GXS Brand launch
Singapore has one of the most saturated financial markets in the world, and if we’re going to launch a digital-only bank here, let’s be unconventional about it. If every bank in SG is going down the same direction in terms of branding, then let’s go the complete opposite.
Typical bank colors in Singapore are predominantly Red or Blue, or variations of the same hues. We went with Neon Purple because it’s visually different, yet border lining on the familiar (Red + blue = purple. Color theory FTW).
Working with up-and-coming local artists, three KVs were developed to embody the brand beliefs, including a slick video that featured our first product - GXS Savings Account.
Along the way, we created idents reminiscent of those ‘80s MTV funky videos. The intention was to stand apart from our competitors and we did - we attained 50% brand awareness level (in contrast to DBS’s 78%, SG’s #1 bank), a 30% spontaneous recall rate (DBS’s 43%) and 9% top-of-mind awareness, all within a brief one month market presence.
Responsibilities: Creative direction
Modernizing a 400 year-old icon
The Maneki Neko, or Beckoning Cat dates all the way back to 17th century Japan. As a symbol for good luck and wealth, it was the perfect mascot for the GXS brand. Using a well-known icon is easily recognizable, but outdated. It was time to modernize it.
Inspired by BearBrick©, we knew that revamping the shape of the cat figure was the key approach. We stripped the figure down to its bare essentials, and once we balanced out the proportions - head, beckoning hand, body - we knew we’ve landed on something great. From there on, variations of the cat started to multiply by itself.
This led to 45% of surveyed respondents expressing a readiness to become GXS customers (vs average APAC benchmark 20%).
12 unique cat personalities were conceptualized to represent GXS customers. Specific cats were then assigned to individual customers based on their banking behavior on the GXS app.
For example, if the customer regularly logs into the app around 12am to 4am, they will receive the “Night Owl” cat via direct mail. It was a fun and personalized way to wrap up 2023.
