Research undertaken by The Royal Bank Of Scotland had shown that its brand image amongst 16-24 year olds in Scotland was very traditional - a "big bank" that was distant and somewhat conservative. For The Royal Bank to project a more modern personality and really reach Scotland's advertising savvy young people we knew that we had to find a differentiator, a new channel or singular media property that went far beyond the traditional 'CD voucher' promotions. Something that would genuinely bring to life the bank' s strategy, 'Make it Happen'.
We teamed up with Scottish Radio Holdings (SRH) to help develop 'Up Close'; a series of secret, intimate (audiences of 250) gigs with top bands (e.g. Sugababes) at unusual venues throughout Scotland; from castles to ferries.
Tickets for Up Close weren't for sale. Each audience was made up exclusively of competition winners and invited guests, delivering to the youth audience something they truly wanted but could not buy.
Before each concert promotional material appeared in bars, clubs and cafes across the country backed with PR support. The gigs played out on all SRH's Scottish radio stations with four weeks of accreditation across all stations for each show reaching a poptastic 66% of 16-24 years olds across Scotland.
'Up Close' even allowed The Royal Bank to create its own dedicated website and the SRH 'Up Close' website was also designed to include elements of the bank's branding and a link to its own site.
The gigs, the on-air promotion and the positive PR generated across the Scottish media resulted in a dramatic increase in spontaneous awareness of the Royal Bank's arts/sports/events sponsorship during the concentrated run of concerts. Amongst the core 16-24 year olds awareness rocketed 71% . With research findings telling us that those who were aware of the sponsorship were more likely to consider current accounts (or, in fact any products) than those who weren't aware, or had only seen TV advertising, 'Up Close' was making it happen for the both the audience and The Royal Bank of Scotland.
"MediaCom searched long and hard for just the right property to give the brand a more contemporary image amongst 16-24 year olds. Up Close gives us a unique platform for our marketing, allowing us the kind of real communication with our audience that's often talked about but seldom realised. Feedback has been overwhelmingly positive and we're looking forward to a lot more of the same".
