HSBC casts the net wider for future marketing stars

Diversity of thought, fresh perspectives, and a range of never-imagined skills are just three things on offer to financial services marketing managers considering out-of-sector recruitment.

In an industry hoping to attract new talent and reduce the average age of its customer base, leveraging the new ideas brought by other sectors is crucial to cut through the noise and diversify content.

Heading up the social media team at HSBC UK, Antonia De Feo brings 16 years’ experience and a wealth of knowledge in live sports, food and drink, fashion, and entertainment to the bank.

De Feo’s career has seen her deliver content for the London 2012 Olympic Games, devise and execute a digital content strategy for the United Fighting Championship (UFC), head up Jamie Oliver’s social media team, run the BBC’s social media accounts throughout the FIFA World Cup, introduce a global brand ambassador programme at fashion retailer Boden, and launch Disney UK on TikTok.

While some may argue De Feo’s retail and entertainment-heavy career falls outside the corporate and regulatorily stringent walls of one of the world’s largest banks, others will see an opportunity for the bank to transform its online presence with new thinking and perspective.

“For any brand or organisation, any sector or any industry, the challenge is aways the same – the scale and cut through in a very congested content economy,” says De Feo.

For social media to break through the noise in a marketplace where customers have a short attention span and subsequently less dwell time, content has to be excellent, she says.

Always on

Before De Feo joined, the social media team at HSBC was campaign-driven.

Recently, the retail bank has been “raising the troughs” with always-on content, avoiding huge gaps between the peaks of campaigns and becoming more integrated within the day-to-day brand marketing team.“The day-to-day content helps marginally to increase visibility when we’re not in the midst of a big campaign,” she says. “It’s something we’ve worked hard on in the past year to educate the team on the importance of existing and how it can work as an effective window for your brand.”

The last six months have seen an uptick in brand awareness – De Feo’s ultimate end goal for all social media output – thanks to the shift in presence.

With two out of three active Instagram users saying the platform allows them to build meaningful relationships with brands, according to Hootsuite, it’s no wonder HSBC strives to maintain its presence.

“Customers aren’t coming to HSBC’s Instagram to see what we published today.

“This makes the challenge of a social media specialist greater to ensure we have the scale and impact to cut through a very congested content landscape,” De Feo says.

Instagram provides an opportunity for HSBC to ensure its shop window – its profile page – looks simple, authentic, and relatable to anyone that stumbles across it, either in an organic capacity or via a paid ad.

“Customers viewing the Instagram grid will see a very strong visual identity for HSBC UK, along with some tangible tips on effective ways to manage money better, a showcase of our partnerships, and our societal purpose work.

“We’re ensuring that we are showing up in a way that is topical and relevant to the conversations going on in the social space at the time, where HSBC warrants a voice,” she says.

Crafting the story

Storytelling and the editorial narrative are crucial considerations for any social media marketer, says De Feo.

“When building an editorial narrative, you need to start with the story you’re going to tell, how you’re going to deliver that succinctly, and how the narrative will be effectively sliced up into a user journey for a particular social platform.

“The challenge is always the same: how quickly and how effectively you can land your message through the content you’re making?” she says.

De Feo’s background in live sporting events, fashion, and entertainment has equipped her with the skills to deliver timely and direct stories to invested social media followers.

“In those sectors, customers have a vested personal passion in that thing – maybe they support the sporting team, love the brand, or want to wear the clothes,” she says. “In banking and financial services, that is completely different – not many customers have a huge passion for a bank.”

Financial services lends itself to brand partnerships and more holistic brand campaigns that deliver a story, explains De Feo.

“Telling a story in an authentic, personable, and approachable way through a bank is really powerful.”

Though HSBC is yet to launch on TikTok, the bank uses the platform heavily in its paid content.

“It’s important to show up and be in these spaces to increase brand awareness and be in a place where future audiences are,” she says.

In financial services in particular, sophisticated media buying helps build the editorial narrative and user journey, De Feo adds.

“That could look like audience targeting, sequencing of advertising, retargeting off the back of someone who might have seen one thing and extending the editorial narrative.

“The user goes from seeing one piece of content to viewing second and third videos that have created a consistent narrative across a user journey.”

Though media buying is common across all sectors, financial services brands such as HSBC require a more sophisticated approach to give the scale it needs to cut through, she says.

Influencer

Banks not leveraging influencer marketing and social media are set to fall behind, as the percentage of social media users continues to grow year on year.

Last year, the HSBC brand marketing team won an award for best brand storytelling through its day in the life of Nancy, who works in the compliance team by day and is a drag queen by night. At a Pride event, HSBC’s iconic red hex was sequined and embroidered onto Nancy’s dress.

“Traditionally, brand partnerships can be a tough sell on social media, but this one was genuine and authentic. She was wearing the brand, but it wasn’t wearing her,” De Feo says.

The employee resource group were integral to sculpting the narrative and putting HSBC’s own talent at the heart of the output.

“That’s where the power of authentic storytelling really shone through and my experience from outside the sector helped,” De Feo explains.

Having internal champions and credible voices to support the message of the brand bridges the gap between corporate banks and events such as a Pride parade, she says.

Despite the success and awards, De Feo hints that influencer marketing is still in its infancy and will be a powerful tool for HSBC in the coming years.

There is a “gaping hole” for all banks to showcase authoritative, credible, and regulated voices across social media, she says. The challenge is to do so in an engaging and educational way that conforms to the creative style of each platform.

“We’ve made a few operational changes to how we work regulated influencers that have yielded amazing results.

“We’ve brought in control from the moment we are scripting and ideating, to the script is signed off before sent to talent. This avoids us having to reject content at review stage and getting tripped up in regulation.”

Though regulation around influencers is consistently evolving, so too is the social media landscape, and brands will do well to continue their momentum.

“Our visual identity and how we show up in the social space is an evolving piece that we’re working on,” De Feo says.

Calling for a “bigger boat” for all the ideas De Feo wants to implement at HSBC this year, it’s clear her out-of-sector experience has brought a boatload of new thinking and creative ideas to the corporate sector.