'This clever campaign from DBS Bank mainstreams a movement'

For social good messaging, as the issues being tackled are serious, most companies follow similar themes of overly-earnest, at times preachy treatments. Few have attempted to mainstream the message in a way that’s easily relatable and shareable.

DBS Bank has been leading a paradigm shift in the way positive societal and environmental impact is generated by championing social enterprises. In August 2018, coinciding with the Maharashtra State plastic ban, DBS launched its #RecycleMoreWasteLess movement. Under this movement the bank featured two enterprises supported by them viz., Greensole and Sampurn(E)arth. The former recycles old shoes and makes new ones with the useable parts of the discarded footwear, which is then donated to the underprivileged. The latter decentralizes the collection and processing of waste, enabling it to be used more productively.

The DBS campaign sets out to tell the stories of these social innovators compellingly, interspersing hard-hitting facts in a fun, humorous style that makes their videos un-skippable.

In order to ensure that the message was delivered to the right set of people, the campaign leveraged user personas based on interests like social cause supporters, green-living enthusiasts, and digitally active people from the top six metros primarily in the 25-40 age group.

While delivering the message and generating brand awareness was crucial, various digital innovations were integrated to educate, involve and engage the audiences. In addition to bringing onboard influencers like a popular comedian, interactive elements such as quizzes and media innovations like gamified storytelling to relevant audiences were also undertaken. To further drive participation, contextual communication on e-commerce websites were run in order to engage buyers with relevant messaging around recycling.

Making the best use of innovative formats, the videos garnered more than 10 million views with an impressive figure of more than 1 million engagements. Sheran Mehra, Head Group Strategic Marketing and Communications, DBS Bank India stated, “What we set out to do was to communicate how serious issues like waste management could be tackled, without inducing guilt in the viewer. The light tone, atypical storytelling and interactive elements were designed to appeal to digital audiences and targeted to their interests.” By breaking down a seemingly insurmountable problem into easily-implemented solutions and communicating it in a smart, clutter-breaking way, the DBS campaign changed the way we looked at effecting social change.