2012 Winners & Shortlists

The Brief

Emirates NBD faced a "mental" hurdle in attracting fresh new talent to join the banking sector due to negative sentiments resulting from the recession surrounding the banking industry.In Universities,more youth were opting not to study finance and exploring other degree options and banks also carried the impression of being "boring" in their minds. Our challenge was to attract fresh talent in the UAE;to get young people excited about joining the banking sector,get them to realize that banking too can be a stimulating and challenging career option for them. What better way to do so than to make the students actually touch,feel and experience becoming "Banker for a Day".

Describe how the promotion developed from concept to implementation

We identified 6 deserving Business students (Grades 11-13) per school, and brought them into an EmiratesNBD branch for a special day long program. Students were given the opportunity to undertake specifically designed roles within the bank, like Teller, Customer Representative, Processing Specialist, Business Manager, Relationship Manager and Business Centre Manager. Students were then invited to put down their impressions of Becoming a Banker for a Day as a competition entry and to upload it onto a microsite. The microsite hosted information related to the program along with competition uploads, while print and radio partners carried related stories to amplify the program's reach. Every quarter, the 3 best entries were awarded EmiratesNBD cash grants towards their schooling fees.

Describe the success of the promotion with both client and consumer including some quantifiable results

- 20 schools participated in the program in less than 5 months, in 2011 - Winning student won AED 10,000 cash grant, with the next two winning AED 5000 and AED 2500 respectively - all going towards their schooling fees. - As is evident from the competition entries, the initiative resulted in changing the perceptions of the school students and getting them all excited about taking on banking as a career. - Please see competition entries on the CD provided - Resounding success of the program has led to the program being extended into 2012, with even more newer schools being introduced into the program. As of date, 12 schools have been confirmed for Feb-April 2012

Explain why the method of promotion was most relevant to the product or service

This initiative helped the students gain hands-on experience on the inner workings of a bank, the various disciplines practiced within it, and the skills required to make the banking sector a rewarding future career choice for them. Most importantly, the initiative worked in breaking down their perceptions while opening up their minds to a better future.This is evident in the competition entries that the students submitted. For EmiratesNBD, it gave them a foothold into the schools, and encouraged the teachers to start creating excitement about banking as a profession. Some schools- to choose their 6 deserving students- ran business essay competitions of their own and have started included "Banker for a Day" initiative as part of curriculum in 2012.