HSBC Rides 25-Foot Swells in VML's Big-Wave Brand Film 'The Right Wave'
Updated: 6 days ago
TL;DR: HSBC and VML have launched 'The Right Wave', a cinematic big-wave surfing film that uses a surfer and jet-ski partnership as a metaphor for trusted banking.
A Bank Goes Big-Wave Surfing
HSBC launched 'The Right Wave' on 2 October, created by VML, with VML UK and VML Lisbon working under the WPP 'Team Helix' structure and media handled by Omnicom Media Group.
The film follows big-wave surfer Matahi Drollet and his jet-ski driver Tahurai Henry on 25-foot swells. The partnership between rider and driver is the metaphor: HSBC as the trusted partner who helps you take on something daunting.
It was shot in Tahiti by director Kiku Ohe, produced by Superprime and We Are Ora, and runs across digital, social, streaming, in-flight and out-of-home.
Why Banks Spend on Feeling
Current accounts and mortgages are close to identical across the major banks. When products converge, differentiation moves to emotion, and the brand that wins is the one that makes customers feel something durable, in this case trust.
A cinematic film about courage and partnership is not trying to sell a rate. It is trying to build the association that HSBC is the steady hand behind your biggest moves.
That is a long game, and an expensive one, which is precisely why it signals confidence.
The Partnership Framing
The sharpest creative choice is casting the brand as the enabler of someone else's achievement rather than the hero. The surfer takes the wave; the jet-ski driver makes it survivable.
For a bank, that is a flattering and credible role. Customers do not want their bank to be the star. They want it to be the reliable partner who shows up when the swell is biggest.
VML UK chief creative officer Ryan McManus framed the work around exactly that idea of trusted partnership.
The Marketing Minute Read
In a category where every product looks the same, HSBC is spending on a feeling, and that is the rational response to commoditisation, not an indulgence.
Our read for any undifferentiated category: when features converge, the brand that owns a clear emotional territory and casts the customer as the hero will out-earn the brand still shouting about rates.
The question for marketers is not whether emotional brand-building is affordable. It is whether you can afford to be interchangeable.
Quick FAQ
What is HSBC's 'The Right Wave' campaign?
It is a cinematic big-wave surfing film created by VML, following surfer Matahi Drollet and jet-ski driver Tahurai Henry as a metaphor for HSBC as a trusted banking partner.
Which agencies made 'The Right Wave'?
VML UK and VML Lisbon created it under WPP's 'Team Helix' structure, with media handled by Omnicom Media Group; it was shot in Tahiti by director Kiku Ohe.
Why is HSBC investing in an emotional brand film?
Banking products are near-identical across major banks, so differentiation shifts to emotion, with HSBC aiming to own trust and partnership rather than compete on rates.
In a category where every current account and mortgage looks the same, HSBC is spending on a feeling, and that is the rational response to commoditisation, not an indulgence. The smartest move here is casting the bank as the jet-ski driver, not the surfer. Customers do not want their bank to be the hero. They want it to show up when the swell is biggest. — Daniel Nikolla, Founder of Merx Marketing
When products converge, the brand that owns a clear emotional territory and casts the customer as the hero out-earns the one still shouting about rates.
In your category, can you still afford to be interchangeable, or is an emotional territory now the only real differentiator?
If you would like to know more about this topic, please contact us on danieln@merxmarketing.co.uk
Sources: LBB Online, Decision Marketing.
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Written by Daniel Nikolla, Founder of Merx Marketing Ltd and Marketing Minute
