THE 14TH ANNUAL SHORTY AWARDS

The Shorty Awards honor the best of social media and digital. View this season's finalists!

Special Project

Special Project

DBS BetterWorld – Leveraging the metaverse as a force for good

Entered in Creative Use of Technology

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:

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

Owned media

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).

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

Owned media

Activations

Media

Video for DBS BetterWorld – Leveraging the metaverse as a force for good

Entrant Company / Organization Name

DBS Bank

Links

Entry Credits