2016 Silver Best Digital Performance

Agency Proximity London

Client Capital One

Campaign summary

A yes or no answer - not a probably – when applying for a credit card

Campaign overview

Drive awareness and generate a pool of targetable leads for Capital One’s QuickCheck, a credit eligibility checker that shows the probability of being accepted for credit before applying.

Strategy

Capital One had improved QuickCheck to give customers a definitive YES/NO answer on credit applications.

The system offered a perfect insight - people prefer knowing the outcome of a scenario, even when it’s not in their favour.

And uncertainty is never worse than with finance - especially credit. Anything that removes that doubt is an attractive proposition.

The opportunity was to demonstrate the product as never before, to ask people: ‘What would you like to be certain about?’

This approach gave rise to content for a series of hero films to raise awareness and educate audiences across a variety of platforms.

The same idea went to radio, raising awareness even more. Viewers were subsequently retargeted with hard-hitting DR display ads to drive them to the site.

Creativity

For three days the people of Worthing were asked ‘What would you like to be certain about?’

The answers were entertaining, poignant and frank. From the man trying to remove stains from his carpet to the pregnant woman desperate for carrot cake, it was clear people crave the confidence of certainty.

People were introduced to the certainty offered by QuickCheck, a certainty that made credit applications less stressful.

Placements asked ‘What would you like to be certain about?’- perfect viewbait for Facebook, YouTube and video display banners. It was also ideal for radio.

Capital One knew their audience would share computers at home or work, so logout pages for sites like eBay, MSN and Yahoo were perfect to reach them and provide their next destination.

The theme was also well-dramatised in formats like Spotify to help listeners be certain of 30 minutes of ad-free music.

Results

The YES/NO certainty of the product led neatly to compelling insight, which led to charming and persuasive creative.

The 30sec films enjoyed an average completion rate of 55% across all video channels - proving that thinking and execution worked together as a neatly effective package.

This, coupled with other media, drove one million people to the Capital One site, and beat a target of six million prospects by delivering a pool of 11 million people who fitted straight into the retargeting programme.

In doing so, the work beat the QuickCheck launch campaign from the previous year, which had been Capital One’s most successful ever.

Team

John Treacy (ECD) • Suzanne Partridge (Managing Partner) • Ursula Marrow (Senior Account Director) • Adrian Hoole (Head of Customer Engagement) • Richard Blackburn (Creative Partner) • Nick Moffat (Creative Partner) • Lou Wright (Copywriter) • Emma Rene (Art Director) • Kathy Howes (Senior Creative Producer/Art Buyer) • Katie Cummings (Digital Marketing Brand Manager) • Jessica Maddux (Senior Brand Manager) • Katherine Ashton (Social Media Manager) • Cath Hancock (Legal Specialist) • Lucy-Marie Hagues (Head of Marketing Strategy - UK) • Renuke Samaransinghe (Associate Director) • Sam Loram (Digital Manager)