Rice and banks: Why HSBC's rice giveaway event might have surprised HK citizens

HSBC’s latest “This-this-rice" (兩餸飯) giveaway event as part of its FinFit Month campaign has drawn in large number of crowds this morning. The campaign was launched as a series of financial literacy activities including a mobile roadshow vehicle running across the city to promote FinFit tips and giveaway of FinFit themed “Two-dish-rice” coupons starting from 29 March.

During the event which MARKETING-INTERACTIVE was present for, large queues of people were present in front of The Center in Central on 30 March to collect the goods dished out by the bank. While several members of the public MARKETING-INTERACTIVE spoke to said they were not sure of the campaign and its messaging when they first walked in, HSBC ensured that promoters with vouchers and coupons were on standby to clarify what the link between rice and financial literacy.

Other netizens marketing spoke to also said they showed up at the event to receive the “Two-dish-rice" coupons before knowing the campaign idea and message. While some participants said they were not able to get their hands on the lunch boxes, a spokesperson from HSBC ensured MARKETING-INTERACTIVE that enough boxes were made available until the end of the event at 2.30pm.

The execution comes as HSBC has launched a FinFit Month campaign featuring a series of financial literacy activities including a mobile roadshow vehicle running across the city to promote FinFit tips and giveaway of FinFit themed “Two-dish-rice” coupons starting from 29 March.

The giveaway event echoes with the latest FinFit study findings, of which the FinFit Index of Hong Kong slightly drops. Also known as “downturn winners”, HSBC said there are people out there who managed to buck the trend and outperform the market and inflation with positive investment return last year. The key observations of downturn winners are having portfolio diversification, making financial plans, and setting budget goals with monitoring.

As such, “This-this-rice” resembles the resilience and agility of these “downturn winners”, who turned adversity into opportunities during unfavourable conditions such as the pandemic, according to the company.

“Giving out free “This-this-rice” aims to remind people the importance of staying well-balanced and diversified, and never limit themselves to just one option just as they plan to grow their wealth,” said the company.

Through the campaign, HSBC hopes to improve financial literacy of Hong Kong and help people live a better life financially. By announcing the annual FinFit Study results and promotional activities, the brand hopes to drive self-awareness and provide relevant insights to Hong Kong people on how they can act to become more financially fit.

“We have invited authentic HSBC customers including Ng, owner of This This Rice café and Vincent Kok to share their own experience and learnings on financial discipline in the PR event, and further viral the key messages with FinFit ‘This-this-rice’ mobile roadshow and social amplification activities. We hope more people can boost their financial fitness by starting with the right financial behaviours,” said HSBC.

Brian Hui, head of customer propositions and marketing, HSBC, said: “Building financial fitness is a long-term voyage and HSBC is also taking a long-term approach to drive financial literacy and draw public attention to the importance of financial discipline. Whether it be the FinFit study, professional advice from our relationship managers and wealth coaches, or mobile banking based personal financial management tool ‘Budget’ and ‘Future Planner’, we continue to combine technology innovation, professional advisory, and financial education resources to support customers through their journey towards financial fitness.”

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