The marketing narrative in the financial sector tends to be quite corporate but it doesn’t have to be that way. An innovative Out-of-Home (OOH) campaign disrupted traditional B2B marketing with an interactive installation. A giant interactive credit card stopped London commuters in their tracks to promote the B2B spend management platform Payhawk.
The installation, which transformed mundane financial processes into an engaging brand experience, featured a dynamic ‘Time Machine’ that showed the hours businesses waste on manual expense management.
Created in partnership with brand experience agency The Current Collective, the campaign reinvented traditional financial services advertising through a blend of scale, interactivity and humor.
Commuters passing through London’s major railway stations were drawn to press an oversized button on the installation, triggering a randomised generator of relatable business scenarios: from calculating client lunch expenses to chasing receipt photos from colleagues.
Interactive B2B Marketing: Bringing Financial Pain Points to Life
“We wanted to break the traditional mold of B2B financial advertising,” says Gianpaolo Lauretta, Creative Director, The Current Collective. “By combining a striking physical installation with playful, relatable content, we’ve created shareable moments that transformed Payhawk’s core message of time-saving into a tangible experience. The ‘Time Machine’ concept allowed people to physically interact with the brand’s promise.”
The campaign’s creative strategy was backed by research showing that 85% of finance leaders recognize the importance of spend culture, yet struggle with implementation.
Rather than presenting these insights through traditional channels, the installation dramatizes the findings through real-world scenarios that resonate across industries.
“Marketing and creative agencies are particularly familiar with the challenges of managing multiple client budgets, international projects and tracking campaign expenses across teams,” says Jack Cummings, CMO, Payhawk. “This installation spoke directly to their pain points while demonstrating how technology can free up time for more strategic and creative work.”
The integrated campaign combined the hero installation with strategic digital OOH placements across key stations during January and February, delivering nearly 4 million impressions.
The response was clear: commuters weren’t just stopping to interact but also sharing photos with their business teams, sparking conversations about spend management efficiency.
Key Results: How the Campaign Drove Engagement and Brand Growth
- Traffic Growth: Visits to the campaign landing page increased by 484% compared to the previous period, and in France, the website traffic tripled.
- Employer Brand Impact: The campaign even sparked interest in joining Payhawk, with five candidates applying for roles after seeing the ads.
- Increased Brand Search:– Organic search clicks for branded queries (like “Payhawk” and variations) in the UK grew by 24.11% year-on-year, adding 641 more clicks.
- Global Brand Awareness Boost: Sitewide branded searches saw an even bigger jump, increasing by 37.6% year-on-year, bringing in 3,865 additional organic clicks.
The installation marks the latest evolution in experiential B2B marketing, proving that even complex business solutions can be communicated through creative technology and engagement. As brands look for innovative ways to break through the noise, interactive storytelling and immersive experiences will continue shaping the future of B2B marketing.
Learn all about award-winning campaigns with our B2B Marketing Awards 2024 report, featuring a wide range of case studies across multiple categories. Entries are now open for 2025. Don’t miss the opportunity to showcase your brilliant work!
