HSBC: Inspired by #ZEROREGRETS

Client work
laura.macri

For young people receiving long-awaited exam results, summer can be a scary time of year. 14 years of school suddenly comes to an end, life changes overnight, and a whole new set of opportunities and challenges arise. Many plan to go to university or start an apprenticeship but whichever path they choose, there’s one worry that remains largely universal… money.

When setting out on their own, young people not only begin to understand what they are capable of, and how these capabilities shape their future, but also the importance of managing their finances (while trying to keep up a buzzing social life). But many feel that the fact they can’t make the most out of their formative years due to a lack of money, is something that often holds them back.

So, when HSBC came to us wanting to grow their Student Account sign-ups by targeting students and apprentices, we knew we had to launch a creative campaign that would give young people the confidence to experience the opportunities available to them without financial fears standing in their way. We wanted them to look back and have no regrets.

And so with a bit of creative magic, we created #ZEROREGRETS – a music-focussed campaign starring award-winning grime artist Lady Leshurr, and featuring real students and apprentices. Not only did Lady Leshurr star in the video, but she also wrote the lyrics to the new song, which was inspired by real stories from students and apprentices having the confidence to go out and grab life by the horns. This was the first time that HSBC had created a music video as part of a social media campaign, but as soon as the team heard Lady Leshurr’s new song, we knew it had been a great move.

Lady Leshurr was fabulous during the shoot, a real pro who put everything into the project and stayed as late as it took to make sure each shot was perfect.



In addition to featuring real students and apprentices fulfilling their #ZEROREGERETS moments, the campaign was also shot and produced in partnership with a team of apprentice filmmakers, giving them the chance to fulfil their ambitions too.

Keeping a social first approach, the whole campaign was shot in vertical so it could be displayed in fullscreen on mobile.

The campaign launched on August 17th (A-Level results day) with a teaser announcement video from Lady Leshurr on her personal Facebook and Snapchat profiles. The full music video was then later released on Snapchat in time for Freshers’ Week, along with three shorter edits on Facebook and Instagram.



We’re incredibly proud to have led such an exciting campaign for HSBC, helping the brand push its boundaries (just like the students it hopes to inspire) to create such original work.