UAE Bank Emirates NBD Combines Customer Data with Storytelling for 'The Wise Ones'

In the United Arab Emirates, in a study conducted in Q4 2019 about evolving consumer behaviours in a data economy, over 48% people stated how they are more willing to share their data and have their data used by a company, ethically, if it makes their life more rewarding and easier.

Given the existing financial crisis where people have become more conscious of the value they get from the things and the experiences that they spend their hard-earned money on, financial prudence and literacy are not just a "nice-to-have" but an imperative in one’s life.

So, Emirates NBD, one of the leading banks in the region, has taken an untapped approach from a bank, using customer data ethically and meaningfully, by combining that data with creative storytelling, to show how people can spend and save wisely.

Starting out with a film series, titled 'The Wise Ones', the bank is transforming marketing in the Middle East – it’s not simply selling and promoting its products and services like other banks do, every day in the UAE. Instead, through the examples of 'The Wise Ones' - its most active and benefitting customers - the bank is showing the benefits of its rewarding and beneficial products and services (that are far more advantageous versus its competitors) to people’s everyday lives.

And instead of typical testimonial advertising or heavy-handed educational content, the bank takes a light-hearted tongue-in-cheek approach to demystify financial prudence, by telling the stories through the lens of those who admire, envy or look up to the bank’s customers:

• The neighbouring grandma who is a TikTok influencer thanks to The Wise Shopper - the one who shops and gets great deals with the U by EMAAR shopping credit card. 
• The young husband and wife who aspire to learn how to wield magic through their mobile like The Wise Sender - the one who sends money home, to his family, from his mobile, within 60 seconds, for free, at the best rates. 
• The little girl who cannot, for the life of her, figure out the secret behind The Wise Vacationer - her best friend whose family travels all the time and stays in hotel for free (not paying for a room) courtesy the Marriott Bonvoy Mastercard World Credit Card.
• The neighbourhood housewife with a knife who envies her fit and healthy neighbour, The Wise Saver – the one who saves more by moving more with the unique Fitness Account. 
• The businessman who wonders how his colleague - The Wise Planner - is managing education as well as extracurricular activities for his kids in today’s time of pay cuts and tightening purse strings (Hint: He uses a 0% Instalment Plan and pays school fees in monthly instalments!).
• And the young Arab fashionista who fangirls and positively desires the life of another woman she knows - The Wise Diner - who dines out at 5-star restaurants several times a week, with the Bon Appetit dining program that gives people 30% off across 2500 restaurants in the UAE.

The films have two distinct parts in terms of mood and look, distinguishing 'The Others' from 'The Wise Ones'. As the fans speak about the smart people they know, we see teases of those people through cutaways. And then, when the reveal steps in and the music drops, we see an underwater shot coupled with “heroic” dolly zooms that reveal the bank’s real customers, the names of those real customers as well as the data around how they use a product to the fullest and make the most of life - a novel approach in banking and finance. 

The soundtrack, titled, 'The Wise Ones', is an original soundtrack that has been composed for this series.