sharing our offline campaign on their social channels too. We made headline news. We provoked some people into outrage and inspired local pride in others at the same time. Our ad awareness soared to its highest-ever levels, our Buzz scores climbed, and our earned media points towards extremely promising financial returns by the completion of the campaign.