On a recent trip I had the luxury of connecting through Heathrow airport in London, a necessary evil for overseas flights (luxury = sarcasm). Despite the long transit to the next terminal, it was actually a fast and efficient connection, so no complaints there (the seat selection is a different story, but hey, it happens to all of us). When walking off the plane and down the jet way, I couldn’t help but look at the advertisements, especially those by HSBC. Maybe it is just the photographer in me, and maybe because I appreciate good advertising, but the creative’s behind this campaign have certainly done well and communicated their message ‘the worlds local bank’ in a simple yet effective way. And photography, according to global creative director Axel Chaldecott of JWT London, is central to the HSBC campaign. How else would you keep an ad from being stagnant after running for 4 years across 50 airports? Here is one of the many examples:
And I say ‘many’ because they were around every corner in every terminal, so that is probably why I remember them so well. But probably the most eye catching for me was their simplicity and I could digest everything with a 2 second glance. Full disclosure: I am already an HSBC customer, so the experience didn’t force me to go out and sign up for 3 credit cards and take out a personal loan, but they did give me confidence that the bank was going to be around today, tomorrow and ten years from now. That is also why banks are typically in really nice or old buildings, this is all part of their brand, their reputation, their image. Advertising a bank in the current economic climate isn’t easy but, says Chaldecott, the trick is doing as the HSBC ad suggests – taking a local approach to a global brand. Why talk about this? Cause I feel that effective branding is key, whether you are a large blue chip organization or a photographer shooting for one.
I have found that clients try to minimize the risk they’re taking when they work with a new photographer and the same can be said of a new consumer product: a quality brand instills confidence and reduces that risk. When done well, this part of any company can yield many tangible as well as intangible business benefits, especially in a competitive market. For photographers, it can also allow entry into new categories or genre’s, (if the body of work also supports this, of course).
