The company, which specialises in the transfer of funds worldwide, had planned to only run a campaign in Hong Kong, said Steve Palos, regional director of Arc - the marketing services arm of D'Arcy - which pitched for the assignment against undisclosed agencies.
But by pointing out that Western Union's operations in other Asian markets faced the same challenges and needed similar marketing support, Arc persuaded the company to expand the campaign, said Palos.
Western Union's challenge is that some people assume using a bank is the only way to transfer money, according to Palos. The growing popularity of online transactions is also posing another threat to Western Union.
The company, which started as a US telegraph firm in the 19th century, claimed its system was simpler and faster than bank transactions.
To transfer funds, customers deposit money at a Western Union branch and the recipient then collects the money in person from a branch overseas.
The transfers take a few hours and there is no need for a bank account.
This has made Western Union transfers popular with groups such as lowly-paid foreign workers who may not have a bank account.
Palos said Western Union planned to continue targeting foreign workers as they brought in regular business.
Since foreign workers are a difficult group to reach, Western Union plans to use mainstream media sparingly and focus activities below-the-line.
Arc is currently building a customer database for Western Union and plans to run direct mail campaigns from late September highlighting Western Union's promise as "the fastest money transfer around and the convenience its service offers.
Arc is also developing an Asia-Pacific website for Western Union and plans to run campaigns over the internet to reach foreign workers patronising internet cafes to use email to communicate with family at home.
Event marketing, at places where foreign workers congregate, was another important element of the campaign, Palos added.
Arc's client base includes Roche and Saab (Singapore).
