Cultural resonance: ABA's Khmer New Year initiative clinches Marketing Campaign of the Year 2024 award
22/Aug/2024
ABA Bank, the largest commercial bank in Cambodia1, is proud to have received the Marketing Campaign of the Year 2024 award from the CMO Asia Awards for Excellence in Branding & Marketing. This accolade showcases the Bank's innovative and impactful marketing strategy, stressing out ABA’s affection to the Khmer culture and enhancing customer engagement.
ABA Bank launched its “Khmer New Year 2024 Campaign” earlier this year to celebrate the country's rich cultural heritage. The campaign highlighted the effectiveness of a content-driven digital marketing strategy, aiming to deepen customer relationships through culturally relevant and resonant content, as well as demonstrating the bank's commitment to user-friendly services.
Bringing Khmer New Year to ABA Mobile
The Bank's advanced mobile banking app, ABA Mobile, in its latest 5.0 version, introduced a unique Khmer New Year theme, featuring both light and dark modes representing the holiday's traditional values. Each app icon was also catered to symbolize different elements of the Khmer New Year, adding an extra touch to the aesthetic.
As a result, the campaign successfully targeted more than 1 million users of the ABA Mobile theme, underscoring the integration of technology and cultural aspects. By fostering a multifaceted experience where one can both perform banking services yet also celebrate its tradition plays a pivotal role in an engaged user base and customer satisfaction.
The significant increase in ABA Services transactions also reflected that user not only engaged with the theme but also made more frequent use of its financial services. This led to increased revenue for physical businesses and higher transactional volume for the bank.
Social Media Side of Khmer New Year
ABA Bank also launched an extensive social media campaign across major platforms in Cambodia by creating engaging content such as posts, videos, and a heartfelt short film showcasing the Khmer New Year traditions and the convenience of ABA Mobile's services. The campaign also collaborated with many local artists, cultural icons, and influencers to generate authentic content and foster a sense of community.
With that, the Bank witnessed an organic growth of 1 million views and 10,000 shares within 24 hours of the short film's release, marking it a tremendous success.
Having garnered this accolade through the CMO Asia Awards, ABA Bank highlighted its commitment to excellence, integrating Khmer New Year into its marketing effort, brand promotion, and ensuring customer loyalty and satisfaction.
1ABA Bank is the largest commercial bank in Cambodia in terms of total assets, gross loans, customer deposits, and profitability based on the National Bank of Cambodia’s Annual Supervision Report 2021-2023.
