600 client leads from HSBC marketing campaign
HSBC Private Bank’s $10 million
marketing campaign with communications group WPP generated more
than 600 potential customer leads from high net worth clients.
The centrepiece of the strategy was a series
of 13 60-second features on alternative investments broadcast on
CNBC’s flagship Squawk Box Europe programme. Information on wine,
art investments, renewable energy, hedge funds, private equity and
real estate were included in the series. The first week of the CNBC
sponsorship achieved eight potential customer leads from clients
with $2 million or more in investable assets. The conversion rate
from the 600 total leads was not made available.
Other results achieved by the campaign
included:
• Forty-one percent advertising recall among a
target audience at the Financial Times;
• Increase from 49 percent brand awareness
before the CNBC campaign to 69 percent after four months of
activity; and
• Seventy-three percent of consumers agreed
with the statement “HSBC Private Bank draws on its international
network of expertise to advise its customers”, according to Wall
Street Journal research.
The campaign also included targeted editorial
with financial media outlets. Digital behavioural targeting was
introduced to gauge the habits of high net worth individuals.
“Cutting through with an audience like this is
very difficult due to their extreme wealth,” said Neil Walker,
branded content director at media agency ZenithOptimedia. “As is
measuring ROI, which makes HSBC’s results all the more
impressive.”
Tony Joyce, head of marketing and
communications at the private bank, masterminded the campaign.
Launched in March last year, at the height of
the financial crisis, it was based on the idea that a dollar spent
in a downturn is worth two when the market is advancing.
It also aimed to bring the private bank’s
positioning closer to the core values of the HSBC Group.
Previous marketing initiatives at the private
bank were limited. It targeted clients through specialist events
that combined presentations on wealth management and financial
planning with cultural and networking events, including its annual
family forum, held in Gstaad, Switzerland.