Situation:

Financial health comes from good mental health which and music helps create calm & negates performance-inhibiting feelings like fear &fatigue. Classical Indian music is a very specialized genre which doesn’t appeal to all, especially the youth. How do we use that to build mental wellness?

Brief:

Well-established research suggests a positive correlation between music & mental health. Music can stimulate the release of endorphins. Soothing melodies &gentle rhythms can help relax the body and decrease levels of cortisol – the stress hormone. We wanted a soulful engagement led property that acts as a starting point for conversations to creating awareness on mental health.

Objective:

Creating a unique experience for our customer base (Internationalists) &taking it beyond to all music enthusiasts.

Something to engage with our customers on an emotional level, rather than on a functional level.

Enhance the scale of the property to make it more accessible &spread awareness.

Idea was led-by music content, an immersive experience that sought to bring together sound therapy and Indian classical music with Sitar as a transformational tool to impact mental health in a positive way.

HSBC has always believed that physical health, mental wellness, and financial fitness are connected

The association was completely brainstormed by the internal teams – carefully planned on the best way to take the talent of a celeb Sitarist beyond Instagram to an offline mode where people could experience a transformative evening of sound alchemy and healing.

Through the soothing symphonies of the sitar, the initiative orchestrated a musical momentum to the ongoing conversations around mental health. This helped us engage in-person with our customers, reiterating our brand purpose of opening up a world of opportunity, leading on the brand perception a socially responsible brand.

For HSBC, a key brand value – We take responsibility is closely linked to initiatives globally being taken for staff/customers’ mental wellness. We designed to drive a strong connect with young (consume instagram music reels, Mental Health advocates, future/generation customers) and elder(current customers, classical music enthusiasts) audiences alike. A good mix of appeal to both set for separate reasons.

While the conversations around mental health have increased in the recent years, a lot is still to be done in terms of breaking stigmas. As mental health improves, so does the percentage of people who are physically and financially fit, which leads back to better mental health.

Approach - We set out to create a unique experience for our customers by bringing Sitar to their city in never-experienced-before event. We chose to explore the rich treasure of Indian music as a tool to bring about a transformation to enhance mental health.

The tour travelled across 11 cities in India, spread across 2 months and 12 shows with over 6,400+ attendees. The shows were ticketed – select seats were reserved for HSBC Customers offering an exclusive experience.

The cities for the live events were strategically chosen to ensure that the cause garnered maximum visibility. Carefully selected venues and the stage décor created a unique aura and the LED backdrop of visuals, lamps and candles added to the holistic healing.

The show was designed to invoke states of deep reflection. Two sections – The classical ragas and the popular Instagram audios. We also created a starting point for conversations through an audience activity.

The promotion of SitarForMentalHealth was done through Social posts, before and after the event. The content used vernaculars to connect to local city tonality.

Impressions – 38 Mn || Total Reach –36 Mn + 18 Mn Artist Content Reach || Engagement -3.3 Mn || Engagement Rate – Avg 8% (2x higher than usual) || Total views – 14.6 Mn

The show across cities helped build visibility and affinity. He also played the HSBC sonic audio on Sitar to build recall. Artist mentions were included in the show about how HSBC as a brand is closely linked to taking mental health awareness and conversations to make a real difference.

He talked to the audience about his journey with Mental Health and how he came over it and the emotions experienced – a great starting point for conversations. The attendees’ feedback was how the music helped them on their worst days and brought calm.

Attendees were pleasantly surprised that Sitar could be fun and how it was a refreshing experience that their kids were charmed too.