In 2014, Popular came to us with a very specific business problem. The usage of its online banking platforms, a crucial pillar in the bank’s future growth projections, had plateaued for the last three quarters. Their formal request was to develop a campaign to jump-start this flat line.

In the meantime, however, an unexpected turn of events hit the country’s recessionary economy one more time. For the first time in history, the country’s credit rating was downgraded to junk status.

We believed this was a defining moment in the country’s history and that the bank had to stand up as a voice of optimism. In order to do this, we needed to cascade the brand purpose at product levels and give Popular’s digital products a more profound meaning without losing commercial impact. It was the perfect opportunity to fuse the bank’s short-term objectives with its larger-than-life brand ambition in order to produce a big idea for the bank. It was the time to walk the talk.

While this was undoubtedly yet another hurdle for the economy, the emotional impact it had on the population was arguably even more alarming. Fear and anxiety held back consumers from all socioeconomic groups, potentially causing people to stop spending altogether and worsening the economy even more.

When people stop spending, the most vulnerable business sector is the Small Business Owners.

During tough times, it’s critical that they dedicate most of their time to produce. Especially for them, time is money. This is also the sector that stands to benefit the most from technological tools such as Popular’s digital banking tools that save them time so they can be more productive.

While having more time to focus on their business was fundamental to survive during this crisis, it was also critical to provide them with other powerful tools that big companies can count on even though they can barely afford: Advertising.

For their 2014 campaign, we recommended the bank to champion progress once again, but this time by partnering with small business owners to fight back recession while promoting each other’s businesses in an unprecedented way.

Popular turned small business owners into spokespersons of the bank’s digital banking platforms and, in return, it dedicated most of its advertising and media budget to promote their own products and services on an massive scale.