Solution

HSBC’s mortgage offer is very strong. Not having any fees on a mortgages is a compelling selling point.

With this in mind an honest execution which boldly states our offer resonated well with the audience.  The ad plays on it’s honesty and the transparency of the offer which is a welcome departure from competitor activity detailing hidden fees.  The simplicity of the ad gave it cut-through in a marketplace full of rivals heavily pushing rate after rate to customers.  The overstated asterix lampoons competitor caveats and is enough to intrigue the audience to engage with the ad.

In our DR press we use a testing matrix to optimise the media selection and continuously test elements within an ad. We measure the performance by a Cost Per Response.  At the beginning of a campaign an estimated CPR is calculated and we monitor weekly the actual CPR. If the actual isn't on target we look at the creative and start to test element by element to increase it. Prominence of phone number, Prominence of call and text, and the Body copy structure were all tested within the Mortgage DR Press.

The Banker ad achieved £137 CPR.  The first test achieved £243 CPR,  the second £152 CPR and the third £153 CPR.  After this test we now have strong learning's as to which Call to Action works best on a mortgage campaign and how the body copy should be laid out.

The next challenger creative will be tested against the banker and another element will be tested within the matrix. This testing will continue on every campaign until all the elements have been tested. The testing will also apply to all the products within the HSBC portfolio, which will allow us to create a suite of banker creative across all product categories.