Our creative campaign reminds overseas visitors to the UK and specifically, Harrods, that Visa is a great British way to pay

Challenge

Thousands of visitors fly into London every summer from the Far East and Middle East, with many making the retail pilgrimage to Harrods. Visa wanted to welcome them with a light-touch reminder that the best way to pay during their visit was with their Visa card.

 The creative would have to stand out against conventional payments branding, but still complement ongoing global campaigns. It would be a single digital display vying for attention with ambitious multi-media installations, not to mention some of the world’s most exclusive fashion and jewellery brands spread across more than a million square feet. Visa also wanted the final OOH posters to be up at short notice, within a matter of days.

Objective

To drive awareness of Visa payments among overseas visitors to London with quirky, fun posters at Harrods Knightsbridge store that reminded visitors that paying with Visa was the simplest, easiest and most secure way to shop in store.

Strategy

bbd launched into a frenzy of creative brainstorming, prop sourcing, photography, animation and design. Breaking free from the traditional creative brief process, we opted for fast craft, getting the agency in a room and closing the door until we had a concept and tagline. In fact, both came quickly. The struggle was then having the confidence to leave it alone. We were still missing a bear and a studio, so we diverted an Account Manager fresh out of a client meeting to Harrods to buy the bear, shot it the next day, and delivered the final artwork to Visa ahead of schedule.

Solution

The result was a campaign that showcased the iconic Harrods Bear as its hero, accompanied by a simple tagline. These posters were placed at Harrods and at the arrival terminals at Heathrow airport.