The United Kingdom voted for an exit (Brexit) from the European Union in June 2016. Three years of indecision and austerity had undermined the national mood, creating a sense of introspection and self-reliance.

With Brexit headlines dominating the UK news for the last three years less extreme perspectives have gotten little to no airtime. So, we piggybacked the Brexit debate to get HSBC UK’s message across.

We wrote product advertising using seemingly Brexit-related headlines such as ‘Hello single market’, ‘No borders’ and ‘Time to leave?’. These were in fact references to our mortgage and current account products and grabbed attention thanks to their topical relevance and placement.

We also wrote cover wraps for the Metro and Evening Standard newspapers. The starkly arresting front cover piqued interest, while the topical relevance of our brand point of view meant that our copy played off against the numerous Brexit related headlines found in the newspapers on the day. To ensure we were as topical as possible, we even looked at which internationally born footballers would likely be featured on the sports page and referenced them.

In a country which was increasingly experiencing anti-international sentiment, HSBC, one of the world’s largest financial institutions, was suffering. They were seen locally as a bank for wealthy foreigners. We needed to reframe HSBC’s internationalism to make it feel meaningful and relevant to the UK: making ‘global’ less about geography and more about values.

With HSBC’s brand platform ‘Together we thrive’ we piggybacked the Brexit conversation and shared the bank’s belief that people, communities and businesses always thrive more when they’re connected to something bigger.

Pointing out how many of the things that make us quintessentially British are the things that connect us internationally. And that the key to everyone thriving is staying connected to the world.

With Brexit headlines dominating the UK news for the last three years less extreme perspectives have gotten little to no airtime. So, we piggybacked the Brexit debate to get HSBC UK’s message across.

We wrote product advertising using seemingly Brexit-related headlines such as ‘Hello single market’, ‘No borders’ and ‘Time to leave?’. These were in fact references to our mortgage and current account products and grabbed attention thanks to their topical relevance and placement.

We also wrote cover wraps for the Metro and Evening Standard newspapers. The starkly arresting front cover piqued interest, while the topical relevance of our brand point of view meant that our copy played off against the numerous Brexit related headlines found in the newspapers on the day. To ensure we were as topical as possible, we even looked at which internationally born footballers would likely be featured on the sports page and referenced them.

HSBC - We Are Not An Island

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