Advertising best practice, evidence and insights

Case Study • Dina El Dessouky, Yosr Khalifa, Salma Ezz, WARC Prize for MENA Strategy, Entrant, 2021

Egyptian bank EGBank turned traditional thinking on its head to appeal to young people in a fun way, generate leads and boost take-up of its loan offer.

Mashreq Bank: Journey to happiness

Case Study • Asih Wulansari, Bilal Soomro, WARC Prize for MENA Strategy, Entrant, 2021

Mashreq, the bank, transitioned away from its traditional lead-generation customer acquisition model with an always-on digital campaign in the UAE.

How open banking is creating opportunities for industries, and consumers, in Brazil

Article • Daniele Lazzarotto, WARC Exclusive, Spotlight Brazil, August 2021

This article explains the ramifications of the launch of open banking in Brazil; open banking uses third-party applications to give consumers more access and control over their financial accounts.

Championing modern Britain: A guide to delivering positive representations of ethnicity in marketing communications

Article • WARC Best Practice, July 2021

Discusses Lloyds Banking's tangible learnings and practical actions that it can take to make its communications more inclusive and positive in its representation of ethnic minorities.

Post-COVID expectations and behaviours: Gen Z and financial services

Article • Liz Baines, WARC Exclusive, July 2021

The financial lives of Gen Z have been thrown into turmoil by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Stavební spořitelna České spořitelny: The Protozoan Experiment

Case Study • SABRE Awards, EMEA, Gold, 2021

Buřinka, a building society, built the first Czech 3D-printed floating house made from concrete.

BBK Foundation: The last older person to die in loneliness

Case Study • SABRE Awards, EMEA, Gold, 2021

BBK, a banking foundation, launched its campaign Invisible Loneliness in Spain to draw attention to loneliness among older people.

Football and the art of delivering a customer-centric business experience at Standard Chartered Bank

Article • Mukta Lad, Event Reports, Adobe Summit, April 2021

Standard Chartered Bank’s Pedro Sousa Cardoso shares how organisations can deliver an exceptional customer-centric experience by leveraging data-led insights inspired by the beautiful game.

Emirates NBD Saudi Arabia: The man who never got anything back

Case Study • Tahaab Rais, WARC Prize for MENA Strategy, Bronze, 2021

Banking brand Emirates NBD created uplifting branded content to raise awareness and encourage take-up of its Mazeed cashback credit card in Saudi Arabia.

Shwapno and UCB: Project AgroBanking

Case Study • Cannes Creative Lions, Entrant, Creative Effectiveness Lions, 2021

United Commercial Bank (UCB), a banking brand, used video, on-ground activity and OOH to launch a platform that enabled farmers in Bangladesh to sell excess produce at a fair rate to retail chain Shwapno.

HDFC Bank: #StopMithani

Case Study • Cannes Creative Lions, Entrant, Creative Effectiveness Lions, 2021

HDFC Bank, one of India's largest banks, gave India's blood donation stocks a boost with its Stop Mithani campaign.

Banco Pichincha: The cheering trophy

Case Study • Cannes Creative Lions, Entrant, Creative Effectiveness Lions, 2021

Banco Pichincha, a banking brand, 3D printed a one-of-a-kind trophy as part of its sponsorship of the football club Liga de Quito in Ecuador.

Wells Fargo: My other team is Mexico

Case Study • Cannes Creative Lions, Entrant, Creative Effectiveness Lions, 2021

Wells Fargo, a financial services company, increased the uptake of affinity cards in the US by launching a social and TV campaign that encouraged the public to support the Mexican National Team in the 2018 FIFA World Cup since the USA didn't qualify.

Tesco Bank: Customer Service Transformation

Case Study • Design Effectiveness Awards, Design Effectiveness Awards, Bronze, 2021

Tesco Bank, a financial services brand, redesigned customer services by using design thinking in the UK.

The Bank of Scotland: Flagship Branch

Case Study • Design Effectiveness Awards, Design Effectiveness Awards, Gold, 2021

The Bank of Scotland, a banking brand, improved customer experience in its flagship Argyle Street branch by redesigning the space to represent what it means to be Scottish.

National Bank of Kuwait: Real-time location-based mobile engagement

Case Study • MMA Smarties, Silver, MENA, 2020

The National Bank of Kuwait (NBK), a banking brand, designed a real-time, location-based marketing campaign for NBK mobile banking app users in Kuwait.

RAKBANK: She Can Play

Case Study • MMA Smarties, Gold, MENA, 2020

RAKBANK, a banking brand, improved brand perception in the UAE with its She Can Play campaign that focused on a young girl and her love of football.

RAKBANK: Prediction Meets Tradition - Striking Gold with Machine Learning

Case Study • MMA Smarties, Silver, MENA, 2020

RAKBANK, a banking brand, tapped into the fascination and love for gold in India by launching the Gold Account, where gold lovers could buy, sell and save gold digitally.

RAKBANK: Convertsations - Kickstarting new SMEs amidst the Pandemic

Case Study • MMA Smarties, Gold, MENA, 2020

RAKBANK, a banking brand, launched its Conversations campaign to help new small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) establish themselves in the UAE during the COVID-19 pandemic.

RAKBANK: Memotraits - AI Brings Memories to Life

Case Study • MMA Smarties, Gold, MENA, 2020

RAKBANK, a banking brand, turned memories into tactile experiences for FC Barcelona fans in the UAE with its Memotraits campaign.

Tochka Bank: All at once

Case Study • WARC Awards for Effectiveness, Entrant, Business-to-Business, 2021

Tochka, a national Russian bank for entrepreneurs, created a music video to promote its services in Russia.

VÚB Bank: Savings Therapy

Case Study • WARC Awards for Effectiveness, Shortlisted, Brand Purpose, 2021

Banking brand VUB Bank got customers in Slovakia to start saving through a humorous multichannel campaign that treated saving money as a worthwhile addiction.

Nationwide Building Society: How playing the long-game paid dividends

Case Study • WARC Awards for Effectiveness, Shortlisted, Sustained Growth, 2021

British building society Nationwide ran a long-term TV campaign to attract new current account customers, ensure liquidity for mortgage and savings products, and strengthen brand position.

Equity Bank: Don't clip their wings

Case Study • WARC Awards for Effectiveness, Shortlisted, Sustained Growth, 2021

Kenyan bank Equity Bank created a scholarship programme to drive social and economic growth by helping lower-income youth achieve their potential.

Banking on the growth potential of China’s Greater Bay Area

Article • Stuart Chan, WARC Exclusive, May 2021

As China’s most developed region, the Greater Bay Area (GBA) presents a myriad of opportunities, especially for the financial sector – PHD’s Stuart Chan explains how banks can take advantage of them to grow and expand in southern China.

Financial services