HSBC UK and Shelter unveil dramatic rotating climbing wall to showcase how they are teaming up to boost support for those with housing related financial worries, in an activation created by VML.
Hanging On
HSBC's Live OOH campaign driving awareness of Shelter partnership, and homelessness problem in the UK
Client
- HSBC
Office
- London
'When people fall on hard times, they often hope it’s a temporary circumstance, but in reality, without help, it can be hard for them to get back on their feet. This activation brings to life the vicious circle of financial exclusion and shows what Shelter and HSBC UK are doing to help break it.’
Mike Watson
Creative Director
This year, HSBC UK launched a new multi-year partnership with Shelter to support the financial health of people and communities during the cost of living crisis, and help break the vicious circle of homelessness.
Aimed to drive awareness of this partnership and drive appraisal of HSBC UK, the team was tasked at creating an OOH activation that could do that job.
Record high rents and a lack of genuinely affordable social homes means millions of people are struggling to cope with rising living costs. At least 271,000 people in England were homeless at the end of 2022, and more people are at risk of losing their home in the cost of living crisis.
Further inspiration was drawn from HSBC UK’s industry leading “No Fixed Address’ service which has helped over 4,600 people without a fixed home address to open a bank account rebuild their lives after experiencing homelessness.
Built upon the ‘No Fixed Address’ campaign launched in Q4 2022, our main idea was around delivering a financial resilience message. We did so by creating a live OOH activation on June 22 in King’s Cross Station. It featured an actor climbing a never-ending 3.5-metre rotating wall with the message, “NO HOME. NO JOB. NO BANK ACCOUNT...” circling, symbolising the relentless struggle people experiencing homelessness endure. The message conveyed is clear: ‘It’s hard to hang on without help.’
The activation was featured in Campaign's Ad of the Day and Ad Association's Ad of the Week, and resulted in a 59% over-delivery in OOH impacts, with an estimated 177k footfall in one day alone.
On social, the 6-part story was viewed 4,289 times, and the in-feed Instagram asset had an engagement rate of 5.13%.
Most profoundly, as a result of the activation, two members of the public came forward to open an NFA account at a nearby branch.
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