Top 5 integrated marketing campaigns that wowed HongKongers in 2022

Marketers are always equipping their teams with the right technology and strategy to maximise results of marketing campaigns, while integrated marketing has evolved alongside modern marketing trends to provide today’s professionals with the very marketing engine they see.

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE turned to its Marketing Excellence Awards 2022 Hong Kong for five of the best integrated marketing campaigns in the industry. 

1. Manulife International's "Choose to have a choice in retirement”   

Insurance companies and financial institutions often talk about retirement readiness. However, retirement is rarely a choice. The pandemic’s impact on people’s finance also influences their retirement plans: some that were ready to retire may want to remain in the workforce and others may be forced to retire early when they are not ready. What is most important now is to have the choice of when and how people retire.

Given the impact of the pandemic, people felt unsure about the future and less in-control. In response to this situation, Manulife launched a customer-centric solution-based plan that allows consumers to truly enjoy retirement with wealth and health protection without compromising their current lifestyle. A promotional campaign namely “Choose to have a choice in retirement” was launched.

Starring Sandra Ng and Edan Lui, the campaign with full-funnel integrated approach had been launched from 16 August to 30 November 2021. From internal sales conference, agent sharing content, souvenir giveaways, PR, mass advertising, digital and social media, direct marketing were adopted to provoke audience to rethink and revisit their retirement plan. Thematic long and short, teads video ads, ViuTV pre-roll video ad, Instagram filter and eDM were also launched for promotion.

In terms of engagement, the campaign launched Facebook videos and static posts, content partnership with publications, as well as display and native ads to attract audience when they consumed vertical and leisure content and drove urgency to take action. Furthermore, the campaign launched a campaign site to convince consumers when going through product research.

The campaign achieved beyond expectation across different levels, of which recording +42% in ad awareness, +30% in total website visits, and ranked first in aided brand awareness overtaking its key competitors.

2. CSL Mobile's “Experience the World Differently”

Hong Kong saw the commercial launch of 5G services in 2020 that was meant to offer a completely new mobile experience with higher speeds, better connectivity, and less latency.

However, given the economic downturn, people looked for ways to lower their monthly expenses that 5G was not in their immediate need.

CSL Mobile took its proprietary csl. 5G Lens to the next level by integrating it with local boy band MIRROR to create an all immersive MIRRORVERSE experience and promote the benefits of 5G technology.

Also known as “Experience the World Differently”, the campaign launched 12 newly designed “ csl . 5G x MIRROR” service plans, each with its own exclusive avatar SIM card and unique features and benefits to reflect the 12-member boy band ensemble. Once fans activated the 5G MIRROR SIM card, they could access an exclusive AR experience.

Furthermore, a special AR calendar with a range of video content including festive greetings, trivia, and secret messages updated regularly was launched for fans to immerse themselves in MIRROR fandom. What’s more, AR interactions were introduced for them to collect the full set of AR collectable cards and memoirs.

In terms of OOH, CSL collaborated with POAD to transform the massive outdoor billboard opposite of SOGO in Causeway Bay into the city’s first virtual billboard. By activating csl’s 5G Lens app, passersbys could turn the static billboard into an interactive video, bringing all twelve MIRROR members to life. Fans could immerse in the city’s largest scale MIRROR AR outdoor experience.

After the launch of this campaign, CSL  had an increase in customer acquisition with new sales jumping 50% and existing customers demanding for 5G upgrades, an increase in average plan charges by 41% fending off competitor price cuts.

3. Café de Coral's “A Taste of Togetherness”

The fifth wave of Covid-19 pandemic imposed a heavy impact on businesses in Hong Kong, in which catering companies that rely heavily on “foot traffic” saw a significant drop in sales. Meanwhile, the majority of Café de Coral’s customers are over 40 years old. The company needed to attract the younger segment.

In response to this, Café de Coral launched a campaign namely “A Taste of Togetherness”, to get consumers to reconnect the brand emotionally.

Launched from 20 June to 29 July this year, the campaign developed three video stories that were about family love, romance and friendships respectively. They were distributed across different channels including inside the Café de Coral stores and offices, TV, OOH, digital, owned and third party socials.

Furthermore, a new theme song was launched in all their TVCs to strengthen the emotional impact. The campaign  also partnered with owned and paid media with targeting tactics to ensure their audience receives at least two stories.

Café de Coral recognised that current and non-current customer had different mindsets and media consumption habits. Therefore, the brand prioritised the non-current customers, specifically the young, to achieve the goal of having them reassess and reconnect with the brand.

The campaign managed to reconnect Café de Coral and the people of Hong Kong and successfully rejuvenated the brand by bringing in the younger segment. The campaign received significant engagement, likes, number of comments and interaction across its social media platforms.

4. Hong Kong Tourism Board's “Holiday at Home”

Hong Kong inbound tourism has been suspended since the start of the pandemic. Tourist-facing industries such as retail and catering had been struck heavily.

As locals had been staying in Hong Kong for so long, Hong Kong Tourism Board had launched a campaign from 13 July to 30 September 2021, hoping to turn residents into tourists to boost Hong Kong economy and sentiment.

The “Holiday at Home” campaign was inspired by the evergreen Instagram check-in trend with creative photos. It introduced six visions to explore the city in new perspective, including urban garden, light and shadow, geometry and curve, street exploring, color mix and match and exotic holiday in Hong Kong.

The campaign turned these visions into a trended online conversation by the vibe driven approach. Kicking off with Anson Lo and Ian Chan, two of the most influential personalities to truly move locals, to share the hidden gem in the city in their perspectives. They visited West Kowloon and captured their first-hand perspectives for locals to follow.

Furthermore, over 200 macro and micro influencers were invited to engage the public to re-discover the city in their fresh perspectives. Hong Kong Tourism Board collaborated with online publications to publish itineraries featuring hidden gems and photo-taking to guides the public all the way.

The campaign converted social posts into OOH proximity that, ads in MTR stations were launched to drive additional footfall. The campaign received more than 511,000 likes, comments and shares. The videos received more than 2m views.

5. Heep Hong Society's Autism Awareness Week 

Since 1963, Heep Hong Society (HHS) has served children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) by offering assessment and training. Every year, they organise Autism Awareness Week to enhance public awareness towards children with ASD, educate the public about children with ASD and raise fund for supporting SEN children’s training.

Launched from January to April last year, Autism Awareness Week 2022 created 3D mascots, which bustled into daily live and making friends with HongKongers, followed by a series of illustrators' content collaborated with six public transports. The campaign organised webinars with education institutes to let education sectors to learn more about children with ASD.

Moreover, KOLs were invited to publish posts about children with ASD. The campaign launched merchandise to raise money for training for SEN children as well. Furthermore, OOH, print ad and digital ads were placed and a campaign site was launched to maximise the campaign exposure and extend reach to the audiences. 

After the campaign was launched, public awareness and understanding towards children with ASD had been amplified. Over 35,000 pledges with a large number of positive messages supporting SEN from the mass public were received. The campaign reached over four million people.