A homeless person appears to be sleeping on the bus stop seats in this bus wrap.
01.

INTRO

HSBC UK differentiates itself from other banks with the suite of products and services it offers some of society’s most vulnerable and marginalised people.

In 2019, more than 280,000 people were experiencing homelessness in England (Source: Shelter), with over 4,600 of them sleeping rough and 62,000 families living in temporary accommodation.

In 2020, HSBC UK wanted to raise awareness of how they help the most vulnerable in society get access to financial products such as bank accounts.

A homeless person appears to be sleeping on the bus stop seats in this bus wrap.
01.

STRATEGY

Our media needed to grab the attention of more than one audience:

  • Those who needed the ‘no fixed address’ service
  • Those who were sympathetic to homelessness and may be in a position to help

So, we executed a strategy that was spearheaded by an approach that put the media exactly where the problem is usually found. 

We chose the exact spaces that act as temporary shelter for the homeless in moments of desperation – creating impactful, bespoke wraps for bus shelters across the UK.

01.

EXECUTION

At the centre of this campaign were a series of bus shelter vinyl wraps across the UK which featured a homeless person who appeared to be either sleeping on the bus shelter’s bench or a sofa. 

These shelters included details of HSBC UK’s ‘no fixed address’ service and a QR code which passers-by could scan with their phones to donate to Shelter. 

We used OOH footfall data to choose every site based on:

  1. Its vicinity to highly populated residential zones (to maximise footfall of people working from home during the COVID lockdown)
  2. Areas with the highest rates of homelessness, and
  3. Its proximity to HSBC UK branches offering the ‘no fixed address’ service.

These sites were further amplified on the streets with other disruptive formats, such as fly posters (posted 100% legally in approved sites) which highlighted the message of the struggles people who are homeless face without access to financial services. 

+52%
accounts opened
1 in 5
donors became regular donors
+10%
YoY say HSBC UK supports the community
+12%
YoY say HSBC UK cares about customers

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