Plot your own voyage with OCBC Bank

Client: OCBC Bank

Agency: Isobar

Market: Singapore

Scope of work: TV, online

Details: The OCBC Voyage Credit Card is touted as Singapore’s first metal card that lets you “redeem miles for flights to any destination on any airline, any time of the year.” The new campaign is led by a film, developed by Isobar Singapore and directed by James Okubo.

The film follows a curious young boy and his obsession with snow. While on a trip to Japan with his parents, he is constantly looking for opportunities to enjoy snowfall to the extent of running out of his hotel room alone late one night in pursuit of potential snowflakes, only to be disappointed.

Naturally, his parents finally pick up on his desire, and the Voyage Exchange concierge service comes to the rescue with a quick change in plans and a trip to the countryside where at last, the boy gets to frolic in fresh snow.

There are two versions of this film of one and three minutes, which will also be airing on StarHub’s cable and digital channels throughout the month.

The Singapore-centric campaign will run until the end of May. It is set for release in other regional markets soon.

Quotes:

Belinda Tan, head of group lifestyle financing, marketing, group marketing, OCBC Bank:

Our aim with Voyage is to challenge the conventions of the industry and its complicated miles redemption processes. We want customers to think of what they wish to do with their miles instead of how to redeem them. The Voyage Exchange concierge service is exclusively set up to deliver on this promise by planning and delivering the best possible experiences with miles redemption. The uniqueness of these personalised experiences is what we wanted to highlight.

Stan Lim, regional creative director, Isobar Asia-Pacific:

OCBC had a bold and customer-empowering proposition with the OCBC Voyage Credit Card and we wanted to make sure the world knew about it. We came up with the idea of ‘Your imagination sets our limits.’ It challenges customers to demand more from the bank. The film brings it alive by capturing the simplicity and beauty of a child’s imagination, how it inspires his parents, and how Voyage goes the extra mile to make his imagination come true.

Campaign Asia Pacific's comments: The film is beautifully shot, well paced, and does a good job of outlining what makes the new credit card by OCBC different via a situational demonstration.

Why it took so long for the parents to cotton on, even with the son drawing snowflakes all over the apartment, will be excused. For anyone who has grown up in the tropics, that overwhelming desire to play in the snow certainly resonates, and this film does a great job of showcasing that wonder.

If there is one gripe, is that the 60-second version does the original film no favours, making the presented story hard to follow and the reason to care even less apparent. OCBC might want to look into a new film, made to fit a shorter timeframe, when it targets other markets.

CREDITS

Regional creative director: Stan Lim
Copywriter: Abhishek Prasad
Associate account director: Kriti Mishra
Agency producer: Helene Garcia
Director: James Okubo
Production company: Geek Pictures
Post production: The Quiet Lab
Music: The Gunnery
Media agency: Maxus