2011 Winners & Shortlists

Results and Effectiveness

The Strength of the Creative: The amount of goodwill that this simple act generated for NBO was evident in the people who came to the bank with their positive responses. Almost all of them felt that this gesture went beyond the regular commercial use of credit cards, and played a vital role for the Omani community in need - given the mindset of donating in the Holy month of Ramadan. This simple gesture generated tremendous word-of mouth and goodwill. Above all, it was successful in raising donation value that was worth 15,000 Rials!

Creative Execution

The Creative Solution: The agency needed a powerful communication device to overcome even the slightest inertia among NBO customers contributing to the needy. The idea was based on a simple insight: to make the act of giving rewarding enough even for the donor. To generate more interaction, the agency created simple NBO branded donation tin-boxes in all NBO branches across Oman, targeting NBO customers. They were donation boxes all right, but with one twist: they all had a closed slit! So surprised customers found they couldn’t slip their donation through… till they read the message on the tin, telling them that NBO had already paid on their behalf! The donation box with its closed slit, became a symbol of goodwill for the NBO donor. It suggested that their act was recognised by the Bank who was rewarding the needy on the donor's behalf.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

The Brief: * National Bank of Oman (NBO) wanted to play an active role during Ramadan, the month of giving, by conveying that every time its customers used their credit cards, the Bank would make a donation on their behalf (at no extra cost to the customer). The task was to also establish goodwill among its existing customers, during the Holy Month and communicate that every NBO customer could make a difference for the needy. In the process, the campaign also sought to generate extra word of mouth among potential customers. * The TA was chiefly NBO customers visiting their branches who regularly used their credit cards at their respective branch, across 71 branches in Oman. * Ramadan is a time of giving. Based on this insight, the agency came up with the idea of using an NBO branded Donation Box for charity at each of its branches.