BEHIND THE SCENES with Standard Chartered's 'Here for good' campaign

TBWA Singapore is Standard Chartered's global strategic and creative partner. For their latest collaboration, the agency took a unique approach to a series of films produced for the bank's new global communications campaign.

The films, of which the first debuted on 21 April, create visual narratives of the 'Here for good' brand belief through the eyes of four very distinct artists who live and work in the bank's major markets.

Each artist was selected to create a 60-second film based on their ability to articulate the brand's belief of 'Here for good' in their own unique way, that would also appeal to the people in their own region.

According to Phillip Brett, president of TBWA for South and Southeast Asia: "The concept for the films very much lived or died on our ability to find the right artist to interpret and produce films to represent the bank's footprint, across Africa, the Middle East and Asia."

The fourth film titled 'Footprint' (pictured below) required an artist that could interpret the 'Here for good' concept for a global audience. World renowned graphic designer and typographer Stefan Sagmeister managed this perfectly by taking the words from the brand belief and placing them in real-time installations.



For the Asian region, TBWA worked with perhaps the most recognised director in the Chinese film industry. Zian Zhuangzhuang is a classic and traditional filmmaker who has lived in China all his life.

Tian's story titled 'Long run' (pictured below) depicts a man travelling across Asia in pursuit of the beliefs that underscore the 'Here for good' slogan.



'Progress' (pictured below), the film for Africa, was created from thousands of individual acrylic paintings by Ezra Wube, a painter from Ethiopia who worked virtually around the clock for two months to produce his film frame-by-single-frame.



Ezra, Ethiopian by birth and currently an art student based in the US, captured his progress with a camera on static mode, using the still shots to animate the final product.

Media caught up with Ezra at a recent Standard Chartered press conference at the Four Seasons in Hong Kong. Here is what he had to say about working with TBWA to create his short film.





Sandra Madi, a documentary filmmaker from the Middle-East, portrayed the daily lives and interactions of a three-generation family in her film titled 'People', symbolising Standard Chartered's long term commitment to its customers.

"Each of the four spots is totally different in its appeal," says John Merrifield, TBWA's creative-at-large. "They are not only beautifully produced but they are beautiful to watch and they proudly echo the bank's vision to be 'Here for good'."

The 'Here for good' films will be shown in 115 countries on 73 television channels across the US, Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East.