Mibanco: For a new version of Peru
In Peru there are plenty of entrepreneur-oriented brands. As of 2015, however, there wasn’t a brand that knew how to read and expose the new reality of this segment. The story of the new Mibanco is the story of the new version of Peru, which has one purpose: to vindicate and bring to the forefront a great majority excluded from the financial system. A majority that, nevertheless, actually drives the country’s economy.
Peru, chapter by chapter
Mibanco's case is that of a great book whose chapters were written campaign by campaign, picking up massive social clout with work deeply rooted in popular culture, all while yielding proven brand image and business results. Each chapter represents an ecosystem in itself, with storytelling and storydoing across multiple touchpoints. The strategic and the tactical angles, as well as the branded and commercial aspects, all merge into an ubreakable unit.
Each campaign has been recognized for both creative and business effectiveness. However, the trajectory of the brand has its own milestones, where the following stand out:
→ Best advertiser, Effie Peru 2018.
→ Entry to the Top 20 most valued brands in Peru in 2019.
→ The brand’s value went from S/ 23MM to S/ 242MM in just 4 years (Source: Millward Kantar).
→ Effie Gold in Sustained Success in the first 3 years of its relaunch.
Country boy
In 2015, we relaunched Mibanco with the "Country boy" campaign. An iconic hymn of sadness and suffering of a migrant moving from the countryside to the city was rewritten to joyfully capture the new reality of a third generation entrepreneur: proud, optimistic and who no longer has to face the city because they have become the city itself –a driving force in the growth not only of Lima, but of the provinces.
Mibanco was fully invested in its commitment to distance itself from the clichés with which the entrepreneur had been approached until then: a hurt being, treated with condescension, and a resident of Lima Norte, basically.
Having a purpose yields results:
- ANDA Award, Integrated Communication, 2015.
- Effie Silver, Brand Relaunch, 2016.
Advisors
The next chapter in the story of the new version of Peru was dedicated to banking democratization, and spoke of Mibanco's mission to support every Peruvian at their stage of progress, even if this often meant taking on the role of the State and reaching the furthest corners of the territory by way of canoe or donkey. The inclusive and neighborly role of the Mibanco sales force was authentically portrayed through real stories of those who don’t usually appear on screen.
Cholo I am
2016. “Cholo,” a taboo word in Peruvian advertising (racistly used term to name the Peruvian-mestizo people), is given the value it deserves by bringing its real, noble and Peruvian meaning to the forefront, from which only positive feelings and pride can be derived.
By rewriting the lyrics to another well-known song associated with the defeat, pain and suffering of our audience, "Cholo Soy" (Cholo I am) gave an account of the real identity of a country that matured much faster than its own advertising. All while lending school credits with unprecedented results.
Having a purpose gives results:
- Brand recognition of 35% (IPSOS standard 25%).
- + 5% TOM awareness
- +10.1% in loans vs. same period previous year.
- 3rd financial institution with the best ROE in the local system.
- ANDA Award, Campaign chosen by the public, 2017.
- Effie Gold, Financial Services, 2017.
50 years
in power
2017. Who rules this country? In the absence of a State that promotes social development, entrepreneurs do. Their self-management drive created one of the largest commercial hubs in the capital, which today represents the economic pillar of millions of people. The informal jobs are portrayed with respect and as an expression of the entrepreneurial ability to create their own jobs and growth, with the brand as a constant in their journey.
Tigers of Savings
To be able to offer credits, it is fundamental to raise funds that can later be disbursed as credits. The most important source of funds is savings accounts. However, the perception of the brand was, naturally, that of a credit-focused, single-product entity.
Playing off the historical relationship of reciprocity between Mibanco and its clients, we launched the portfolio of savings accounts celebrating entrepreneurial power under the cry: "Mibanco, today I bring the money."
Having a purpose yields results:
- +296% monthly sign-ups for savings accounts.
- +35% confidence attribute (key to our positioning).
- Effie Silver, Financial Services, 2018.
- Effie Bronze, Sustained Success, 2018.
- Effie Gold, Relaunch of Services, 2018.
Entrepreneurial Force
During Christmas, the category usually promotes the placement of credits through raffles that favor turkey, panettone or real estate companies, but that have nothing to do with our audience.
Mibanco, on the other hand, decided to raffle its most important capital: its own clients. Or rather, the work of their own clients. In the manner of a typical virtual catalog of gifts, we "raffled" 16 entrepreneurs, so that they are the ones who, with their services or products, provide over 1,000 Christmas gifts to keep on bringing clients to our clients.
Having a purpose yields results:
- +12% disbursed amounts.
- +7% number of credits obtained.
- +17% TOM awareness.
- +35% key positioning attributes.
- Ideas Awards Bronze, New Formats, 2018.
- Effie Bronze, Financial Services, 2018.
- ANDA Award, Integrated Communication, 2018.
Valuable schoolchildren
2018. When it comes to loans for school supplies, we could have gotten into rate wars with other advertisers or we could have just accepted that promoting loans for back-to-school, when the school year had just ended due to the strikes of 2017, was simply absurd.
“Valuable schoolchildren” (which is a nice play on words for School Supplies in Spanish) was a historic campaign that allowed us to integrate our brand purpose, business goals for the BTS season, and the country's education challenges into a single idea, shaking the country beyond the advertising.
Having a purpose yields results:
- +11.5% in loan disbursements.
- +20% TOM awareness.
- +24% consideration.
- Gran Effie, 2018.
- Effie Gold, Financial Services, 2018.
- ANDA Award, Financial Services, 2019.
- El Ojo de Iberoamérica Bronze Award, Effectiveness, 2018.
- El Ojo de Iberoamérica Bronze Award, Film, 2018.
- Ideas Gold Award, Copy/Film, 2018.
- Ideas Gold Award, Country Award, 2018.
- Ideas Silver Award, Social Good/Film, 2018.
- Ideas Bronze Award, Film, 2018.
Tigers of Honesty I
To continue encouraging savings, we landed upon a strategic discovery nested in the current situation: saving in itself is a position against rampant corruption, an honest way to earn extra money as opposed to the dishonest ways that are rampant in the country.
"Tigers of Honesty I" is the chapter of "The new version of Peru" that offers an uncompromising view of national challenges, and features savings as a driving force for the vast majority of honest Peruvians.
Banking secrecy
As a complement to the savings campaign and in a country where corruption is rampant and transparency is a rare commodity, Mibanco’s entrepreneurs set an example by breaking their bank secrecy rule and openly exposing their financial movements to camera. All of them, naturally, clean and duly justified by the sweat of their brow.
Having a purpose yields results:
- +103% openings.
- +42% total balance.
- +187% deposits.
- +21pp in the main positioning attribute.
- Effie Silver, Financial Services, 2019.
- Effie Bronze, Sustained Success, 2019.
- El Ojo de Iberoamérica Silver, Efficacy, 2019.
Pamplona exists
Pamplona exists because its citizens exist. They work, live, organize and get ahead by defying any wall that makes them invisible.
"Pamplona exists" represented a shift in the brand: making entrepreneurs visible as citizens and not just as productive or economic agents. The campaign invited these citizens to apply for their Christmas credit and Mibanco financed community workshops in Pamplona (a vulnerable neighborhood of Lima), in storydoing that is faithful to its purpose of including the great majority that’s excluded from the financial system.
Having a purpose yields results:
- +4% TOM awareness.
- +11pp “confidence” attribute (key in the category).
- +8% credit placements.
Citizens of Tomorrow
2019. For the back-to-school campaign, Mibanco faced intense competition of rates and competitors that began to emulate the way in which the brand had been speaking. However, what they could not emulate was our view of the entrepreneur as not just a productive unit.
Mibanco proposed a great allegory that expresses that Peru grew economically, but did not learn to develop as a society due to lack of citizenship. Talking about true progress involves understanding the entrepreneur as a phenomenon that grows not just economically, but also one that exercises its citizenship.
Having a purpose yields results:
- +9% number of placements and +7% in amounts.
- +21pp consideration.
- +24pp confidence attribute (key in the category).
- Effie Gold, Positive Change, 2019.
Tigers of Honesty II
The platform that portrayed savings as an act of resistance in a country kidnapped by corruption at the highest level, this time looked at the corruption that’s also present in the daily life of ordinary entrepreneurs.
We explored the conscience of our own entrepreneurial citizens, in search of a deep connection that motivates them to continue fighting against this endemic disease in the country.
