In an industry that loves to over-complicate things, it’s a reminder of how effective the media fundamentals of the right message, in the right place, for the right audience can be.

This campaign was a combination of creative media planning and creative execution that grabbed attention to raise awareness of an element of homelessness that most people aren’t aware of, and actually made a real difference to society at the same time

HSBC UK differentiates itself from other banks with the suite of products and services it offers some of society’s most vulnerable and marginalised people.

In 2020, HSBC UK wanted to raise awareness of how they help the most vulnerable in society get access to financial products such as a bank account.

In 2019, more than 280,000 people were experiencing homelessness in England (Source: Shelter), with over 4,600 of them sleeping rough and 62,000 families living in temporary accommodation.

When you don't have a home, it's hard to open a bank account.

When you don't have a bank account you have no safe space to keep your money and it is hard to access government benefits and wages.

This set of circumstances perpetuates all forms of homelessness and creates a cycle of financial exclusion.

To remove these barriers and break this cycle, HSBC UK offers a ‘No Fixed Address’ service (NFA), partnering with various charities - including Shelter - who essentially then act as the applicants’ home address.

So how do you make more people aware of it?

Our media needed to grab the attention of more than one audience.

• Those who needed the ‘no fixed address’ service

• Those who were sympathetic to homelessness and may be in a position to help

So, we executed a strategy that was spearheaded by an approach that put the media exactly where the problem is usually found.

We chose the exact spaces that act as temporary shelter for the homeless in moments of desperation - creating impactful, bespoke wraps for bus shelters across the UK.

Our execution led with powerful OOH formats. But not any old off-the-shelf OOH formats.

At the center of this campaign were a series of bus shelter vinyl wraps across the UK which featured a homeless person who appeared to be either sleeping on the bus shelter’s bench or a sofa.

These shelters included details of HSBC UK’s ‘no fixed address’ service and a QR code which passers-by could scan with their phones to donate to Shelter.

We used data to choose every site based on;

1. areas with the highest rates of homelessness and high footfall, and

2. its proximity to HSBC UK branches which offered the ‘no fixed address’ service.

These sites were further amplified on the streets with other disruptive formats, such as fly posters (posted 100% legally in approved sites) which highlighted the message of the struggles people who are homeless face without access to financial services.

• Bank accounts opened through HSBC UK ‘no fixed address’ service grew +52% during the campaign

• The QR code donations received during our 2-week campaign generated enough funds for the Shelter Helpline to support more than 100 individuals facing homelessness and housing problems

• In fact, 1-in-5 of our QR donors have signed up to become regular donors to Shelter, leaving a long-term funding legacy for the campaign.

Finally, HSBC UK saw positive growth in key brand associations:

• ‘HSBC UK supports the UK community’ +10% YoY

• ’HSBC UK is a brand I would be proud to use’ +5% YoY

• ‘HSBC UK cares about customers’ +12% YoY