RHB Bank celebrates tenacity of 10-year-old baker in CNY spot

RHB Bank is staying true to its challenger spirit and commemorating the upcoming Chinese New Year 2020 festivities with a spot titled "HEART BAKER". It features a 10-year-old named Leah Choy, also affectionately known as Chef Leah with a Big Heart, who has been baking and selling cupcakes since she was four. This is in an effort to raise funds for the treatment of her sister Adele, who suffers from cerebral palsy.

The campaign was launched on 31 December 2019 across RHB’s social and digital channels. At the time of writing, it has 925k views, 7.2k reactions, 156 comments and 566 shares on Facebook, as well as 780k views on YouTube. The film takes viewers back in time to when Chef Leah had just begun her baking journey, unravelling the heartfelt motivation behind her display of perseverance despite having to learn baking from scratch and failing multiple times in the beginning.

Fast forward to 2015, she became the youngest recipient of the coveted Tuanku Bainun Young Changemakers Award, which was bestowed to her as a commendation for the remarkable progress she has made for her and her sister Adele’s lives. Chef Leah has since launched her very first children's cookbook Chef Leah with a Big Heart.

As part of the campaign and to support Chef Leah’s cause, RHB has also created a microsite to promote her book, allowing the public to purchase it through the MPH store online and at retail outlets. Additionally, visitors of the website can order Chef Leah’s cupcakes and other available goodies for the festivities. All proceeds raised from this initiative will go towards supporting Chef Leah’s fundraising cause for Adele. To drive this campaign further, RHB is also running a series of consumer banking product capsules on their social media channels to help Malaysian families better understand and explore the Bank’s financial offerings.

RHB Group's CMO Abdul Sani Abdul Murad said the bank believes that success comes from not giving up on what consumers truly hold dear to their hearts.

"Although Leah is still young, her challenger spirit has demonstrated that progress can happen when we wear our hearts on our sleeves and allow love to guide our actions and be our motivation. She is a true testament that age and size are no barriers when it comes to supporting the people we love, and that’s why her story encapsulates our brand belief so perfectly," he said.

Ong Shi Ping, FCB KL's co-owner and CCO, explained that the team wanted the film to be more than just about a young girl excelling in her passion. This is because ultimately, it is about the deep, unconditional love shared between two sisters that has placed the both of them on the path of progress together.

Meanwhile, the agency's creative director Wang Ie Tjer said that creating the film was truly one of the highlights of the year.

"During the shoot, the team got to witness first-hand the genuine love and adoration that Leah, Adele and their parents have for one another. Even though she is young, Leah was just brimming with love, and she definitely brought along her unique brand of joy and positivity to the set," Wang added.

Campaign credits:

Client: RHB Bank
Group Chief Marketing Officer: Abdul Sani Abdul Murad
Head, Group Brand Communications: Tunku Hazli Bin Tunku Tolha
Manager, Group Brand Communications: Anwar Amin
Senior Manager, Digital Brand Management: Elaine Yap

Agency: FCB Kuala Lumpur
Co-owner & Chief Executive Officer: Shaun Tay
Co-owner & Chief Creative Officer: Ong Shi Ping
Head of Account Management: Sharon Rodrigues
Creative Director: Tjer
Creative Group Heads: James Voon, Jonathan Chan
Copywriters: Megan Ong, Felice Puah
Account Executive: Alexis Au-Yong
Senior Producer: Wira Chon

Production house: Carrot Films
Film Director: Tan Seng Kiat
Associate Executive Producer: Lani Layali
Producer: Lim Shu Jia

Music and sound design: GT Records
Executive Producer: Ram Nabil Chia
Producer: Munirah Razali & Anand Shashidharan
Sound Engineers: Shaktyvel Neelamekan & Eddy Loo