Bank Simpanan Nasional and Saatchi & Saatchi Malaysia’s campaign against debt

MALAYSIA – December 10, 2013 – Bank Simpanan Nasional (BSN), one of Malaysia’s largest banks, and Saatchi & Saatchi Malaysia have released a campaign that repositions Bank and Debit Cards and encourages Malaysian youth to live debt free.

 

“You Against Debt” began in the last week of November and was launched with a staged mock street ‘demonstration’ calling for the end of Debt, Saatchi & Saatchi Malaysia said in a press release. The event featured a man dressed as an Executive with Debt chained to his leg, as “demonstrators” handed out non-branded flyers asking the public to join the Debt Free Movement. This ‘demonstration’ raided the streets of Kuala Lumpur two weeks before the launch to drive awareness of debt. Malaysians also showed support by making a pledge of against debt at the website www.YouAgainstDebt.com. To date, the movement received more than 55,000 pledges.

 

 

The launch of the new BSN Visa Debit Card with Visa payWave was held at Berjaya Times Square where spoken word artist Jamal Raslan performed a manifesto on youth not wanting to be in debt. This was followed by a 100 person flash mob that eventually revealed the card. The overall message is that Debit cards allow you to use money you have, manage your finances and ultimately promotes the habit of saving. The BSN Visa Debit Card is a revolutionary product that enables Malaysians to save and spend within their means and at the same time enjoy privileges that no other debit card in Malaysia can provide.

 

““You Against Debt” is a brave step for BSN as this is the first time a bank has participated in a communications campaign like this. At Saatchi & Saatchi we are always looking to find innovative ways to communicate and engage consumers to yield business results for our clients. Since the campaign was launched five days ago, BSN has received almost 5,000 sign-ups,” said Adrian Sng, General Manager of Saatchi & Saatchi Malaysia.

 

“Our target is 1 million BSN Visa Debit Card sign-ups by November 2014, and BSN are confident that “You Against Debt” will deliver against our targets. We are very excited with the campaign as it is a first for Malaysia and a first for any banking organisation to champion such a cause,” said Puspa Marina, Head of Strategic Communications, BSN.