Company: Cathay United Bank
Company Description: Cathay United Bank was first established in 20 May 1975 and has served its customers for over 42 years. Cathay United Bank currently has 164 branches in Taiwan. Our overseas presence leaves 67 footprints in 11 countries and areas, including 2 subsidiaries, 1 joint venture bank, 6 overseas branches and 5 representative offices.
Nomination Category: Marketing Campaign Categories - Specialty
Nomination Sub Category: Brand Experience of the Year - Consumer
 Nomination Title: The Immersive Experience of Financial Service: Synesthesia Feast of "Gold Noise"
- Which will you submit for this nomination, a video of up to five (5) minutes in length about the nominated campaign or program, OR written answers to the questions for this category? CHOOSE ONE:
A video of up to five (5) minutes
- If you are submitting a video of up to five (5) minutes in length, provide the URL of the nominated video here, OR attach it to your entry via the "Add Attachments, Videos, or Links to This Entry" link above, through which you may also upload a copy of your video.
Supporting Vedio : https://youtu.be/yBHVPkuQTLw
- If you are providing written answers to the questions for this category, you must answer this first question: Specify the date on which this brand experience campaign or program was launched:
January 9, 2023
- If you are providing written answers to the questions for this category, you must answer this second question: Describe the genesis of the nominated brand experience campaign or program: the reasons it was initiated, the challenges it was created to address, the problems it was developed to solve, etc. (up to 250 words):
Total 203 words used.
Cathay United Bank (CUB) is dedicated to establishing close, positive and long-term relationships with customers. In the past, customers engaged with banks and financial demand for a limited period only under certain scenarios. Covid-19 made it worse. We hope to increase customer demand for our bank and financial services through more interactive brand experiences.
In 2022, CUB launched a first-of-its-kind ASMR-inspired “Gold Noise” album amid the pandemic, incorporating the sound effect of banknote counting into songs of genres around the world. The album has recorded 470,000 plays on music streaming platforms, giving us a new offering besides cash flow services.
In 2023, CUB further launched Synesthesia Gold Noise 2 to include animations with images of banknotes around the world to showcase different cultures. We also made limited “Breathable Gold” Face Masks with the smell of cotton, linen, and other materials for banknotes as gifts for customers.
By respecting people’s wish for good fortune in innovative products, CUB created impressive financial experiences in Synesthesia Gold Noise 2 (hearing, sight, and smell). Novel triggers created rare physical connections amid the pandemic while catering to customer's real-life needs. As a result, we established novel, trusting, and engaging relationships with customers and created unique brand value.
- If you are providing written answers to the questions for this category, you must answer this third question: Describe the development of the brand experience campaign or program: the planning process, the goal setting, the creative and media development, the scheduling, etc. (up to 250 words):
Total 214 words used.
Those efforts aimed to contribute to combating the pandemic as an innovative brand and to bolster our brand influence by offering an all-round unconventional financial experience. Inspired by synesthesia, Gold Noise 2 combined songs and animations with our brand fragrance. We also gave fragrance cards and masks with our brand features to get inform and protect customers. Three months after this project was launched, nearly 30,000 Breathable Gold Face Masks were given away at nearly 200 service locations in Taiwan. We expect to record 900,000 views on YouTube, over 1,500 channel subscribers, and 10,000 Spotify plays. Through both our online (songs and animations) and offline (fragrance cards and masks) efforts, we aim to make the audience think of us a responsible, innovative bank amid the pandemic.
As part of our media strategy, eight animations were live streamed continuously over 24 hours to imply that we are available online at all times. YouTube's latest Video View Campaign (VVC), combining ad slots in TrueView, In-feed, and Shorts features were utilized to make diverse ads, and our distribution optimized by machine learning to maximize the effect. Besides YouTube, we also delivered ads on other ad network targeting audiences interested in such topics as the pandemic, music, animation, and finance, expanding our audience reach.
- If you are providing written answers to the questions for this category, you must answer this fourth question: Outline the activities and concrete results of this brand experience campaign or program since the beginning of 2021. Even if your initiative started before 2021, limit your response to activities and results since the beginning of 2021 only (up to 250 words):
Total 158 words used.
Gold Noise 1 and 2 project results:
- Live-streamed videos recorded around 50,000 views on YouTube
- Videos on YouTube recorded 2,540,000 views
- Our YouTube channel attracted over 10,000 new subscribers (a 356% increase from February 28, 2021)
- Our Spotify album recorded over 500,000 plays. The song “Cryptocurrency” was included in the New Song Express playlist by Spotify, and our songs were included in personal playlists over 1,400 times.
- Breathable Gold Face Masks were widely discussed and much sought after, and nearly 30,000 were given away.
- The project triggered 89 reports around Taiwan and over 10,000 comments online. The public was widely engaged and talked about our brand.
By connecting synesthesia marketing with the financial ecosystem, this project created an innovative experience with digital media tools. Decentralized communication channels enhanced the advertising effectiveness, bringing benefits to users, channels, and owned media.
*Of which 66 reports on GN1 and 23 reports on GN2
- You have the option to reference here any attachments of supporting materials throughout this nomination and how they provide evidence of the claims you have made in this nomination (up to 250 words):
Total 5 words used.
Supporting Vedio : https://youtu.be/yBHVPkuQTLw
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