For those who struggle to consume dry articles about the economy, it might have just been made a bit quicker and easier with NZME’s Economy Hub, a content video series which is essentially a short weekly panel show tackling topical economic issues sponsored by HSBC.
HSBC has been in the news for all the wrong reasons in recent years, with the LIBOR scandal, fines for its role in assisting tax evasion, supposed media manipulation in the Telegraph and a recent proposal to lay off up to 50,000 staff around the world. It’s still making truckloads of cash, of course (although profit was down 17 percent to a mere $18.7bn in 2014) and it’s also making good ads, with a beauty from Grey London that, like Mad Men, uses the humble elevator as a storytelling device and plays up the emotional side of owning a business.
Getting rugby players to act is often a thankless task and there is a long history of cringeworthy ads where sponsors have demanded their pound of athletic flesh. But HSBC has nailed it with a trailer for its historical epic to promote the upcoming British & Irish Lions tour to Australia, starring the likes of Brian O’Driscoll, Jason Robinson, George Gregan and Warren Gatland.
Guy Cousins swaps SparkPHD for Naked, Yahoo! promotes two of its own, Rachel Broadmore swaps five-star for financial services, Ian Finch presides over New Zealand’s patent attourneys, Margaret Zabel takes the reins at The Communications Council in Oz and Renee Bushby changes tack.