One of the reasons why Thai people love online videos in long format is because it’s the most common way to kill time during long daily commutes. For each campaign, the setting is based on a common Thai insight, for example, “Friendshit” plays on the awkwardness they feel when trying to meet new friends, as Thai people are usually shy and conservative. “FACE/OFF” tackles the issue that Thai people hate changes, especially when it comes to things and apps that they’re already familiar with. Every detail of the campaign encompasses the trendiest topics and made sure everything was related to their everyday lives.

Thai people love to binge on online videos as a form of entertainment. So we first launched an online film called “Friendshit”, a story about a socially awkward girl who ended up using K PLUS as a conversation starter to make new friends. After all, K PLUS is relatable and everyone knows it as it is so popular and so easy to use. With this film that combined all the trendiest topics at the time, we established K PLUS as the most mainstream mobile banking app. Online and on ground PR followed to carry on the momentum of the popular film, which has over 60 million views. Half a year later, we launched another film, “FACE/OFF”, an even more entertaining and more popular video, to announce all the updates and smart changes.

To win over the younger generation, we had to talk to them in their language. We decided to do what no other bank in Thailand has ever done before, we removed all previous guidelines and restrictions to how we were supposed to communicate, and went straight to social network to connect with the young ones. Being the first is never easy and there were many internal discussions and hurdles to overcome. There was never a bank or financial institution bold enough to adopt a ‘fun’ tone. At the time, not a single piece of communication focused more on entertaining the audience instead of selling products. After more than half a year of discussions, and as the client / agency relationship grew, we eventually took a bold step forward and entirely changed the Bank’s tone for good.

After we launched two of the most viewed and shared online videos in Thailand, we successfully built top of mind awareness for K PLUS, and made it synonymous with the convenience of today’s digital banking services. Since the launch of “Friendshit”, the app download rate skyrocketed from 6 million to 10 million. Then after “FACE/OFF”, download rate climbed again to 12 million. Making K PLUS the most downloaded app in all of Thailand. Annual profit rose by 12%. More importantly, the campaigns were done without the usual celebrity endorsements, with a much lower media spend than that of competitors’, but with significantly higher earned media. To date, the two videos have a combined total of 120+ million views, with numerous user-generated content leading to over 600 million in impressions. KBank received Campaign Brief's “Southeast Asia Brand of the Year” in 2018.