The bank joined the entertainment show race

Nguyen Dau (working in the tourism sector) chose to withdraw books from other banks, plus available idle money, depositing more than 6.1 billion VND into Vietcombank (VCB) for a chance to win prizes and record with actor Duy Khanh in the program Quan Nha Haha. Audience winners who deposit money at this bank will personally be served the dishes they cooked by the artists, appear in the frame and participate in the show’s story line.

She said that since “following” the domestic entertainment program two years ago, she has formed the habit of supporting artists with practical actions, instead of just watching like before. “The more I watched the show, the more I felt the story that the crew and artists wanted to convey. From there, I loved them more, so I wanted to have the opportunity to directly participate with the person who gave me a lot of motivation and inspiration,” she shared.

Dau is one of more than 50 customers who deposited more than 2 billion VND into the bank to win a filming spot with their idol. Photos of valuable savings books posted in the first 3 weeks of launching this campaign have “ignited” the race to attract customers through entertainment shows between banks.

Many years ago, some banks “nodded” to entertainment programs. However, they prefer to buy commercial advertising packages (TVC, logo, standee…) with the main purpose of increasing brand recognition. Later, banks became more deeply involved with sponsorship packages to stimulate direct conversion behavior from the audience, mainly in downloading applications, opening accounts, opening cards and depositing savings. Among them, The Masked Singer is considered a pioneering program when a bank not only buys advertising space but also participates more deeply right from the program development stage.

Talk to VnExpressrepresentative of DatVietVAC, one of the leading entertainment corporations in Vietnam, behind the series of shows Anh Trai Say Hi, Hidden Singer, 2 Days 1 Night… said that in the past 4-5 years, the trend of banks sponsoring entertainment programs has increased significantly thanks to the explosion of digital entertainment, fan culture and the experience economy. After the pandemic, consumers tend to seek more emotional experiences, community and connection to spiritual life. Meanwhile, the banking industry is also entering a period of strong transformation in branding and digital engagement.

According to DatVietVAC, the current competitive trend of banks is the ability to build brand love and connection with young users. What banks are looking for is not simply media coverage, but also the ability to reach the right young customer base, create a positive experience, increase engagement and become a part of users’ lives.

After shaking hands with VIB at The Masked Singer in 2022, DatVietVAC said that almost every major project recorded the participation of brands from the finance and banking group. “What is notable is not the number of new brands appearing, but the renewal rate of up to 50% in this industry group,” said a company representative.

Ms. Vo Cam Tu, Director of Marketing and Communications of VIB, said this is the first step for a bank to leave the “safe zone” of traditional media and test a new way of branding. According to her, music and intimate content are a way for brands to reach users in a “softer” way and with fewer barriers. Through entertainment programs, the bank not only wants to build a brand but also wants to create real behavior and value.

“We are living in a time when emotional value is king. Music is not only entertainment but also a life experience, a moment to remember. Gen Z and Gen Y are the customer groups willing to spend heavily for such moments,” Ms. Tu added.

According to Mr. Le Hoang Tung, Deputy General Director of Vietcombank, brand intimacy in customer perception is the most important factor to create meaningful interactions. Therefore, programs that can reach young customer groups will bring more opportunities to build a bank brand image that is youthful, familiar but still standard, professional and modern. In addition, the ability to support user growth, promote financial service experience or create motivation to use the product are also indicators that are evaluated before deciding to go with a specific program.

Investing in music, according to VIB representatives, not only helps increase recognition but also boost sales. Ms. Vo Cam Tu said that through the Anh Trai program “Say Hi”, VIB recorded a conversion from fans to actual customers, with the number of new credit card openings increasing by 35% compared to the previous average and the cost of attracting card openings on the online channel decreased by 38%.

Other shows also contribute to bringing in “real money” for the bank. The combined campaign between TPBank and Em Xinh “Say Hi” through the activity of opening a card to receive a lightstick has helped the number of application downloads increase by more than 200%, exceeding 120,000 times per day.

In order to save their favorite artists in Beautiful Sister, Pedal the Wind, Turn the Wave, many viewers downloaded the MBBank (MB) application, opened an identification account (eKYC) and performed tasks to accumulate votes. As a result, the bank maintains stable monthly active user (MAU) growth by the end of 2023.

As for Anh Trai Overcoming Thousands of Thorns, Techcombank (TCB) chose to attract customers to deposit money and turn on the automatic profit feature. During the booming show period in the third quarter of 2024, TCB’s CASA balance reached a record high of VND 200,300 billion, bringing this bank’s CASA ratio to the top of the system with 40.5%.

However, the above successes do not mean that bank sponsorship of entertainment shows is always the correct formula. From the audience’s perspective, Nguyen Dau believes that only programs that are successful in “touching emotions” are enough to make her spend a lot of effort, time and money to support them.

From the perspective of the program producer, DatVietVAC sees more than 40 commercial banks competing for the same Gen Z and Gen Y files. Therefore, the market has not yet entered the saturation stage. However, they also believe that the important thing lies in whether the business has enough capacity to create new content, enough to lead the audience and create real conversion value for the brand.

Similarly, according to Mr. Le Hoang Tung’s assessment, the market is in a period of strong growth and also has a high level of competition. VCB’s view is that not all programs are suitable for the banking brand. Companions are more concerned with content sustainability and its ability to translate into long-term value.

“The competition is not only in the funding budget, but also in the ability to build deep, creative and meaningful cooperation models with the community and customers,” said a representative of this bank.