TOPCASHBACK: NEXT LEVEL SPENDING POWERS
The challenge:
TopCashback is the UK’s leading cashback site, with a long history of delivering better rewards than competitors. However, with an increasingly crowded rewards market, growth was constrained by low brand awareness and a lack of emotional connection among younger demographics, having previously focused solely on rational brand messages and functional proof points. Despite deep loyalty from their existing customer base, the brand needed to evolve to reach a new generation of shoppers who had yet to discover its value.
Charting the course:
Brand platform:
Next Level Spending Powers
Based on our research with existing and new customers, plus data about younger shoppers, we pivoted the brand from a transactional tool to a joyful, sensory-driven experience. We evolved TopCashback from a ‘secret hack’ for deal-hunters into a modern lifestyle brand that gives users new powers to get value from their spending.
On top of a new brand platform and new brand line, we developed a distinctive visual world, a range of ownable assets and a sonic brand logo.
Creative campaign:
Summon the Power of Joy Joy
At the heart of the launch campaign, running on TV, cinema, poster, print and social media, is the concept of double joy — the rush of a perfect purchase combined with the thrill of receiving a cashback bonus. We intentionally ditched boring facts to seek out more emotional and memorable connection.
This is brought to life through pairs of colourful characters and by leaning into visual and audio ASMR to elicit a physically joyful response in the viewer. From the tactile fur of cuddly kittens to glistening otters and "squidgy" planets, each character is engineered to trigger an emotional and physical hit of dopamine.
"Our mission is to help everyone switch on their dormant spending powers and experience how powerful spending can truly feel. We are incredibly grateful to Uncharted for their partnership; they have brilliantly captured the magic of our brand through a bold, multi-sensory campaign that will help us connect with a whole new generation of shoppers." Chris Delahunty, Head of Marketing at TopCashback
The production represents the best of new ways of working. It combines traditional craft, with character illustration and world-building developed by hand, before using a range of traditional CG/comp tools alongside AI, to create a sensorial playground for the brand. We worked with the team at Blind Pig to create the universe, with wonderful ASMR style sound from Factory, original audio track by Lauren Auder/Universal Music, and film production support from Chuckles Studio.
To ensure the work resonated with the audience, Uncharted worked with our technology partner DAIvid. Using proprietary AI testing systems, the creative was refined to maximise emotional connection and brand memorability prior to and throughout production.
Results: The campaign was tested against a control, driving a +41% boost in target brand awareness and +36% incremental growth in the test region. The platform is now being rolled out across further channels and regions - watch this space!
