Client-Side
Experience Sharing (2023)

Techcombank

INTRODUCTION
Techcombank’s vision is ‘change banking, change lives’. Uplifting everyone to reach their full potential. Its mission is to lead the digital transformation of the financial industry, enabling individuals, businesses, and corporations to progress and thrive sustainably. TCB’s Tower Head Office & Operations Headquarter are located in Hanoi, a second HO is in Hochiminh City. There are 316 Branches all over Vietnam.

ONCE UPON A TIME
How a Creative Director working in agencies ends up in a… bank? It all started with a Head Hunter talking about a job opportunity. I could have a spontaneous reaction such as “what a hell?”. But, I use to think that, if one day I get a job opportunity in a fancy company such as Sony or Nike, at first glance, it sounds great right? But in such companies, the road map is done already; so my contribution would be minor. While, in a company such as Techcombank, I can contribute, leave my mark, and make a change. And it turns out that, I have been fortunate. This job at the bank is actually in line with my career’s aspiration because it’s a place where I can implement and test what I’ve learned over my years of experience. I knew nothing about the bank world. After one year and a half, there are still so many things and areas I need to learn and to improve. That’s part of the reason why I’ve signed up: it creates a room for progress.

techcombank.com

Cosmopolitan Working Environment

A culture defined by many cultures

Techcombank’s Tower Head Office is located in Hanoi, and at a confluence in which many cultures coexist. Within the Head Office, it’s usual to hear people speaking in Vietnamese, in French and in English. The bank is an exciting & dynamic place that values and supports diversity, it enriches Techcomers. An internal reality, in line with the Master Brand tagline ‘Be Greater’.

*not included in the salary package

Priceless Benefit*

Usually, when you sign up for a new job, what you have in mind, is your benefits which is your salary package. But sometimes, there’s an unexpected bonus to it. Working in a bank of this magnitude, requires dedication. Let’s be honest, there are some challenging moments, and sometimes what helps to overcome difficulties is the people around, the team mates. Over my years of working experience in several companies, what makes the working experience stands out at Techcombank, is definitely team work. No one at Techcombank works in silos: your output, in someone else’s input for their job. Actually, teamwork is a byproduct of people caring about each other. Such a priceless benefit isn’t it?

 

A Day in a Life of a Creative Lead, in a Bank.

Everyday is different, there are changes all the time (“the only constant is change” right?). At first glance, constant changes sounds terrible. But actually, what is terrible, is a company in which nothing changes, where status quo is the norm, where everything stays same, where everyone is the same. At the other side of the spectrum, Techcombank is a world in a constant evolution, almost agnostic in term of way of working (welcoming new ways, new approaches), adapting to everyday new market change and new costumer behavior’s change. Following, is a typical non-typical day in a life of a Creative lead at Techcombank.

 

Creative team

When Creative Leads are hired, as the name suggests, they think that the job is to… lead. But leading is only part of the equation.

Creative Brief

When it comes to the brief, it’s sometimes overlooked (maybe because of the name itself?). But there’s much more to it.

Brainstorming

Brainstorming is an important part in business. And it’s ‘amazing’ how most of the time, companies don’t invest in how to do it.

 
 

Communication Material Outcomes

KV

Key Visual

key visuals, that translate visually key messages.

TVC

TVCommercial

Ads, delivered in an emotional storytelling format.

MV

Music Video

Right balance, between artist’s vision and marketing objectives.

VIS

Visual Identity System

‘V’ stands for ‘visual’. but works too for ‘verbal’. (no example available because VISs are confidential documents, but their development is an important part of the job).

 
 

• Business trip

As written in the introduction, Techcombank’s Tower Head Office is located in Hanoi. And main communication agencies are located in Hochiminh City (1100 km away). So business trips are both necessary and a common thing, mainly traveling by plane. In many TVCs, they depict you know, that guy who is travelling and working at the same time. Sounds appealing. But it doesn’t work for me. Turns out that I find myself not working that much while transiting in a plane, in an airport or in a taxi. Of course, sometimes it happens. But tbh, something else takes place. In the context of a business trip, when it comes to transportation, there’s no notion of space (where) or time (when), but instead it’s about how it makes you feel, in other words: it modifies your state of mind. I actually see it as an opportunity to relax, to let it go, so I can reflect on what I have achieved and project the person I want to become. I have come a long way, and a business trip is an occasion to reflect on the personal inner journey.

• Creative trip

As much as I can, I do my best to involve creatives from my team to join a business trip. Especially when it comes to shoot photos for a KV series or a TVC. Of course it costs (hotel, taxi) but it does worth it. Creatives people need new things, new experiences that triggers their imagination. It changes their daily routine. Not to mention about the benefit of seeing in real life, live, how to work with a Film Director, a Production House crew and talents. On set, everything matters, you need to stay alert. Once it’s recorded, it’s… recorded. So you need both clarity about what needs to be achieved and knowledge about the brand. It helps to validate the shots (or not). So I invite other Creative Leads or Creative Directors, to also invite their team, turning a Business Trip into a Trip for Creativity.

 

LEADERSHIP
STYLE I BELIEVE IN.

  • If you tell to the Creative team exactly what to do, then they become people who execute (chances are, this is not either what you want and need). You want to give them freedom, so the team feels comfortable to create. Part of the role of a Creative lead, is to explore new territories, to push the boundary and the limit (not to create one). And sometimes, what the Creative team needs from you, is your absence. Sounds counterintuitive, but it’s how you create room, so they can express themselves by having creative freedom.

    Sometimes, the Creatives present a solution that you don’t believe it’s suitable. And as a lead, if you don’t give the chance for the solution to see the light of the day, you are making an arbitrary decision by doing micro-management. Options you don’t believe in (if it’s relevant to the creative brief) are okay, because divergence in creative vision, creates diversity and options to present to the Stakeholders.

    On the other end, if you give the Creative team a total freedom, outcomes might not be relevant as answers to the communication & business objectives. This is not rocket science, there’s no official metric about how much is enough or where is that exact sweet spot in the spectrum.

    However, over years of experience of leading several Creative teams, I’ve figured it out that, what helps to get closer to that sweet spot, that interstice, is to deliver directional guidance. That way, you don’t limit anyone by telling what exactly to do, but you share enough information and feedback, so the team has creative directions.

  • One of the worst thing that could happen to a member of a Creative team, it’s when (s)he’s stuck in his/her creative journey. It’s easy to get caught up in a daily routine of a crazy workload and doing the same thing over and over, by using the same trick over and over (because all (s)he wants is to make the job done). In order to help that person to grow, the Creative lead needs to share knowledge & to nurture with distilled wisdoms along the way.

    In a fast pace work environment, some people tend to see a Creative team as human resources (which they are not). They are, human. And sometimes, the difference between a fail or a successful creative, is if you give… encouragement, to keep the momentum going, moving toward a better version of him/herself.

    Actually, most of the time, sharing knowledge with the Creative team is even not enough. Sounds counterintuive, but I don’t think that giving a fish helps them to growth. What helps, is to teach how to fish (as the quote says). So framing answers in a way that delivers not only an answer, but a deeper understanding of what they ask for, is what trully supports the growth of a team.

  • As wrote above, what is needed is to give encouragements to the Creative team. And in some other cases, what is needed is a… magic wand, that takes shape in a few words: “I Trust You”. Then the magic happens: it unlocks so much, eases a relationship, and again, it provides a sense of freedom. In a challenging moment, “I Trust You” is a statement and a moment of truth that reveals that the right choices have been made by hiring this team. Also, this is not ot only about trusting the team, but trusting yourself (trusting the choices you have made). In fine, trust benefits everyone.

 

Challenges

Dress Code

Finding clothes… in line with the bank’s dress code was a challenge, because coming from the advertising agency world, the only dress code there, is no dress code. While, in the corporate world, usually people wear a white shirt, a tie and a black pan. Not really the type of cloth I use to wear on the daily basis. It was definitely a culture shock. At the beginning, during the first few days in the bank, I kinda felt not being in the right environment. But over time, I realized that, actually that dress code is a good thing. Indeed, beyond the corporate reason of it, a dress code allows employees to have a cohesive outfit. And because every one almost looks the same, what makes someone stand out, is not how that person looks like, but it’s his/her contribution.

unComfort Zone

At first, many times in meetings, I was asking myself “what a hell am I doing here?”, and wished no one asked me anything. People were talking about ‘strange’ things such as… CASA, CCB, LAN, ETB, NTBa, MGM, EKYC, NPS, GTM, MVP, ORM, MOA, TOI. Lol. I wanted to track progress, but there was nothing… to track (since there was no progress). And then, all of the sudden, I understood what people were talking about. Maybe, it just needed some time, so those acronyms connect together, creating understanding. So banking was a territory I knew nothing about. It felt like, travelling in a country in which I understood nothing because people spoke a foreign language or a dialect. And that’s okay to feel uncomfortable because, there’s no adventure when there’s comfort.

 

Change

perception of the finance & the bank world

Before working in a bank, like some people, I saw banks as big cold institutions. And let’s be honest, sometimes we simply afraid about people we don’t know, or reject things or concepts we don’t understand; that’s just human nature. Since I work at TCB, my view on banks has drastically changed. Of course, all banks aren’t the same. But at least, I experience one from the inside. Understanding how it works and by who it’s running, bring a totally new perception. Now, what I’m gonna do differently when it comes to visit a branch is, despite everyone having a dress code, I will see the staff as people with different personalities. It gives the banks a human face.

relationship to target audience definition

Before working in a bank, defining and depicting an ideal Target Audience was something that I had to do, and tbh it was an abstract task. Since I work at Techcombank, which is a tech and data-driven company, there’s no data gap, but instead tangible data points. It allows to humanize data to better serve people, because data needs to be interpreted thru ‘People Lense’ to be useful. As result, it makes the task concrete and enjoyable. Now, what I’m gonna do differently when it comes to depicting the Target Audience, is to use data as projection of people’s lives.

creativity fueled by business thinking

Before working in a bank, I’v worked in other client-sides, but I mainly worked in agencies. Agencies are creative environment, with creative people. But to be fulfilled in this industry, we need the right balance between a creative mind & a business mindset. And it’s where marcom comes in. Since I work at Techcombank (a tech & data-driven company), I have found that counterweight, which is an immersion in the business world. Now, what I’m gonna do differently when it comes to create strategic creative solutions, is to create ones that are more supported and driven by data related to customers, and for sure deliver it using the spirit of a brand.

disclaimer: pictures in this page are for illustration purpose only.

Creative Lead:
mynkao