No sooner had I published last week’s piece on the ROI of quality creative than I hear our campaigns with HSBC scooped Best Branded Programme at the 2025 Brand Film Awards EMEA!

This is not a standard “I’m so humbled” post (although it is really great to be recognized for such a prestigious award) - I’m sharing this now because it reflects a really important point that I wish more businesses understood.

Shifting sands of style

We’ve been making recruitment marketing videos for nearly two decades. In fact, for a time, no other business had won as many awards for recruitment marketing video. We even won the Best Work at the RADs – twice! OK – sorry - well done us etc. but over that time, we have seen a number of shifts in the type of video projects getting commissioned...

Authenticity really matters for Employee Comms

Buzzwords of buzzwords, Authenticity, is particularly important in this type of employer comms. Why? In the modern world of Glassdoor and LinkedIn, being ‘real’ and reflecting what a business is actually like is essential, because if it’s not then it you get called out. Worse, if new joiners feel miss-sold to, then there is the risk of the expense of bringing them in only for them to fall out of the onboarding process halfway through.

Cheap doesn't mean Authentic

Somewhere along the way, “authentic” started to mean “UGC shot on a phone” - as though creative storycraft and being truly genuine are mutually exclusive. These projects, produced with the excellent team at HSBC, show the opposite: with the right people, in the right roles, authenticity flourishes because of high production value and attention to detail, not in spite of them.

HSBC: Principal Engineers

Keep it Real

Take the Principal Engineers film. Six real technologists, working with real code, solving real challenges - shot across London, Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Hyderabad with a bit of cinematic magic dust. Of course, the film is dramatic and fun, but it also feels absolutely genuine to the experience of the roles in the back. Beyond that the results of the campaign speak for themselves...

The outcome:

9.7k LinkedIn job views → 1.5k clicks to apply → 8 hires

59% jump in tech-role applications in a month

16.9m impressions, with 3.3m video views with >50% view-through rate

HSBC: Wealth Manager

We applied the same formula to HSBC’s Wealth Manager and Roaring with Pride series. In the former, we show what life is like being a Relationship Manager - gliding from art galleries to golf greens, revealing how deep client relationships feel on the inside. In the latter, Carlos - co-founder of HSBC Pride Mexico - tells his story against video projection backdrops and Pride-flag hues.

HSBC: Roaring with Pride

Again, both campaigns put real employees centre-frame while giving them their stories the cinematic treatment, drawing out their powerful, dramatic nature. The wealth film now underpins HSBC’s hiring drives across Asia Pacific; the Pride film anchors HSBC’s global allyship training and opened the Hong Kong Lesbian & Gay Film Festival.

So, what can we learn from these approaches?

1.     Start with real – accentuate what’s real

The process began by recording genuine experience - interviews, observation, unscripted moments. We then layered in craft to amplify the impact of the stories.

2.     High production values actually enhance authenticity by making it stick

An impactful creative idea, good lighting, pacing and sound design keep viewers watching long enough to absorb the message (reflected by the high 50 % VTR).

3.     Genuine commercial benefit beats hype

Hard metrics - applications, hires, impressions - turn “that’s cool” or “that looks nice” into a business critical asset.

4.     But remember: high craft is a filter, not a mask.

When the stars are actual employees, anything inauthentic sticks out - premium production simply sharpens the stories onscreen.

So the next time someone says “Let’s just give the grad recruits a GoPro – that’s authenticity, right?” point them to the data. Authentic storytelling isn’t about being cheap; it’s about honest voices elevated by great filmmaking. Get that balance right and even the most polished brand piece can feel as real as a selfie - while driving results a selfie never could.

Thanks so much to Rabia Jones, Daniel Lester, and all the amazing teams at HSBC and Casual who made these cracking projects happen.