Results and Effectiveness

Total budget: USD 105,000 for the entire project, including manpower, licences and permits, truck rental, customisation and production. Targeted business revenue across 24 weekends: USD 33 million worth of refinancing. Actual achievement: USD 80 million, in 6 weekends, projected to reach a ROI of 960% by the end of the project. The project had unintended benefits as it stirred great consumer interest: sales teams started up-selling additional banking products to the consumers, beyond home loan re-financing.

Creative Execution

To address the matter of refinancing, we coined a theme: “Trade-Up.” The outdoor billboard was identified as the best medium and was to be placed at the busiest roads of Kuala Lumpur. As budget was a constant issue, the billboard was morphed into a roving light-box truck mocked-up to contain an ideal living room. Thus the truck could infiltrate various neighbourhoods and visually demonstrate to the consumers how they could “Trade-Up” their lives and living rooms by refinancing with our client’s products. This effort was also in line with the bank’s new tagline “Humanising Financial Services Across Asia.” Product benefits were humanised and no longer financial jargon. This softer approach was a departure from the previous “me too” practices of the bank. The client was now seen as a pioneer, offering services on a weekend and at the customer’s doorstep.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

Our client – the nation’s largest bank – ranked 3rd in the housing loans market. Two factors drove this: low advertising spend and the public’s perception that loan approvals were difficult. In 2011, the Central Bank tightened loan guidelines and approvals processes, thus making it even harder for consumers. Hence our strategic imperative: 1. Reach out aggressively and engage potential customers for refinance (home owners could benefit from the lower interest rates offered). 2. Support sales team with clutter-breaking marketing activity and take the fight to the competitors’ territory. Our insight: home loan refinancing is not widely practiced. Also, most people don’t see the tangible benefits. We decided to infiltrate those areas aggressively over 24 weekends, by going into residential areas with a specially designed 5-tonne truck that showcased an ideal living room, to make the benefits tangible.