Objective

DBS, a leading financial services group in Asia, believed that the metaverse can be leveraged as a force for good.

It launched DBS BetterWorld in August 2023 to highlight global food waste and spotlight how enterprises (Businesses for Impact) supported by DBS are tackling this issue innovatively. Through this gamified experience, DBS aimed to increase awareness and galvanise the community to do their part to address food waste. It would also complement the bank’s Towards Zero Food Waste initiative which rallied employees, customers, communities and the public to collectively create a more food-resilient future.

DBS orchestrated an integrated communications, marketing and engagement strategy, culminating in showcases at the Singapore Fintech Festival and Hong Kong Fintech Week – two of Asia’s premier fintech and technology events.

The results? Over 300 pieces of global media coverage globally, strong social media engagement, and resoundingly positive user feedback. 93% of 370 visitors at Singapore Fintech Festival found DBS BetterWorld to be “a meaningful way to learn about sustainability”, and over 80% opined they would want to learn more about Businesses for Impact and their efforts to combat food waste. Nearly 90% of respondents rated the game either 4 or 5 on a 5-point scale of enjoyability.

DBS BetterWorld demonstrated the strong demand for purpose-driven virtual experiences, and highlighted that brands could leverage virtual spaces (metaverse) as a force for good and positive impact.

Strategy

In DBS BetterWorld, players undertake an enriching gamified adventure inspired by Businesses for Impact (BFIs) and their unique approach to mitigating food waste:

• Brewerkz, a Singapore craft beer maker, upcycles brewers’ spent grains (a by-product of beer-making) into food products.
• Edible Garden City from Singapore champions grow-our-own-food movement by making soil-based urban farming and edible gardening accessible to urbanites.
• Breer, food upcycling startup from Hong Kong, that collects surplus bread from bakeries and restaurants, to brew craft beer.
• GreenPrice, from Hong Kong, specialises in selling food that is close to or just past their "best before” date, helping eliminate food waste while making food more accessible to low-income households.
• Rooftop Republic, from Hong Kong, transforms underutilised spaces, such as disused helipads, into urban farms.

Throughout the adventure, which takes an average 20 minutes to complete, players learned more about each BFI and their efforts to tackle food waste. Further enlivening the in-game experience, Singapore players could redeem hidden rewards through special QR codes accessed via their DBS PayLah! banking app. Players could also uncover “easter eggs”, including cameo appearances by popular characters from the bank’s award-winning web series, Sparks.

Communications strategy

DBS planned its communications strategy on the launch of DBS BetterWorld around an integrated campaign that aimed to reignite the buzz around the metaverse.

Earned Media

• Organised exclusive media briefing-cum-sneak preview for mainstream and tech media.
• Issued launch announcement to Singapore and international media.
• Seeded thought leadership metaverse content with international media outlets.

Owned media

• Pushed out sneak peek one-minute trailer on YouTube and further amplified across other owned channels.
• Rolled out sneak peek DBS BetterWorld playthrough video on Instagram and TikTok.
• Planned and ran metaverse-related content on owned channels.

Activations

DBS ran event-led activations at the Hong Kong Fintech Week (30 Oct – 5 Nov 2023) and Singapore Fintech Festival (15-17 Nov 2023).

• Set up game stations for visitors to try out the game.
• Incentivised them to complete simple quests in the game, with meaningful prizes from DBS’ Businesses for Impact (BFIs) – Brewerkz and City Sprouts:
  • Brewerkz sponsored tortilla chips made of spent grains from the beer brewing process
  • City Sprouts, Singapore-based social enterprise that rejuvenates urban spaces for urban and community farming, provided various species of potted plants in upcycled glassware with sustainable semi-hydro gardening substrate.
• Enhanced on-site experience and talkability with a plant vending machine for successful participants to choose and “adopt” their “Tree of Life” potted plant.
  • This “prize” strengthened linkage to the graphical Tree of Life in DBS BetterWorld game (see uploaded photo).
  • The plant “prize” came in upcycled glassware holder exemplifying how everyday items can be repurposed.
  • Potted plant came with sustainable semi-hydroponic gardening substrate – linked to the broader theme of introducing innovative and sustainable methods in daily life.
• The activations successfully harnessed the synergy between DBS BetterWorld and Businesses for Impact and further reinforced the sustainability theme with a memorable and enjoyable online-to-offline experience.

Results

In spite of waning online enthusiasm over the metaverse (from its peak in Nov 2021), DBS’ integrated communications strategy exceeded expectations – garnering significant media traction and positive engagements, spanning from the memorable activations at Singapore Fintech Festival (SFF):

Earned media

• DBS BetterWorld launch announcement garnered over 320 pieces of coverage in Singapore and internationally.
• The announcement was carried by top-tier media such as Straits Times, Mediacorp, Yahoo, among others.
• Secured high-profile metaverse thought leadership coverage in The Metaverse Podcast (interview) and The Block (opinion-editorial).

Owned media

• The DBS BetterWorld trailer was one of the most watched videos on DBS YouTube channel with over 144,000 views
• Social media content pieces across owned channels drew over 1,000 engagements
• Positive organic social media posts from visitors to DBS booth at SFF  

Activations

• Prizes given out: 600 packets of Brewerkz tortilla chips were given to and 400 “Tree of Life” potted plants “adopted” by participants.
• Positive response: 370 visitors who tried out DBS BetterWorld at our SFF booth were surveyed:
  • 93% found DBS BetterWorld to be “a meaningful way to learn about sustainability”.
  • 87% rated the game either 4 or 5 on a 5-point scale of enjoyability, with 5 being most enjoyable.
  • 81% opined they would be interested to learn more about Businesses for Impact and their efforts to combat food waste, after playing the game.

Media