BSI Awards | Case Library | TPBank | EM XINH SAY APP ĐỈNH | The Best Advocacy & Influencer Strategy

CASE STUDY VIDEO

STRATEGY

TPBank executed a purpose-led influencer strategy built on a single principle: transforming influencers into Friends of House (FOH) — authentic storytellers who advocate for the brand based on real experiences rather than scripted endorsement. Instead of traditional KOL usage, the brand selected Orange, Phương Ly, and 52Hz as a collective FOH voice, representing the emotional landscape and cultural codes of Gen Z. The strategy reversed the typical finance-category approach, shifting from communication-first to experience-first advocacy. Each FOH member was empowered to explore the TPBank Super App naturally, allowing their genuine reactions to drive the narrative “Em Xinh – Say App Đỉnh.” This approach brought warmth, relatability, and emotional texture to a category often perceived as functional and transactional. Complementing the FOH core, TPBank built a multi-layer influencer structure (Celeb–Macro–Micro/Nano–Fan Community) with clearly defined roles. This ensured that influence flowed not just top-down, but peer-to-peer and community-to-community, creating a sustainable advocacy loop instead of one-way communication. This FOH-led strategy established TPBank as one of the first financial brands in Vietnam to blend influencer culture, community dynamics, and real product experience — setting a new benchmark for authentic advocacy in the banking sector.

INSIGHT

Gen Z is inherently skeptical of advertising. They do not trust polished claims; they trust behaviours they can witness, emotional cues they can relate to, and experiences validated by people they follow. Their trust system is built on authenticity, social proof, and community resonance. TPBank uncovered a powerful generational insight: 👉 “Gen Z believes in what influencers do, not what influencers say.” This means that advocacy must come from authentic interaction, not scripted messaging. The brand realized that if idols genuinely explored the app, expressing honest reactions—surprise, excitement, convenience—Gen Z would mirror these behaviours. By enabling influencers to use the app live, share their spontaneous thoughts, and showcase everyday use cases, TPBank humanized digital finance. The FOH’s authenticity became the social proof young consumers needed to adopt new financial behaviours with confidence. This insight reshaped the campaign into a behaviour-led advocacy model, where authenticity triggered trust, trust triggered adoption, and adoption triggered cultural relevance. It transformed influencers from amplifiers into true advocates whose lived experiences inspired real change among their communities.

CREATIVE IDEA

The creative idea was rooted in one distinctive direction: 👉 “Don’t cast influencers to perform. Let them live the story.” Instead of producing traditional ads, the campaign invited idols to experience the TPBank Super App as real users. Their natural reactions became the creative output. This approach unlocked a richer emotional spectrum—humor, excitement, surprise—that resonated far more strongly with young audiences. The content ecosystem expanded into a fan-centric creative universe, enabling community participation at scale: mini-talks, concert moments, behind-the-scenes snippets, reaction clips, fanchant-remix versions, and UGC reinterpretations. Each content stream reflected a blend of entertainment and authenticity, turning “Say App Đỉnh” into a cultural phrase embraced organically by Gen Z. By allowing influencers to anchor the story emotionally while empowering fans to remix it creatively, the idea generated a continuous flow of advocacy-filled content. This shifted the campaign from a one-way message to a collaborative social movement, powered by creators and fan communities alike. The creative idea proved that genuine influencer experiences, amplified by fan culture, can transform a functional mobile app into a lifestyle symbol with emotional relevance.

CONNECTION PLAN

The campaign was built on a structured, multi-tier influencer system designed to create cascading advocacy across all audience layers: Celebrities (Orange – Phương Ly – 52Hz): the emotional drivers and primary narrative anchors. Macro Influencers: reinforced social presence and broadened reach within lifestyle, music, and youth segments. Micro/Nano Influencers: delivered hyper-local authenticity through relatable daily-use content. Fan Communities: became the amplification engine, remixing, memeing, voting, and generating viral formats. Broadcast + Digital integration: ensured that narrative, visuals, and calls-to-action stayed consistent across TV, MV, social, livestream, and offline moments. The connection plan was rooted in a ripple-effect model: FOH → Fan Community → Wider Social Ecosystem → Mass Awareness → Behavioral Adoption By activating community-driven challenges, voting mechanics, duet trends, concert-based triggers, and fan-remix formats, TPBank turned fans from passive observers into active co-creators. Their participation made advocacy organic, sticky, and impossible to replicate by competitors. The plan not only maximized influencer impact but also drove measurable behavioural outcomes: app downloads, feature usage, transactions, and card activation — proving the influencer system’s ability to convert cultural influence into business results.

OBJECTIVE-BASE KPI

EM XINH SAY APP ĐỈNH

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