We needed to shout about six of PayPal’s core solutions: Security, OneTouch™, Ubiquity, Returns on Us, Peer-to-Peer Payments and Mobile. Engaging people about payment technology isn’t exactly the most glamorous thing in the world. We challenged the brief to make the campaign diverse as possible to stand out – being representative of the nation whilst at the same time communicating about PayPal’s solutions in an exciting way that connected with viewers.
Busting Myths with PayPal
The Big Idea
In an increasingly convoluted market, PayPal were struggling to communicate the variety of services they offer and how versatile they can be. They are not just a button on eBay!
Engaging people about payment technology isn’t exactly the most glamorous thing in the world. We challenged the brief to make the campaign diverse as possible to stand out – being representative of the nation whilst at the same time communicating about PayPal’s solutions in an exciting way that connected with viewers. Diversity and challenging perceptions is in Channel 4’s DNA, making us the perfect partner to help PayPal, an innovative and forward-thinking brand, to bust some myths!
We needed to shout about six of PayPal’s core solutions: Security, OneTouch™, Ubiquity, Returns on Us, Peer-to-Peer Payments and Mobile. The objectives for this campaign were to:
• Drive awareness and comprehension of these specific PayPal solutions in an entertaining way amongst their key demographic of 18-34s
• Drive new downloads of the PayPal app
• Create preference for PayPal
• Increase usage of PayPal services amongst current users
Channel 4 has heritage in contextual advertising; our research shows that audiences are much more likely to engage with ads when the focus is centred around the key themes of the shows they love. Working with production partners Bandstand along with our creative framework, PL4Y, we created six highly contextual, engaging pieces of copy (one for each of the solutions) that directly linked the PayPal functionalities to the programme viewers were watching. For example, if the viewer was watching First Dates, the PayPal ad in the next break would show a date scenario featuring the couple debating splitting the bill, which then tied into the PayPal Peer-to-Peer payments product.
Shy we are not, and neither are PayPal. We ensured that both PayPal’s and Channel 4’s shared values of diversity were met through the careful casting and storytelling of the ads; in the creative described above, the couple are a same-sex couple. Another ad in the campaign showed a bisexual man walking down the street with his girlfriend, having just gotten the name ‘Jo’ tattooed on his arm – and then, walking down the street again with his new boyfriend, having changed the tattoo to ‘John’ instead. This tied into the PayPal ‘Returns on Us’ product by playfully demonstrating that not everything can be returned – this then aired contextually to tie perfectly into our programme Tattoo Fixers.
Another shared value between us and PayPal was innovation, which we addressed through the campaign having an interactive VOD format – our Ad Pause technology - running throughout on All4, resulting in excellent engagement rates.
The purpose of the campaign was primarily to drive comprehension of the PayPal products, however there are a number of shared values between Channel 4 and PayPal, diversity being one of them. When their response to brief came back reflective of UK society it really aligned with a number of our wider company objectives and they felt like the perfect broadcaster to partner with. Within the creative we wanted to truly reflect the UK’s society in a way that felt natural to Channel 4 viewers, and in doing so resulted in unprecedented positive feedback for PayPal on social. The campaign was a great success on a number of levels and we’re really looking forward to working with Channel 4 again in the future. - Charlotte Turland, Senior Manager of Value Proposition Marketing, PayPal
Making it Happen
The challenge was being able to demonstrate a series of financial service solutions in a short space of time (a series of 30” TV spots), keeping close to the programme themes, maintaining credibility in a great story and most importantly, remembering these needed to entertain our viewers! We worked closely with Havas Media to carefully select suitable programming across Channel 4, E4 and All 4, that not only helped hit objectives but also meant PayPal tapped into a well-documented hard-to-hit, young and upmarket audience.
Multiple production companies were involved to align the creative to our programming, and to tie the whole campaign together, we called upon Channel 4 funny man Richard Ayoade to voice the whole campaign in his unique style.
Understanding of what PayPal solutions were rose on average by 13%
Of viewers that saw the ad, 70%
have subsequently set up an account with PayPal, with a further 13% planning to
The Results
Quantitative surveys were conducted (with a sample size of 18-34s representative of the UK) and the results were in: PayPal experienced greater brand warmth than ever before, especially through social, as a direct result of credible diversity representation! Recall of the ads was high with over 50% able to do so spontaneously, which resulted in the following fantastic results:
• Understanding of what PayPal solutions were rose on average by 13%, with 93% of respondents agreeing that ‘PayPal lets me easily pay or send money to other people’
• 70% of viewers have subsequently set up an account with PayPal, with a further 13% planning to
• As a result of the campaign, 41% have downloaded the app with another 23% planning to
• 56% of the total audience (including non-account holders) since seeing the campaign have now used PayPal when buying something online.
We approached the campaign with the objective of tying in diversity at its core. Underrepresented groups is a real issue in advertising today and we were exceptionally proud seeing that it paid off with phenomenal results. Myths well and truly busted!
