In conversation with Haymans Fung, Global Head of Marketing, Wealth and Retail Banking, Standard Chartered Bank
In this exclusive interaction, we explore insights from Haymans Fung, Global Head of Marketing for Wealth and Retail Banking at Standard Chartered Bank. From evolving consumer preferences to the growing role of hyper-personalization, and the strategies behind the “Now’s Your Time for Wealth” campaign, the discussion sheds light on how the industry is adapting to meet the aspirations of affluent clients across diverse markets.
Agency Reporter – How are you seeing consumer preferences evolve in wealth and retail banking across the markets you oversee?
Haymans Fung – Given the increasing international mobility of the affluent segment, we are tailoring this campaign to reach our clients at various touch points across airports and in-city sites, featuring a mix of out-of-home advertising, print and digital advertising, film, and content partnership with leading international, regional and local media across seven key markets – India, Singapore, Hong Kong, Mainland China, Korea, Taiwan and UAE.
Agency Reporter – Personalization is a major focus across industries. How important is hyper-personalization in wealth management, and what are some of the most effective ways to achieve it?
Haymans Fung – The “Now’s your time for wealth” global marketing campaign focuses on how we enable clients to get closer to their wealth ambitions, no matter where they are in their wealth journey, highlighting our differentiators and capabilities, such as our global wealth network and expertise in wealth solutions.
Using client insights, our campaign is personalised to support our global affluent clients across different client attributes and no matter where they are in their life stage – Global Chinese, Global Indians, entrepreneurs and sophisticated investors – to protect, grow and pass on their wealth. The campaign also calls out the growth opportunities for affluent clients to reach their personal wealth goals, milestones and ambitions. Importantly, we want to bring home the message that clients need to act now to secure their wealth for them and their next generations.
Agency Reporter – With markets like Mainland China, India, and the UAE in your scope, how do you tailor marketing strategies to cater to such diverse audiences?
Haymans Fung – For over 165 years, Standard Chartered has been faithfully serving our clients in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. The affluent business is a significant contributor to the group’s income.
“Now’s your time for wealth” is a multi-faceted global marketing campaign that is created for global affluent clients especially those in India, Hong Kong, Singapore, Mainland China, Korea, Taiwan and UAE. And our creatives demonstrate that diversity, with different ethnicities, languages used to ensure we appeal to all affluent clients and reflect our inclusive stance as a bank. The campaign is developed based on data analysis and insights from our clients, allowing us to develop a personalised campaign with a more holistic client engagement approach, reinforcing the Bank’s position as an international wealth manager.
Agency Reporter – Having worked across multiple global markets, what are some key differences in client behaviour across regions, and how does this impact marketing strategies in wealth management?
Haymans Fung – We see consistent consumer trends across Asia and the Middle East. Consumers today are spending more time on digital platforms, allowing us to tap on data to better understand client behaviours, preferences, and needs. When combined with creativity and technology, brands can craft impactful campaigns that truly connect with our clients and result in meaningful outcomes.
At the same time, Marketing budgets are becoming more constrained. We work closely with our media agency to ensure that our marketing efforts are impactful in achieving positive results for the business. Our marketing campaigns have clearly defined the objectives for each marketing channel to ensure the campaign achieves sufficient awareness, consideration, and conversion across the upper and lower funnel.
Agency Reporter – The “Now’s Your Time for Wealth” campaign emphasizes the importance of taking action early to achieve financial goals. How does this message resonate with the evolving aspirations of affluent clients, particularly in India?
Haymans Fung – We worked with our media partner, Dentsu Media and key stakeholders in the bank to understand the crux of the wealth challenges faced by many affluent clients. Armed with deep client insights, we built a narrative around clients having an increasing international outlook and multi-market footprint. Their ambition is to grow their wealth in order to provide for their future generations, but many are currently not taking the first step towards achieving their goal.
With this understanding, we combined clients’ wealth ambitions and applied the impetus of acting now with our bank’s unique capabilities. “Now’s your time for wealth” campaign is the synthesis of that powerful combination. Our campaign also calls out to specific investor profiles – Global Indian, Global Chinese, Entrepreneur and Sophisticated Investor.
Our campaign is personalised to reach affluent Indian clients in and outside of India. The country’s growing prosperity fuels the aspirations of its entrepreneurs, investors and wealth creators – both at home and abroad.