DBS Indonesia: Behind The Scam
Client
Service
Industry
Cutting through a sea of scam-education sameness into binge-worthy storytelling.
Agency
Scope of Work
- Campaign Strategy
- Content Marketing
- KOL Marketing
Challenge
In a sea of scam-education sameness, affluent audiences had stopped listening, convinced they already knew how to stay safe.
As scams surged, Indonesia’s digital banking landscape was flooded with identical warnings that no longer worked. For emerging affluent audiences fluent in finance, these messages were easy to ignore until sophisticated scams made them lose their sense of control and realize they were vulnerable too. The challenge for Bank DBS was to re-ignite attention and rebuild scam education as an emotional journey, making trust not just a promise but a feeling.
When audiences stopped listening to warnings, we turned scam prevention into a K-drama they couldn’t stop watching — Behind The Scam (BTS).
We uncovered a powerful truth: people ignored warnings but binge-watched dramas about betrayal and money. So we flipped the script. Instead of another corporate PSA, we treated scam education like a K-drama worth watching, complete with tension, emotion, and cliffhangers. Rolled out through Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts, each episode revealed real scam tactics through plot-driven stories that made audiences care before they became cautious.
From one episode to the next, the story kept audiences hooked and waiting for more.
We designed the campaign like a serialized show. Each month, a 90-second “feature episode” unfolded like a mini-season finale, following our protagonist through increasingly complex scams and ending with cliffhangers that kept audiences coming back. Between them, we launched snappy 15-second trending scam tactics, Instagram posts breaking down real messages, and interactive stories that let users spot the scam.
Each platform became a stage, optimized to deliver the story with impact.
On Instagram, we maximized Reels’ full-screen immersion using K-drama-style captions, trending audio to disguise serious topics as entertainment, and strategic tagging to financial institution to capture relevant searches. Meanwhile, YouTube Shorts served as our “director’s cut,” featuring 120-second versions with tighter cinematography for audiences primed for drama.
No endorsement scripts, we let creators respond as real viewers to amplify the story in their own ways.
We collaborated with three tiers of KOLs: finance experts for credibility, lifestyle creators for relatability, and drama commentators who reacted as if the series were real. Each received early access to episodes, allowing them to share genuine reactions and spark organic conversations around scam awareness.
The story kept evolving, following what audiences cared about next.
A dynamic content calendar kept the series relevant and alive. We reacted to real-time scam trends, aligned with cultural moments, and adapted instantly to platform shifts.
Result
Behind The Scam turned cautious viewers into vocal advocates and passive scrollers into active defenders of their financial safety.
This campaign marked a fundamental shift across industries: for banking, it proved that compliance can be creatively disruptive, not just a cost center. For marketing, it showed that emotional storytelling drives action more powerfully than fear ever could. And for Indonesia, it set a new standard for public–private collaboration in financial safety.
Impacts
10%
lift in trust sentiment & reported scams.
87%
Content completion rate
12%
Engagement rate