Awareness: Yay to cashback

Context

Cashrewards had a major retail moment approaching, and the objective was clear:
increase brand visibility, strengthen top-of-funnel awareness, and drive engagement in high-traffic retail environments.

The campaign needed to stretch across an extremely broad set of formats — from giant floor decals and escalators to transit shelters, large-format OOH, and digital display takeovers — all while remaining consistent, flexible, and instantly recognisable.

Stage 1. Market research & Neuro insight

We began by developing three creative concepts to capture the campaign’s emotional intent, then tested them with a focus group using neuro-insight technology to measure real emotional responses. This allowed us to identify the most impactful direction based on genuine audience reactions rather than assumptions.

Alongside testing, we ran surveys and analysed audience behaviour from similar campaigns. A clear insight emerged: our biggest opportunity was with Gen Z and Millennial shoppers.

This shaped the placement strategy, prioritising:

• Retail locations they frequently visit

• High-traffic city train stations

• Large, high-impact destination formats

Audience research revealed:

• Core demo pressure: Our main demographic (P25–54) reported feeling more financially stressed than younger audiences, making value-driven messaging critical.

• Social commerce leadership: Younger generations are driving eCommerce. Gen Z now leads in social commerce, with 29% purchasing via social platforms, overtaking purchases made through retailer apps (28%).

• EOFY clutter: With the Olympics falling in July, EOFY advertising inventory was heavily congested. Many brands shifted spend earlier, creating a need for bold, high-contrast creative to cut through the noise.