Best corporate campaign

How do you engage corporates in developed markets with stand-out messages about emerging markets, particularly if you do not have a presence in western markets? It was a question that international banking group Standard Chartered posed to agency Man Bites Dog.

The bank had three demands. It wanted to stand out from its China-centric competitors. It wanted to raise awareness of its expertise among corporate decision makers in developed markets. And, finally, it wanted to position its emerging market expertise as relevant to corporates in developed markets.

Man Bites Dog developed a campaign that only Standard Chartered had the authority to own, creating a new emerging counterpart to the developed market G7. The E7 – Emerging Seven Group of Nations, comprising China, India, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan and Vietnam – which together represent 20 per cent of global gross domestic product, and half of emerging markets imports.

By examining the relationships between G7 and E7, using factors such as gross domestic product and distance between them, Man Bites Dog created a gap analysis between trade potential and reality. The G7:E7 Trade Performance Index revealed that, of the 49 trade routes between the individual countries, just nine matched or exceeded their potential – the remaining 40 underperformed by an estimated US$162 billion against their export potential, indicating a significant trading opportunity. The analysis also identified a potential post Brexit trade opportunity worth US$16.9 billion for the UK.

Launched at a dedicated Asia House trade summit in London, Standard Chartered has since presented the G7:E7 Trade Performance Index at the IMF in Washington, the Commonwealth Business Forum, Finanzsymposium Mannheim and global trade conferences in Paris and London. Following its positive reception, the index will now become a signature annual campaign for Standard Chartered.

Working with Standard Chartered’s media relations team, Man Bites Dog created a global media toolkit to launch the index. Highlights included an interview with Standard Chartered’s head of trade on Radio 4’s Today programme and a BBC online business article. The index also generated four times higher engagement levels on LinkedIn and Twitter than Standard Chartered’s average campaign performance.

‘This smart, simple idea for tracking developing markets trade with the G7 sets a standard that Standard Chartered can build on each year, and is an example of intellectual rigour as the basis for a well-received PR campaign,’ said the judges.