The Brief

In Indonesia, financial advice and messages are ignored as people live in denial about debt and purposely avoid confronting such issues. However these messages are necessary as a consequence of 'out-of-control' credit card distribution in which Indonesia lacks any formal regulation. This has resulted in Indonesians holding an average of 6 credit cards. The task for QM Financial was to warn Indonesians about the risk of having too many credit cards and the subsequent dangers of accumulating debt. The aim was to increase attendance at complimentary seminars by 20% in order to convert 10% of these attendees to clients.

Creative Execution

We parodied a typical pre-approved credit card starter pack from a fictitious bank. Only this time, proper financial advice was strategically plastered throughout the DM, educating the financially illiterate recipient. The starter pack contained invites to complimentary QM Financial Seminars to drive accessibility in order to have a conversation with those who had 'been in hiding' from debt. The message of 'clear your debt before making other financial plans' was relevant to a society inundated by debt and a DM that could guarantee prospective clients to actually open the envelope and read our message.

Describe the creative solution to the brief/objective.

We knew banks were getting consumer's attention through direct mail, and we wanted to beat them at their own game: with a direct mailer that proved just how 'serious' we were about eliminating debt. However, Indonesian culture is underpinned by the attitude, 'ignorance is bliss' and does not respond to intimidating authoritative figures or institutes. It was important that whilst we had 'serious stuff' to talk about, we approached it in an amusing and less threatening way that would grab their attention make them feel comfortable to interact with us. We needed an 'ice-breaker'. Hence, the 'parody pack' was born.

Results

Not only did we achieve a 65% increase in attendance at the complimentary seminars – 40% more than the initial objective, the conversion rate into QM financial clients was an astounding 42%. Disregarding facts and figures momentarily, this campaign showed people that whilst debt is serious and intimidating, we were the right people to help them deal with it. The large attendance at seminars, allowed QM Financial to draw more personal connections with people that shattered the stereotypes of financial planners and institutes as being intimidating, money-sucking, over-bearing authorities.