CMO Haider Rafique outlines the strategy, beginning with a ‘rewrite’ of the financial system.
In the wake of a troubling period for digital currencies, OKX—the second largest crypto exchange by trading volume—has one-upped a recent campaign from rival Coinbase that claimed “it’s time to update the system” when it comes to financial services. OKX stated more emphatically that “the system needs a rewrite.”
In a global brand campaign to promote its Web3 services, OKX is challenging the status quo around the use of centralized systems in finance to boost the adoption of Web3 self-managed technology, according to chief marketing officer Haider Rafique.
Created by BBDO New York and directed by Paul Ward, the 1-minute film leading the campaign is a neo-noir mission statement set in a futuristic city in which the audience follows a goth/punk as she speaks directly to them, outlining the brand’s rhetoric.
“Carry on? Why don’t we question things instead? Why don’t we move on from a system that is clearly broken?” she asks as she begins to walk through different scenes including a room full of cash-sniffing suits and an art gallery filled with statues that switch to NFT apes.
It’s like a political ad filmed by Ridley Scott.
“Why compete with things at eye level? Why not launch a rocket—because if you launch a rocket in the sky, everyone’s going to look at the rocket,” Rafique said about grabbing attention with the eye-catching ad, then adding context to the brand statement.
His intention is to build on the company’s Web3 abilities and its mission to democratize finance. The ad follows the launch at the end of April of the ability to enable the viewing and transfer of Bitcoin Ordinals (NFTs with data such as images or videos attached) within the OKX wallet. It was also announced that the OKX NFT Marketplace would also soon offer mint and trade functionality for ordinals.
“As a company, we’ve split ourselves into two halves—half Web3 and half trading desk—and it warranted us to come out and share with the world where our point of view is on Web3,” he added.
The ad deliberately speaks to the 18- to 22-year-old audience in its writing, which Rafique said was debated quite a bit in advance. And although it feels like it was produced for “crypto natives,” he explained, younger people have embraced technology such as NFTs, and he believes they will also understand the ad.
A response to Coinbase
Rafique recalls that even on the eve of production, the script was being rewritten with a late decision made to directly respond to Coinbase’s ad, as the OKX team felt the message was “already challenging it, but we were not challenging it right. We needed to say we were challenging it.”
The Coinbase ad asks the question, “What is this archaic system?” while running through scenes of the limitations that people still face in accessing and spending their money including ATM charges and overdraft fees, while overseas transfers can still take days to complete.
“The system makes no sense!” it declares as the people in the ad grow increasingly frustrated.
However, OKX wanted to offer an alternative, future-facing outlook, Rafique explained. One where people are given autonomy and transparency as well as control over their finances.
“We believe this is the new world. This is how you rewrite the system,” he added, highlighting that it had just released its sixth proof of reserve, which no regulator of policymaker had requested, to build trust with its users.
He hopes the campaign will paint OKX as “a cool brand” with media including wild postings in New York, London and “other major markets,” as well as out-of-home and digital banners. A social media campaign will push the film and leverage brand ambassadors who will “encourage people to find their moment to rewrite the system” as well.
Rafique aims to apply “soft metrics” such as social media commentary and positive brand sentiment generated around the creative, he said. Then the company will look at whether new wallets are created, as well as the level of the value of currency deposited and kept within those wallets.
“The first piece that we’re going to be looking for is the qualitative piece, which is, ‘Are people finding this stuff cool and engaging?’”
Rebuilding trust in the sector
However, when it comes to trust, Rafique admits that a single campaign will not rebuild faith that has been dented in the cryptocurrency space in recent months following the FTX scandal at the end of 2022.
The fallout sent cryptocurrency markets into a tailspin: Once valued at a peak of $3 trillion in 2021, it’s now pegged at $1.23 billion in April, according to Statista.
He feels a “combination of efforts” will be needed and that proofs of reserve will become “an inherent part of us as a company” to develop and retain consumer trust. Rafique also claimed that he and OKX founder Star Xu respond to direct messages from customers through social media.
By establishing and auditing the company’s proof of reserves, interacting with the crypto community and developing OKX as “a character that steps up to do the right thing,” Rafique sees a positive outlook.
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