Visa Harrods - Behind every great purchase

To encourage overseas visitors to pay with their Visa card when shopping at Harrods, we took out nearly all the words, and let iconic bears do the talking. Proof that simplicity is nothing to be afraid of when it comes to creative.

Challenge

Thousands of visitors fly into London every summer from the Far East and Middle East, with many making the retail pilgrimage to Harrods. Visa wanted to welcome them with a light-touch reminder that the best way to pay during their visit was with their Visa card.

The creative would have to stand out against conventional payments branding, but still complement ongoing global campaigns. It would be a single digital display vying for attention with ambitious multi-media installations, not to mention some of the world’s most exclusive fashion and jewellery brands spread across more than a million square feet. Visa also wanted the final OOH posters to be up at short notice, within a matter of days.

Objective

To drive awareness of Visa payments among overseas visitors to London with quirky, fun posters at Harrods Knightsbridge store that reminded visitors that paying with Visa was the simplest, easiest and most secure way to shop in store.

Strategy

bbd launched into a frenzy of creative brainstorming, prop sourcing, photography, animation and design. Breaking free from the traditional creative brief process, we opted for fast craft, getting the agency in a room and closing the door until we had a concept and tagline. In fact, both came quickly. The struggle was then having the confidence to leave it alone. We were still missing a bear and a studio, so we diverted an Account Manager fresh out of a client meeting to Harrods to buy the bear, shot it the next day, and delivered the final artwork to Visa ahead of schedule.

Solution

The result was a campaign that showcased the iconic Harrods Bear as its hero, accompanied by a simple tagline. These posters were placed at Harrods and at the arrival terminals at Heathrow airport.

Project Tags

Companies

  • Harrods logo

    Harrods

    • Fashion and Textiles
  • Visa logo

    Visa

    • Non Creative Industries

Skills