The encyclopedia · Marketing & Brand · Marketing decision · 2024–2025
HSBC One won young customers by selling tickets to esports star T1
Opening an HSBC One account entered millennials in a meet-and-greet with League of Legends team T1 — new young customers rose ~150%.
HSBC
the move
HSBC One, the bank's all-in-one account for 18-to-34-year-olds, faced the classic millennial problem: banking is necessary but boring, and young Hongkongers saw no reason to switch. The bank's own data showed esports and gaming spending growing fast among exactly this group.
Saatchi & Saatchi Hong Kong built the annual campaign around South Korean esports icons T1 and Faker, the 'Michael Jordan of esports'. HSBC One customers could win tickets to T1's first-ever Hong Kong meet-and-greet, visit the team's Seoul headquarters, learn pro tactics and receive limited-edition souvenirs.
Opening an account became the entry ticket: new customers registered for a chance to win the party and exclusive memorabilia. The campaign ran across digital, social and large out-of-home formats, positioning HSBC as the first international bank in Hong Kong to venture into esports sponsorship.
The strategy converted fandom into banking action by making the account the gate to an experience money could not easily buy elsewhere.
why it works
- Esports passion provided an emotional hook that banking products never could.
- Exclusivity made the account opening feel like winning access, not a chore.
- T1's first Hong Kong appearance guaranteed press and fan buzz around the campaign.
- The experience (Seoul HQ visit, meet-and-greet) created content that spread on social.
what transfers
When your category is low-interest, attach the product to a passion the audience already has — the purchase becomes the access pass.
what came after
HSBC One saw new millennial customers rise roughly 150% in the first half of 2024; the campaign won the Grand Effie at the 2025 Effie Awards Hong Kong plus a Gold, a Silver and four Bronzes.
references
- Saatchi & Saatchi takes Grand Effie and Agency of the Year at the 2025 Effie Awards Hong Kong
- HSBC One features South Korean esports team T1 in millennial campaign
- 滙豐One首半年千禧新客戶量按年大升近150%
spotted an error? The archive wants to know.