Lights in the sky
ABANCA
Issue 54 | March 2020
Agency
Shackleton
Creative Team
Executive Creative Director Nacho Guilló Creative Team Tania Riera, Mercedes García
Production Team
Director of Audiovisual Production Manuela Zamora Producer Cristina Cortizas Digital Team Marina del Olmo, Patricia Torregrosa Digital Production Lucía García, Marta Paz Postproduction Verve
Other Credits
Account Team Arancha Cebrián, Ana Colomer, Beatriz Montesinos Direct Marketing Team Antonio Herrero, Roberto Albares Graphic Studio Josué Hernández, Irene Tortosa Graphic Production Timoteo Martín
Date
December 2019
Background
ABANCA is a Spanish bank based in the region of Galicia. It was created in 2011 out of the Novacaixagalicia savings bank in order to combine all the characteristics of a traditional bank with the innovation and technology of a modern company.
The brand’s values were summed up in the phrase, ‘Sentir Común’. Hard to translate, it meant being grounded but listening and responding openly and honestly.
Idea
At Christmas, ABANCA wanted to pay tribute to the people of Galicia who have to keep working through the holiday season.
They identified Elena Armendía as someone who embodied the spirit of the brand. A lighthouse keeper, Elena spent days and weeks alone to help keep people safe at sea with only the sea and the sky as her nighttime companions.
This was where the idea began.
For years people had been able to buy and name real stars at the Star Online Register but no-one had ever bought ten stars in a row and named them so that together they wrote a message in the sky.
‘Lights in the Sky’ launched with a spot ad that told Elena’s story and how her daughters sent her a message in the stars that read, “Merry Christmas Mum thanks for being our guiding light.” ABANCA bought whole series of stars in different constellations to create lovely messages in the sky for all to see, enjoy and share from the website www.navidad.
abanca.com. Users were able to browse the site and create personalised messages with real stars at precise coordinates and share this Christmas greeting with their loved ones.
Results
Thousands of people visited the website and 77% of visitors used it to find or send a message in the sky.
The campaign gave people a reason to communicate and empathise with the bank at such a special time of year.
Our Thoughts
The TV ad is nice and gives the warm glow all brands are after at this time of year. But the lovely, interactive part of this is the messaging service ABANCA created. Plenty of people have had the idea of buying and naming stars in the past but this is a first, to buy the names not just in a verbal sequence but in geographical alignment with each other.