Yuchengco-led Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) has made history again as it bagged five Anvils in the 57th Anvil Awards held virtually last February 24 and organized by the Public Relations Society of the Philippines (PRSP).
Considered as the “Oscars” of Philippine public relations, this year’s Anvil Awards graced RCBC with two Gold Anvils and three Silver Anvils out of 540 entries plus among the three finalists for the Platinum Anvil, for its empathy-filled digital campaigns that highlighted the DiskarTech super app’s efforts in promoting financial inclusion and education amid the surge of the pandemic last year. The Platinum Anvil award is given to the most outstanding public relations tool that stands out among all the Gold Anvil awardees.
“It is with great pride and honor that we accept these five Anvils. These recognitions for our public relations and digital campaigns will continue fuelling our passion to accompany our ‘madiskarteng Pilipino’ all over the country in their journey toward financial inclusion and shared prosperity,” said RCBC President and CEO Eugene S. Acevedo.
‘Madiskarteng Pilipino’ campaigns
Among the RCBC and DiskarTech campaigns that reaped Anvils this year are its “Madiskarteng Pilipino” campaigns which herald the creative resourcefulness of ordinary Filipinos especially during difficult times.
This includes the “Madiskarteng Pilipino: Road to #BuhayAsenso Financial Inclusion Caravan Series” which bagged a Gold Anvil for engaging employees of the Yuchengco Group of Companies and other DiskarTech partner organizations from different sectors to participate in a discussion on financial inclusion, and introducing how DiskarTech can be used as a tool to help them achieve their financial goals. The same campaign also made it as one of the three final nominees for the Platinum Anvil award which is given to the best public relations tool among the Gold Anvil awardees.
Meanwhile, the “Madiskarteng Pilipino Music Video” was awarded a Silver Anvil as one of the best multimedia PR tools this year for championing the resilience of ordinary Filipinos through real-life stories of hope and “diskarte” during the pandemic. Integrated with the campaign is the promotion of RCBC’s inclusive app that helps to empower many unbanked and underserved Filipinos, especially those living in geographically isolated and disadvantaged communities.
‘Utang ni Tatang” Digital Ad campaign
Aside from the “Madiskarteng Pilipino” campaigns, RCBC DiskarTech’s “Utang ni Tatang” Digital Ad campaign also bagged a Gold Anvil for the best multimedia PR Tool category, and a Silver Anvil for the best digital PR program category.
In collaboration with Katok, a sub-unit of top creative agency GIGIL, RCBC’s DiskarTech launched this comic and witty campaign that aims to dispel the negative perception and hesitancy of ordinary Filipinos toward making loans in banks.
This digital ad is also the first time a traditional legacy bank like RCBC ventured into making use of new and trending communication executions that do away with the usual formal banking jargons, and made use of humorous messaging to make the content more appealing to the mass market.
The “Utang ni Tatang” digital campaign proved to be effective as it reached virality in less than a month since it was first published in July 2021, which contributed to DiskarTech’s heavier transaction volume during the third quarter of the past year.
#IponGaling campaign
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) stressed that only 53 percent of Filipinos save—of this, only 21 percent put their money in bank accounts. Most just spend on their day-to-day expenses and some even spend more on interests that they get from informal sources, loan sharks or loan applications.
To address this concern, the “#Ipon Galing: Road to Achieving #IponGoals” promo series and digital campaign was launched by RCBC’s DiskarTech to encourage more Filipinos to start the habit of saving. By rewarding active DiskarTech users, who maintain their basic deposit accounts above zero and who regularly use the app for different transactions, with rebates and chances to double or triple their savings via a raffle draw, RCBC was able to promote “savings as a habit” among its digital customer base while at the same time increasing DiskarTech’s deposit size.
The success of the #IponGaling promo and campaign merited a Silver Anvil from this year’s Anvil Awards.
“Innovation with empathy: this has been our collective mantra in RCBC. We believe that every Filipino deserves efficient, frictionless, and convenient inclusive digital finance services wherever they may be in the country. With this, we recognize the immense power of public relations in helping our countrymen understand and appreciate the value of inclusive digital finance and financial education,” said Lito Villanueva, RCBC’s Executive Vice President and Chief Innovation and Inclusion Officer.