The Campaign

Although Branded Entertainment is not a nascent concept in Hong Kong, the dilemma is that there are no set rules or legislations outside of TV entertainment. Without any well communicated DO’s and DON’T’s in the industry, the advertiser is left with an open playing field and forced to self regulate which becomes a paradox when it comes to execution. With advertisers free to dictate the content and event, on one side there is a risk that the executions does not become centric to the audience’s liking and instead as it may become overdosed of brand elements and ideologies. However, the other side of no set legislations is that the rules of the game change with each and every project as per the vehicle used putting the advertiser at the mercy of the contracting party. This makes it extremely difficult to build best practices in this playing area.

Results

Hong Kong, the birthplace of HSBC, comes alive each March for the Hong Kong Sevens: a weekend of world-class rugby and extravagant fancy dress. As one of HSBC’s flagship sponsorship events, it serves to provide a unique experience to both HSBC’s top customers and Sevens fans across the globe. We were challenged to augment the experience beyond the stadium for fans before, during and after the event; whilst encouraging non-ticket holders to visit the purpose-built HSBC Sevens Village outside the Hong Kong stadium. Our answer was to create a campaign based on a simple insight: players and fans come to the Sevens to showcase their skills, both on and off the pitch. So we sent out an invitation, featuring the best players from across the globe pitched against the best-dressed fans in an epic hip hop style battle, and challenged the people of Hong Kong to #BRINGYOURGAME! To engage staff, HSBC exclusively previewed the invitation film and launched an outdoor campaign from their HK headquarters. It then launched publicly on YouTube to heighten pre-event anticipation; reaching expats and international audiences via targeted search, digital display and seeding. HSBC gave their top customers and an unforgettable experience with #BRINGYOURGAME activated across the entire customer journey; from airport and en-route media, to merchandise and stadium box hospitality - whilst OOH dominations, branch branding, bus media and a radio partnership challenged locals to #BRINGYOURGAME. During the event, a bespoke 60” film was played on stadium screens between matches to entertain and engage. Real-time social engagement was encouraged by reactively sharing/promoting Tweets and Vines from the dedicated Twitter handle, whilst encouraging fans at the HSBC Village to share their photos using #BRINGYOURGAME. Once the party was over, a final film was launched to thank fans and celebrate an electrifying weekend.

An invitation, in the form of a 60” film, featuring the best players from across the globe pitched against the best-dressed fans in an epic hip hop style battle, challenged the people of Hong Kong to #BRINGYOURGAME To engage staff, HSBC exclusively previewed the invitation film and launched an outdoor campaign from their HK headquarters. It then launched publicly on YouTube to heighten pre-event anticipation; reaching expats and international audiences via targeted search, digital display and seeding. #BRINGYOURGAME was activated across the entire customer journey – and also in interactive activities incorporating the theme into the Sevens Village and stadium.

The results exceeded all expectations with the campaign reaching nearly 12 million people. #BRINGYOURGAME truly became the vernacular of the Hong Kong Rugby 7’s tournament; augmenting the experience beyond the stadium before, during and after the event. In a market where Twitter is yet to mature, the campaign encouraged more than 17,000 Twitter engagements and enjoyed more than 500,000 YouTube views. Media activity drove the highest footfall to date to the HSBC Village, with over 11,900 non-ticket holders attending. • 11,900+ HSBC Village attendance • 500,000+ YouTube views • 12,000,000+ social reach • 17,000+ Twitter engagements It was clear that 2014 was HSBC’s most successful, most integrated and first truly social Hong Kong Rugby 7’s sponsorship activation.