FESTIVE SPENDS

INTERNAL

BACKGROUND

The festive period in India typically spans from September and till the last week of December.

It marks as a significant cultural and religious celebration, from rituals to family gatherings, gifting, dining and extensive shopping, making it a season that sees a visible boost in consumers’ spending behaviour. The campaign encouraged customers to maximize their card usage during the festive season.

HSBC's Festive Spends Campaign, a pivotal part of HSBC’s broader "Get Set Celebrate" initiative, encouraged individuals to fully embrace the festive spirit through enticing offers and rewards.

The campaign, which extended from Diwali to Christmas, proved to be remarkably successful, surpassing expectations by driving heightened portfolio growth and customer engagement.

INTERNAL

BACKGROUND

• Situation: HSBC aimed to tap into the high-spending festive season to drive credit card portfolio growth. Brief: Create a breakthrough campaign to capture customer attention and increase credit card usage during the festive season—a first for HSBC India. Objectives:
• Drive credit card portfolio growth during the festive period.
• Capitalize on increased consumer spending.
• Position HSBC as a trusted financial partner using credible endorsements and engaging digital content. The campaign focused on leveraging luxurious giveaways and high visibility across channels, ensuring HSBC Credit Cards became the top choice for festive spending.

INTERNAL

CULTURAL CONTEXT

India's festive season, from September to December, sees heightened consumer spending due to cultural, religious, and social celebrations.

• Major festivals like Diwali and Christmas are associated with shopping, gifting, and lavish spending.
• HSBC's Festive Spends Campaign was designed to tap into this spending surge by offering promotions aligned with the festive spirit.
• The campaign encouraged customers to maximize their card usage during the festive season.
• Rewards were tailored to resonate with Indian consumers, offering prizes like an Audi Q3 or iPhone 15, appealing to their desire for value during festive splurges.
• Virat Kohli and Aparshakti Khurana were integrated as brand ambassadors to enhance the campaign’s credibility and trustworthiness.
• The timing and cultural relevance of the campaign made it a perfect fit for India’s festive season, when consumers are naturally inclined to spend more.

INTERNAL

CHALLENGES

​

• The brand's challenge was to stand out in a crowded market where customers own multiple credit cards and switch based on offers.
• HSBC needed to ensure its credit card became the first choice for festive spending.
• The strategy focused on creating a reward system that appealed to customers' desire for more.
• Top-tier prizes, such as an Audi Q3 and iPhone 15, were offered to boost customer engagement.
• The campaign aimed to increase spending among existing cardholders and attract new customers.
• By centering the campaign around rewards, HSBC created excitement and drove significant portfolio growth during the festive season.

INTERNAL

THE IDEA

• We clearly identified the business case, to indulge customer during the festive splurges. Nearly every bank rolls out credit card offers. What we wanted to do, was be their first credit card choice for all spends, and also give them maximum rewards for these spends.
• That time of the year when everyone’s looking forward to unwind and just be in celebration mode. An action-oriented narrative to nudge the audience to celebrate with HSBC this festive season layered with mega rewards as part of the idea. The campaign Festive Spends Campaign 2023, was populated under an existing narrative #GetSetCelebrate.
• The #GetSetCelebrate campaign positioned HSBC Credit Cards at the heart of festive celebrations.
• A tiered reward system with prizes such as an Audi Q3, iPhone 15, and Amazon vouchers made festive spending exciting.
• The campaign used a mix of traditional and digital media to ensure wide reach and engagement.

​

INTERNAL

EXECUTION

• In India, consumers favor credit cards offering the most rewards or discounts.
• HSBC's breakthrough was creating a tiered reward system to drive spending.
• The campaign had three main components: reward strategy, amplifying communication touchpoints, and innovative execution.
• Top prizes like an Audi Q3 and iPhone 15 ignited a competitive spirit among customers.
• HSBC leveraged digital content, influencer partnerships with Virat Kohli and Aparshakti Khurana, and creative CGI during Christmas.
• The multi-channel approach included airport billboards, social media, WhatsApp pushes, and CGI videos.
• The campaign effectively engaged customers and delivered measurable business results during the festive season.

​

INTERNAL

EXECUTION

The campaign was amplified across paid and owned channels like airport billboard, print ads, customer emails, staff communication, branch activation activates, social media, sales enablement & collaterals.

​

Creative strategy also landing in executing many first time use of mediums like WhatsApp push to customers, innovative QR codes across creatives, leveraging in-app push notification, Print, OOH, Customer Event Interventions, Celebrity Collab, Digital Promotions and CGI animation video, all with the business objective to drive registration for the campaign and then increasing spends motiving customers to reach spends miles therefore portfolio grow for the bank . While, organically driving brand value and recall.

INTERNAL

RESULTS

1. HSBC's Festive Spends campaign drove a 22% increase in credit card spending compared to the previous year’s festive season.
2. The campaign saw a 64% boost in spending among mass-affluent cardholders.
3. Spending increased by 42% in the affluent segment.
4. The emerging affluent segment experienced a 35% rise in spending.
5. The campaign achieved over 30 million impressions on social media.
6. WhatsApp drove around 20k registration with channel contribution to registration 31.7%
7. In-app Push to drive registration and spends. Gained 49% registration response rate from In-App Push
8. Influencer endorsements from Virat Kohli and Aparshakti Khurana significantly amplified reach and engagement.
9. The campaign exceeded expectations, delivering substantial portfolio growth and reinforcing HSBC's brand presence as a trusted financial partner during the festive season.

INTERNAL

RESULTS

1. Reach - 27.36 Million+
2. Impression - 30.16 Million+
3. Engagement - 1.54 Million
4. Engagement rate - 11.84%
5. Link click - 52k
6. In-app Push was done to drive registration and spends.
7. 49% registration response rate from In-App Push

​

#GetSetCelebrate our CGI Innovation -

​

1. Impression – 1.10 Million+
2. Reach – 900k+
3. 32k Post engagement

INTERNAL

Staff engagement activity

Customer Event Interventions

Customer comm.

Celebrity Collab

Social Media Post

WhatsApp Push

KDMs

Staff Comms

Digital Promotions

Print Ads

LinkedIn Influencers

Branch Visibility

In-app push

IVR

CGI Innovation

HSBC Festive Spends Campaign

INTERNAL

Overall Campaign Performance

Total Spends during campaign period

2023 vis-à-vis 2022 up by 22%

Card Spends During campaign period

2023 vis-à-vis 2022

64% ↑ in Mass affluent cardholder spends

42% ↑ in Affluent cardholder spends

35% ↑ in Emerging affluent cardholder spends

​

INTERNAL

Paid Channel - Print Advert - TOI & HT

(Print + Digital)

Innovative festive & hexagon

themed QR codes on top newspapers in India

INTERNAL

Owned Channel - WhatsApp Push

INTERNAL

Owned Channel - In-App Push

• In-app Push was done to drive registration and spends.
• 49% registration response rate from In-App Push

INTERNAL

Celeb Influencer Collab

• Aparshakti Khurana
• Top rated LinkedIn Influencers

Read Article

Read Article

INTERNAL

Attractive Social Media Posts

INTERNAL

#GetSetCelebrate our CGI Innovation

CGI Innovation on social media around Christmas theme. Also, picked by Mad Over Marketing, a leading marketing channel on social media.

​

Impression – 1.10 Million+

Reach – 900k+

32k Post engagement

INTERNAL

Paid Channel - Digital Ads

INTERNAL

Owned Channel – Customer Mailer

INTERNAL

Exclusive creative staff emailers

INTERNAL

OOH - Airport

Deployed at Mumbai International Airport – Domestic Departure

INTERNAL