Pep Guardiola, Daniel Ricciardo and Scotty James Fuel the Intrigue of Cryptocurrency Exchange OKX

Despite being the world's second largest crypto exchange by trading volume, OKX still isn't the household name it deserves to be. And in a crypto market that has quickly become saturated with challenger brands, it was time to put the OKX name in the spotlight with their first ever global brand campaign.

To kick off this long-term brand building effort with BBDO New York, part one of the brand story focuses on driving awareness and name recognition, setting up OKX as the future of finance & web3. The focus has always been investing and building the brand, intentionally and strategically. 

“For this first part of the OKX story, we had a very clear and simple job to do – get people to remember their name.  So, that’s exactly what we did, over and over… and over again.” says Alex Booker, executive creative director BBDO New York.

While the rest of the category has halted or minimised spending, OKX takes on this unique lull in messaging to further establish itself in customer’s minds as their new favourite crypto trading app. 

The creative is filled with moments of intrigue to keep everyone, from the crypto natives to those who dabble in crypto, to those who don't know the difference between crypto and kryptonite guessing and wanting to learn more. It’s all about building long term relationships vs one-offs. 

Haider Rafique, OKX chief marketing officer says, “It’s time for crypto to go beyond the typical ‘revolution-isk’ ads and get back to the creative principals that the audience may be seeking at this stage of the industry.”

The entire thing was brought to life with one of the world's leading visual comedy directors, Andreas Nilsson of Biscuit Filmworks. His unique ability to bring humour and stunning visuals to a spot that keeps viewers entertained and hanging onto every scene made him the perfect fit.

To further leverage existing brand partnerships and bring a broader appeal to the creative, we partnered with three high performing and beloved athletes from various fields - Man City Football Club Manager Pep Guardiola, McLaren Formula 1 driver Daniel Ricciardo, and Olympic medal winning snowboarder Scotty James. All three athletes' audiences intersect with crypto's audiences to bring additional relevance to the creative.

The campaign will be intersecting consumers at multiple touchpoints, with short form content, out of home billboards, and social and digital.