HSBC’s airport advertising investment strategy

My role

I led the project end to end and was the primary point of contact with HSBC’s Global Brand leadership team, covering:

Research methodology design and discussion guide development

Qualitative interviews and quantitative survey across multiple international markets

Thematic analysis, persona development and door-to-door journey mapping

Client co-creation workshop and prioritisation framework design

Journey maps from two personas

5-year roadmap

1,200 survey respondents

12 qualitative interviews across 2 markets

Research design

Mixed-methods study: in-depth qualitative interviews with six participants per market, triangulated against a quantitative survey of 1,200 respondents across a wider set of regions, both recruited via a specialist research panel. Discussion guides used open, non-leading questions and unprompted recall techniques to surface genuine behaviour rather than validate existing assumptions.

Analysis and validation

Thematic analysis using a structured framework matrix, cross-referenced across markets and traveller types. A second researcher cross-checked interpretation throughout to reduce single-researcher bias. Qualitative patterns were confirmed at scale against the quantitative data rather than treated as standalone conclusions.

Timeline constraint

The quantitative survey launched before qualitative analysis was complete due to project timelines. This was a deliberate trade-off: both instruments were built from the same thematic structure, so the survey could validate emerging patterns at scale without waiting on full analysis. Both streams delivered usable findings within the project window.

Co-creation workshop with the client to generate creative opportunities from the findings.

What we found

The research significantly challenged the client’s existing assumptions about traveller behaviour, financial motivations and emotional engagement across the journey. In several cases, the touchpoints HSBC had previously prioritised were among the least receptive moments in the journey, while higher-value opportunities were going unused.

The findings from this research are confidential to the client and are not included in this summary.

Personas and journey mapping

I developed two behavioural personas based on observed travel patterns rather than demographics. A key insight was that many travellers were the same person in different contexts – business trips and family travel produced entirely different behaviours, priorities and emotional states – which required a different framing to how the client had originally segmented their audience.

Each persona had a door-to-door journey map capturing emotional state, motivation and behaviour at every stage, with UK and Hong Kong nuances built in. Outputs were presented as a large-format wall map alongside a plain-language presentation deliberately stripped of research jargon.

Two behavioural personas based on observed travel patterns rather than demographics.

Journey map

From research to action

I facilitated a co-creation workshop with the client to generate creative opportunities from the findings, narrowing hundreds of initial ideas to a focused shortlist of 22. These were compiled into a multi-criteria prioritisation matrix designed for the client to score themselves rather than us scoring on their behalf – giving them ownership of the outcomes and making recommendations far more likely to be carried forward.

Outcome

This was research-led strategy throughout: the intent was to give HSBC a robust evidence base to shape their plan and budget for the next five years, not a one-off creative output. The research directly influenced budget allocation, challenged existing media placements and produced a prioritised roadmap of brand experiences across their highest-value airports.

Multi-criteria prioritisation matrix

The evidence was clear enough to defend.

Reflection

The hardest part of this project was not the research – it was presenting findings that directly contradicted established client investment decisions to senior brand leadership, and holding the position when challenged. The evidence was clear enough to defend.

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