SMC X HSBC Canada

Overview:

HSBC is one of the world’s largest banking and financial services organizations and serves approximately 40 million customers through its global businesses. During the Fall semester, Smith Marketing Consulting partnered with HSBC Bank Canada representatives on a 4-month project led by Project Director Jordan Kim and supported by Consultants Peter DeSantis, Charmi Sangvhi, Matthew Tran, and Talia Wright.

The problem:

Within the past decade, HSBC Bank Canada has delivered award-winning marketing campaigns in the financial services industry. This has given the organization a substantial advantage over its competitors due to increased brand awareness. However, HSBC’s student chequing account product was new and did not have the same awareness. At the beginning of the project, the only marketing of the student chequing account was a sign-up offer on its website. In a highly competitive market, HSBC Bank Canada required an effective yet low-cost marketing strategy to increase the number of student chequing account sign-ups.

The solution:

The project was conducted in two phases. During phase one, consultants conducted internal and external research to assess the student chequing account market. The team used key insights from internal and external databases to develop this guiding document. In phase two, we leveraged our market assessment to develop marketing strategies to resonate with this audience and motivate students to open an HSBC student chequing account. SMC had the opportunity to present our findings to the HSBC Bank Canada team, including Senior Marketing Managers and Senior Vice Presidents. Our consultants delivered their highest quality of work, achieving the project objectives and exceeding expectations.