HSBC One wins big at Marketing Excellence Awards HK 2024

HSBC One has emerged as the biggest winner at the 13th edition of Marketing Excellence Awards Hong Kong 2024 and was crowned Marketer of the Year. 

Designed to honour outstanding work in the region’s marketing industry, the awards saw industry professionals gather at Hong Kong Ocean Park Marriott Hotel on 8 November to see if their companies would take home the top accolades. All entries were carefully evaluated by a high-profile panel of 31 professionals.

See the full list of winners here.

See the full jury here. 

HSBC One took home seven awards and the coveted title of “Marketer of the Year”. The brand won five golds in Excellence in Branded Content, Excellence in Brand Strategy, Excellence in Customer Experience, Excellence in Digital Marketing, Excellence in Event Marketing; and two silvers in Excellence in Advertising and Excellence in KOL Partnership.

The campaign that impressed the judges was “HSBC One x T1: For Every Legendary One.” While Millennials and Gen Z (GenMZ) favoured brands such as Apple, Netflix, and Google, often seeing HSBC One as "the bank for my parents" and irrelevant, the bank aimed to foster brand loyalty among these audiences in Hong Kong and non-resident Chinese (NRC). 

Done in collaboration with Saatchi & Saatchi and Omnicom Media Group, the campaign capitalised on a key opportunity in the esports space, merging gaming and sports to connect with young audiences. By shifting away from traditional "bank speak," it aimed to close the relevance gap and inspire young people to pursue their dreams in esports, whether by competing or engaging in the esports economy.

Don’t miss: HSBC One features South Korean esports team T1 in millennial campaign

To drive authenticity and mass viral noise, HSBC One strategically partnered with T1 and Faker, the champion player and four-time world champion in League of Legends, one of the most popular games in Hong Kong. More than banking, HSBC One wanted to create a money can’t buy experience that inspired GenMZ to become legendary themselves. 

As part of the campaign, an animated teaser and thematic video were released on social media. Additionally, touchpoints such as 3D DOOH and the Central mural art wall were created as shareable photo opportunities, allowing participants to promote the campaign message and engage with the gaming community on social media.

To sustain the campaign story, HSBC One engaged with gamer-specific touchpoints and activities, including on-ground events such as the K11 T1 fan experience, and the sponsorship of the Animation-Comic Game and University Laurel Cup championships. It also organised a livestream featuring the entire T1 team for a “secret chat” engagement in partnership with local gaming Youtubers. 

To build long-term brand loyalty and enhance the GenMZ gamer experience, the campaign invited winners from its K11 activation to a T1 masterclass and a headquarters visit to develop their skills. The finale, the ‘League of One Party,’ brought all the gamers together in celebration, while also expanding partnership opportunities by collaborating with brands such as Mercedes-Benz and Mastercard to create a world-class event.

This year, the competition was incredibly tight with over 890 entries across 37 categories and a total of 108 trophies awarded to the leading brands and agencies across the regions at the ceremony. MARKETING-INTERACTIVE would like to express our gratitude to our esteemed judges for their time and effort in reviewing the submissions.

We also want to express our sincere gratitude to our three gold sponsors for their invaluable support: Anymind Group, Cody OUT OF HOME, and Scramble Events.

Congratulations to all the deserving finalists for their outstanding achievements in driving growth and success across various sectors. We hope this year’s awards inspire the industry to continue striving for excellence as we look ahead to 2025.

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