HSBC pioneers adaptive search campaign with Yahoo data

The adaptive search campaign, titled 'Dine and fly', is a first-of-its-kind for HSBC that revolves around user-generated search queries on the Yahoo search engine.

Devised by Mindshare, HSBC's media agency, the campaign 'listens' to what consumers in Hong Kong are looking for based on their search queries on Yahoo. During the first round of social listening, the most popular results that emerge from user search activity are listed on the campaign's microsite.

Algorithms will 'watch' the search queries as they change and alter the most popular search terms accordingly. HSBC cardholders can then vote for their favourite options on the microsite platform, a process that allows the bank to further zoom in on the interests of its credit card users. They are then offered these deals exclusively.

Ad space was bought near the Yahoo search bar for further exposure to promote this campaign. This is the first time that Yahoo has allowed the use of its search data for marketing purposes in Hong Kong, as confirmed by Rico Chan, VP and GM of Yahoo Hong Kong. Mindshare’s challenge was to optimise the search data gathered from Yahoo users.

"The campaign is unique and highly intuitive, and preliminary results indicate that it is fast gaining momentum," said Paul Gibbins, leader of Mindshare Hong Kong.

It is also "the outcome of customer-centricity as the core thinking behind HSBC strategies", according to Diana Cesar, HSBC’s head of retail banking and wealth management for Hong Kong.

Cesar said dining is the top spending category, accounting for almost 20 per cent of the total cardspend in Hong Kong last year. A first run of the campaign revealed that the hottest dining-related search term in Hong Kong was for Japanese food.

A soft-sell advertorial about Japanese cuisine was then prepared by the agency's assigned bloggers and hosted on the Yahoo Style vertical, together with a call-to-action web banner.