HONG KONG: The Bank of China (BOC) is running a major television
campaign, reinforcing its commitment and optimism towards the city
despite the worsening economy.
The series of three TV spots was launched as the BOC announced a merger
with nine sister units - the largest corporate consolidation in Hong
Kong's history - to create the second-largest bank in the city after
HSBC.
The campaign was developed by Saatchi & Saatchi after the agency took
the corporate image account from Grey in a recent pitch, which focused
on creative and strategic recommendations to position BOC as a leading
and contemporary banking institution. The media account also moved from
MediaCom to Zenith Media. However, Grey, which had been BOC's agency of
record for about five years, and MediaCom have retained the bank's
credit card assignment.
Saatchi's Hong Kong chief executive officer Laurie Kwong said: "BOC is
an established, reliable and trustworthy institution. But we're going a
step further to make people aware that it is also dynamic and
contemporary."
The TVCs also attempt to restore people's confidence in Hong Kong by
encouraging them to think positive.
One execution shows 10,000 chefs and a voiceover asks, "Is there room
for another one?" The camera zooms in on of the chefs, who answers: "I
need to create my specialty." In the same way, one in 14,000 graduates
says, "I'm more passionate than any of them", while an athlete comments,
"I only need to be 0.01 second faster to beat the world record."
The final voiceover adds: "Opportunity is everywhere. For us, it's Hong
Kong" and the tagline, "Make every day an opportunity."
The campaign differs from most other bank advertising, which tends to
focus on product offering. Francis Wee, Saatchi's Hong Kong executive
creative director, said: "It's about helping people cope with the tough
times; make them see the positive side of life."
