GCash: GCash Stories: Real Stories Empowering Real People

The Philippines endured one of the longest pandemic lockdowns: 1,307 days spent in one of the world's strictest protocols. Once lifted, the nation had to battle a slew of other problems such as record-breaking inflation and unemployment.
Agency: Publicis Jimenez Basic


It was not a surprise that the people once known as the happiest in the world, were beginning to suffer from hopelessness.

GCash, the number one Finance app in the Philippines, wanted to remind Filipinos of their power to overcome and persevere.

But how?

The Insight:
Data showed the brand two things:

In reality, many Filipinos were still succeeding and beating the odds.
Their stories just aren’t seen, untold.
Filipinos have turned to story-based entertainment now more than ever: from Tiktok ‘story time’ to a thriving real-life catalog on streaming platforms, and podcasts in long-form.

What GCash saw in data, it turned into a format.

Real Stories Turned Films:
GCash started mining for real-life success stories of Filipinos who were able to pivot, innovate, endure, and even find community in trying times. Out of the hundreds shortlisted, GCash chose the ones that truly inspired hope.

Stories of:
Cocoy Rubio: A laid-off bartender who put up a bike cafe franchise in CDO.

Alma Fermano: A long-time university employee whose house was devastated by floods, but was rebuilt thanks largely to a community of students and alumni.

Turing Quinto: A drag queen who had to support a family of eight despite her unstable employment.

These stories were transformed into short films with the help of award-winning directors, writers, and their teams.

(baka show thumbnails of title + director, para 2 birds 1 visual)

Hope in Action
At the end of each film, were QR codes of partner advocacies which gave viewers a sense of power as much as inspiration. By simply opening their GCash app and scanning the QR code on their screen, thousands of viewers were able to donate to causes themed closely to the story they just watched.

Helping create the much-needed inertia for Filipinos to stir into action.
The films were supported with online posts and content, events were set up to meet the real people behind the films, aiding the full reception of the campaign.

The Results
Making GCash Stories one of GCash’s most powerful campaigns to date:

177,159,218 combined views
31% values more than projected

34% combined VTR
vs. 15% industry average

P28,547,061 worth
of earned media

Over P1,000,000 donated
to partner advocacies via QR codes

GCash continues to find these stories and tell them, giving a voice to the resilience of the Filipino spirit. And, giving the power back in the hands of the people.