Western Union Launches Its First-Ever Global Brand Campaign

Western Union representatives, left to right, Sofia Freyder, Sylvia Eliat, Jenny Briggs, Ali Cinar and Arti Kumar Caprihany, pose for a photograph at Western Union’s yes! ad campaign launch event on March 18, 2009 at Hotel Sofitel in New York City as fellow Western Union representative Juliana Beliltseva signs the yes! scroll.

Can One Word Answer a Million Different Needs? Global Money-Transfer Company Says yes! For the first time in the company’s 150-year history, Western Union has launched a comprehensive global brand initiative, entitled yes! This campaign celebrates people around the world who rely on the transfer of money across borders and oceans to help them embrace their hopes and dreams. This was revealed to the media last week, during a press conference, addressed by senior executives of the Company.

“This is a very exciting time for Western Union,” said Nidhi Gupta, Western Union Marketing Manager, South Asia. “Western Union believes in and supports the needs of people who are pursuing their dreams. Even in these uncertain times, the optimism and positivity of our consumers is inspiring. Can a son support his parents back home? The answer is yes! Can a father fulfill his child’s hopes and dreams? The answer is yes! Western Union’s money transfer services enable these connections between South Asians around the globe.”

With over 44,000 Agent locations in the U.S., and more than 60,000 in South Asia, sending and receiving money is easy. Dave Majumdar, Senior Product Manager, US Out bound to India/South Asia and Pakistan added, “To better support the needs of the consumers, we inform them at the time of sending money, the exact amount which will be received by their loved ones back home. Western Union has been doing this for years, and this feature is very much appreciated by our consumers.”

The yes! brand campaign elements will be translated into 40 languages, including Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi, Tamil, Bengali, Gujarati, Marathi and other South Asian languages and will consist of several marketing elements. There will be print, broadcast and online advertising as well as new Point-of Sale materials for more than 320,000 Western Union® Agents in 200 countries and territories. Western Union has also launched a dedicated microsite, www.wuyeseffectcom. This site seeks to engage consumers and empower them to share their stories of optimism and success through March 26. For each story submitted, Western Union will donate US$1, up to a total donation of US$50,000, which will be matched by the Western Union Foundation, up to a total donation of US$50,000, to education-focused nonprofit partners Mercy Corps, Room to Read and Academy for Educational Development.

Since the inception of the Western Union Foundation, as part of Western Union’s Our World, Our Family® program, almost $53 million has been awarded in over 100 countries. This includes over $530,000 in grants awarded in the South Asia region in 2008 to India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal. Our World, Our Family® is a fiveyear, $50 million signature program designed to provide communities with the skills, knowledge and resources essential to breaking the cycle of poverty. A grant from the Foundation is funding Nanhi Kali, a national female child education sponsorship project, to provide 10 years of quality education to girls from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. Through another grant in Sri Lanka, the Western Union Foundation funding is helping prevent children from being abandoned due to poverty by reaching out to vulnerable families and providing their children with much-needed nutrition, school supplies and uniforms, early childhood education facilities, life skills education and counseling.

Western Union assembled prominent creative talent for the campaign, including world-renowned film director Antoine Bardou-Jacquet, celebrated photojournalist Steve McCurry and famed typographer David Carson. Western Union selected these artists because of the humanity in their work and the contemporary fresh face their collaboration brings to the brand. Bardou-Jacquet and McCurry traveled the world to capture the striking images behind the campaign, including stops in Morocco, Singapore, Los Angeles and Cape Town, South Africa.

The creative behind Western Union’s campaign centers on the optimism and hope inherent in the word “yes!” and highlights tangible acts that bring the brand to life. The yes! campaign clearly and emotionally communicates its optimistic point of view using real people in its advertisements reflecting the global nature of Western Union.

The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) is a leader in global money transfer services. Together with its Vigo and Orlandi Valuta-branded money transfer services, Western Union provides consumers with fast, reliable and convenient ways to send and receive money around the world, as well as send payments and purchase money orders. It operates through a combined network of more than 375,000 Agent locations in 200 countries and territories. Famous for its pioneering telegraph services, the original Western Union dates back to 1851. For more information, visit www.westernunion.com.

BY AJAY GHOSH