DBS ‘sparking joy’ campaign aims to bolster social brand positioning

Client: DBS Hong Kong

Agency: Interpublic Group and RGA Singapore

Market: Hong Kong

Campaign scope: Online, TVC, outdoor

Details: The TVC, which is part of a regional campaign, was created by RGA and localised for the Hong Kong market by Interpublic Group.

According to DBS Bank, the company aims to challenge the “traditional perceptions of banks through innovation and creativity” as well as create “pain-free and delightful customer experiences that embrace simple and effortless banking”.

Following the release of a teaser video last week, which showed a bank branch ATM machine with augmented reality visuals, DBS has launched its ‘Igniting possibilities, sparking joy’ TVC this week.

The total campaign expenditure is reportedly “in the eight figures”. This follows DBS’s ‘Asian Game Changers’ video series last year, which links back to the DBS Foundation, an incubator offering “social entrepreneurship and innovation support” that has supported “24 social enterprises in Hong Kong with over HKD$4 million in grants since 2013".

The ‘Igniting possibilities, sparking joy’ campaign has a microsite where the brand will share more stories. #MySparkHK is the hashtag carrying the campaign. Formula 3 driver Marchy Lee and young entrepreneurs such as EasyVan's Chow Shing-yuk and Ronnie Cheng of Lab Made (Asia's first liquid-nitrogen ice cream lab), are set to feature on the site. 

Press release quote: Alex Cheung, managing director and head of institutional banking group, DBS Bank Hong Kong: “The spark that leads to success often comes from ingenuity, inspiration and innovation. We believe these human qualities reside in all of us; they just sometimes need to be ignited within us. Our ongoing support of social enterprises and community empowerment is a reflection of what DBS is about and is at the heart of what we say and do to spark joy.” 

Campaign Asia-Pacific’s comments: DBS Bank is putting a great deal of effort into creating its own stories through social initiatives as well as building content to actually tell those stories. It’s positive for a bank to be experimenting aggressively with its brand and it will be interesting to see where this leads and how it matures.