Kepler was recently shortlisted for The Drum Digital Advertising Awards in the Finance and Professional Services category for our work with HSBC UK for its launch of Kinetic – a pioneering, mobile-first business banking service.

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The challenge

In 2021, HSBC UK launched Kinetic, a truly mobile-first business banking service. HSBC Kinetic enables business owners to apply for an account in minutes using the app and is designed to help forward-thinking small businesses work smarter at a time when they need to be more agile than ever while staying on top of their finances. However, there was already competition in the market from traditional banks and innovative market challengers, and they needed a strategy to rise above the competition to meet their goals for new accounts.

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HSBC UK wanted to encourage users to download the app through both audio and video channels to acquire a significant volume of new Kinetic accounts in the first 10 months after launch. Kepler needed to find a way to help HSBC cut through in the market with a new service and quickly evolving features to an audience that did not necessarily know what they needed from a mobile banking solution or why they needed it.

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Kepler's solution

Kepler targeted both B2B and B2C audiences with creative that illustrated Kinetic’s personal touch to their potential customers. Using a variety of creative in audio and video ads also helped to combat ad fatigue among the target audience.

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The results

The campaign surpassed HSBC’s benchmarks. Among consumers reached, 9% were likely to open an account, compared to HSBC’s benchmark of 1.3%, and the campaign increased spontaneous awareness by 10% against the benchmark of 5.8%. HSBC also saw a 14% increase in new customers in the period where the dynamic video and audio activity was live, compared to the prior campaign period, and the campaign drove 52% more downloads and 38% more applications than the quarter prior.

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