Standard Chartered commissions Martin Schoeller to shoot advert portraiture

Differentiation from other banking rivals in the mainland market, including HSBC and Citibank, was the goal in mind. Standard Chartered's priority banking service targets five segments of its customer base that hold at least half a million yuan remnimbi in funds with the bank: the workplace elite and professionals, senior industry executives, entrepreneurs and SME owners, wealthy women and rich housewives, as well as retirees.

Head of consumer banking Jungkiu Choi commented that as China accumulates more wealth, the population of high net worth individuals has increasingly sophisticated demands for financial services. 

Tracy Ren, head of marketing, pricing and customer analytics of Standard Chartered Bank in China, added that the bank is thus carrying out a corresponding brand upgrade to enhance the value proposition of its priority banking service.

 

International banks such as Standard Chartered are doing a poorer job at customer engagement than their local counterparts, according to the latest survey by McKinsey. In China, 87 per cent of consumers prefer to use domestic banks, such as ICBC.

 

In the battle to win hearts, Standard Chartered is striving to make financial services less rational through visuals that communicate emotional attributes from using those services. Schoeller's interpretation of the bank's five customer verticals in his photography is lauded by Ren for visually expressing Standard Chartered's key message of "getting closer" to the mindsets, personal desires and financial situations of those customers.

 

"Martin's work shows his artistic belief of being close to his subjects with his shooting style using simple lighting and backgrounds. His focus on their facial expressions and personas is exactly what we want," Ren said. Schoeller shot over a thousand people before picking five photos for the advertisement. 

 

Together with creative agency TBWA Shanghai, a series of integrated marketing and promotional activities, including an exhibition of Schoeller's work and wine-tasing events, will run until the end January 2012.

 

 

 

 

 

CREDITS:

Project: Standard Chartered Priority Banking New Brand Image - Extra Senses

Client: Standard Chartered Bank (China) Limited

Creative Agency: TBWA\ Shanghai

Executive Creative Director: Jeff Orr

Group Creative Director: Tan Yan Chay

Associate Creative Director: Joy Jiao, Li Ning

Art Director: Neptune Zhao

Copywriter: Winky Wang

Traffic: Joanne Zhao/Giraffe Zhang

Production Company: Block

Client Servicing: Jeff Ma, Susan Su, Nancy Ding

Media Agency: PHD

PR Agency: Ruder Finn