Case Studies
The Magic Pencil Project
The Brief
ICICI Bank hosts numerous CSR programmes to support social causes. One such initiative was known as ‘Creative Masters.’ This unique programme offered a platform for budding artists to showcase their art. For each entry, ICICI Bank would donate the proceeds towards the welfare of women and children.
The brief was to create an AV for Creative Masters (a drawing competition) that would be put on YouTube to attract customers and non-customers to participate. This video had to be innovative in order to achieve virality.
Our Approach
Normally, in a drawing competition the focus is mostly on the prize or social cause. However, we decided to take a different route based on the thought that art is something alive. In order to attract participants we felt we needed to add a little magic to create a buzz. Taking inspiration from the fact that every artist first makes a sketch or an outline before adding colour to his/her masterpiece, we came up with the idea of the of the ‘Magic Pencil Project’, as a pencil is an instrument that unlocks our imagination.
The Execution
We made an AV, where in we promoted a fictitious company that manufactures ‘Magic Pencils’ to bring your thoughts to life. In the AV, we showcased four young entrepreneurs who researched on special wood and technology, and then manufactured this final product – The Magic Pencil. We got testimonials from people and celebrities talking about this wonder product and how delighted they were about the Magic Pencil. This helped create a huge buzz for about a month.
Later, we revealed that by participating in Creative Masters by ICICI Bank, every pencil would transform into a Magic Pencil. The drawings that were selected would be auctioned, and the proceeds would go towards social causes. And this signified that the participants’ drawings were brought to life by spreading the magic via a social cause.
The Result
The Magic Pencil Project was a huge success. Creative Masters received over 1.19 lakh entries with 65 thousand entries from non-customers. 200 drawings were auctioned for social causes. Creative Masters became one of the world’s largest online art competition on a social platform.
This programme helped leverage the brand’s value and reinforced the brand’s image of a trusted partner that goes beyond banking. ICICI Bank’s new customer acquisition grew by 8.1%, FDs grew by 21.1%, Life Insurance by 49.6% and Gold loans by 25.9%. The campaign received 82,247 views on YouTube.
To watch the AV of this innovative campaign, Click Here
