Defying-expectations with our iconic collaboration

Creating iconic moments in social media is what Kairos Media does best, and our recent campaign with Revolut proves it.

Since its inception, Kairos Media has been at the forefront of social media and gaming marketing, bringing campaigns to life for brands such as Blizzard Entertainment, Revolut, KFC Gaming, Samsung and more.

With our services spanning across social media, strategy, influencer marketing, content production, out-of-home-advertising, paid media, public relations and more, we’ve been helping brands as the gaming marketing experts for over seven years.

In July 2022, we partnered with Revolut to launch a global, integrated campaign – Defy Expectations – to position Revolut as the go-to, reliable financial option for Gen Z consumers. The objective of the campaign was to drive app registrations among the target audience, and to inspire a generation about banking.

Financial services are hardly known for being sexy, which is why we set out to create a campaign that got Gen Z excited not only about financial banking but also for the industry-leading provider, Revolut.

Bringing cheeky influencer group, The Sidemen as the focus point of the campaign, we launched a limited-edition card design that spoke to The Sidemen’s audience. The campaign was a hit and one of Revolut’s most successful influencer campaigns to date.

To bring this campaign to life, our team of social natives and digital creatives blended a mix of out-of-home advertising, event activations, influencer strategy and content production.

To build brand affinity with Gen Z, the creative direction leaned away from the outdated, corporate identities that are usually favoured by traditional finance brands. We captured behind-the-scenes footage and imagery from mixed media shoots to later repurpose across social media. Throughout the campaign, the limited-edition Sideman Revolut card was showcased as a fashion item that should sit proudly in any fan’s inventory, rather than a functional item that you’d normally see in traditional advertising.

We also took great advantage of the Sidemen’s other commercial ventures and offered 10% cashback on all Sidemen brands including XIX Vodka, SDMN clothing and SIDES restaurants. Customers also got 3-month access to Side+, the exclusive Sidemen community.

Utilising our out-of-home advertising, we included a free food van in Shoreditch that served SIDES food options, including their newly released burger which coincided perfectly with our activation.

Marketing financial services brands presents a unique set of challenges: strict regulations, complicated subject matter, a lack of consumer trust, and constantly evolving technology are just a handful of roadblocks scattered throughout the financial services landscape. Add to that a tough-to-crack audience, a wary Gen-Z audience and you’ve got yourself a very challenging brief.

Many agencies would have played it safe, but we we were determined to do something different, something modern, relevant, and most of all, something game changing. That’s where the campaign name “Defy Expectations” came from.

The large scale of the Defy Expectations campaign combined with innovative, integrated activations delivered across both brand and purchase KPIs with long-lasting results.

Our team has been really refining their craft and creating spectacular campaigns for hero brands, and having this campaign nominated as a Finalist in the Global Content Awards is the cherry on top of what has been one of the most transformative years for Kairos Media to date.