Vietcombank x Bespoke Marketing

Disclaimer: Metrics in this case study are standardized/rounded to comply with NDA. Trends, ratios, and learnings accurately reflect real impact without exposing sensitive data. Campaign timing is intentionally omitted.

1) Executive Summary

Vietcombank set a dual objective: (1) grow awareness for credit card usage via e-wallets/QR gateways and (2) generate high-quality leads for card sign-ups. Bespoke Marketing designed a lean full-funnel architecture—Creative Planning + KOL Booking + Paid Social + Earned Press—governed by an end-to-end KPI tree from Awareness → Engagement → Lead → Approval/Activation.
Outcome (NDA-adjusted): the campaign delivered 10k+ registrations and 50k+ engagements across KOLs and press; CPL and CVR outperformed banking benchmarks for the period.

2) Context & Challenge

  • Industry: Banking/Payments with intense competition in cards and cashless payments.

  • Business problem: Accelerate new card sign-ups for the QR/e-wallet use-case while strengthening leadership in cashless payments.

  • Constraints: Tight compliance; multi-step sign-up journey; risk of message fatigue—creative must be simple, useful, and trustworthy.

3) Insight & Hypothesis

  • Users value convenience + clear, tangible incentives for QR/e-wallet payments; card opening still requires trust and social proof.

  • Positive-image celebrities/creators shorten the path from “try” to “open & use.”

  • Tier-1 press provides a second trust layer, improving CTR/CVR for retargeted cohorts.
    Hypothesis: Blend lifestyle-led storytelling (KOL) + proof-of-trust (press) + performance optimization (Meta/TikTok) to lift Lead-to-Approval.

4) Strategy

Objective Tree

  • O1 Awareness: Raise Reach, View-Through and Consideration for “paying by QR/e-wallet with Vietcombank cards.”

  • O2 Performance: Reduce CPL and increase CVR through mid-funnel optimization.

Three strategic levers

  1. Creative Platform – “Cashless Moments, Seamless Life” highlighting everyday QR/e-wallet scenarios with clear rewards.

  2. KOL Flywheel with top celebrities/creators (e.g., lifestyle & “smart spending” personas); scale via Spark Ads while keeping native feel.

  3. Press x Social Orchestration—PR on tier-1 outlets to boost credibility, then retarget readers to drive sign-ups.

5) Channel & Message Architecture

  • Paid Social (Meta, TikTok): 9:16 video, motion, carousel; Prospecting + Lookalike + Retargeting; optimize to Form Complete and Approved Lead.

  • KOL/Creators: day-in-the-life content with quick QR tutorial and clear CTA “Apply now.”

  • Earned Press: explain benefits, security, and incentives; seed high-intent traffic for retargeting.

  • Owned/CRM: UTM/GA4, Pixels, Offline Conversions, CRM sync to track Form → Verification → Approval → Activation.

6) Creative System

  • Big Idea: “Rewards unlock when you scan.”

  • Key Visuals: Card + app + QR in real-life scenes (shopping, F&B, weekend outings).

  • Message House:

    • Convenience: instant cashless payment.

    • Safety: banking-grade security.

    • Clear incentives: cash-back/discounts/points (compliance-approved).

7) Deployment & Performance Management

  • Phases (dates hidden): Tease → Launch → Amplify/Optimize.

  • KPI governance: Reach/ThruPlay → CTR → Landing View → Form Start/Complete → Verification → Approval/Activation.

  • Experiment design: lifestyle vs incentive hooks; KOL A vs B; with/without prior PR exposure.

8) Results (NDA-Adjusted)

  • Awareness & Engagement: 50k+ engagements; strong view-through and hook rates above internal banking benchmarks.

  • Leads & Conversion: 10k+ registrations; significant CPL reduction vs baseline; Lead-to-Approval improved via PR-reader retargeting + QR “how-to” creatives.

  • Creative learning: “smart consumer” KOL archetypes delivered higher CVR; weekend shopping context beat office scenes for CTR.

9) Key Learnings

  1. Dual trust layers (KOL + Press) materially lift conversion for regulated financial products.

  2. Micro-tutorial creatives reduce friction from Form Start → Complete.

  3. PR audiences are high-intent; treat PR as a performance feeder, not just reputation.

  4. Data pipeline hygiene (UTM, GA4, CRM, offline conversions) is prerequisite to optimizing to CPL/Approved metrics.

10) Bespoke Marketing’s Role

Creative planning, KOL strategy & booking, paid social operations, PR orchestration, analytics & reporting.

11) What’s Next

Always-on cashless layer with seasonal bursts; broaden creator network (nano/micro with “smart finance” affinity); deepen martech (offline conversions & CRM audiences).

12) About Bespoke Marketing

We are a Performance & Creative Consulting team focused on measurable commercial outcomes in high-compliance categories (banking/finance, retail, services). We start from business KPIs, design channel/content/data architecture, and optimize continuously.