Coins.ph / Brand Narrative Shift from E-wallet to Crypto-First

May 2022

Industry: Cryptocurrency, Mobile Payments
Target Audience: Coins Wallet users, Fintech users in Philippines
Timeline: 9 months from May 2022 to March 2023.
Teammates involved: Natalie, Franco, Jez, Dom (Intern)
Value proposition: Get your crypto journey started with Coins.ph

Background

Launched in 2014, Coins.ph is an established e-wallet app in the Philippines with a user base of 16 million. Since 2019, Coins.ph’s branding strategy has been increasingly targeted towards the e-wallet payments demographic, where the majority of its users pay bills and top up their mobile data for everyday fiat payments.

We identified that crypto users on the platform had a higher lifetime value (LTV) and average revenue per user (ARPU). However, crypto users often felt neglected, as crypto features and roadmaps had been on hold on the app for years.

I was tasked with shifting the branding narrative from e-wallet to positioning the brand as a crypto-first.

Role

Coins new app and rebranding

To simplify and make crypto concepts digestible and friendly to “normies” and the majority of the e-wallet users, we position the brand voice as a friendly Filipino financially-educated peer and friend.

I led the strategy, planning, and execution of the branding shift in two phases - online & IRL.

First phase

First, develop a social and community content strategy to increase its brand visibility and crypto share of voice among Filipino crypto-natives.

Through a series of targeted social content initiatives, localized Filipino memes, and user generated content engagement campaigns on X, Tiktok, Telegram and Discord, we involved the users in building the community’s voice and name.

Selected UGC and meme campaigns:

  1. #CoinsMemeMaster was launched to accompany the listing of $SHIB, a long time fan-requested token listing, on Coins.ph, where we saw 1,000+ SHIB meme submissions from our users in the first week.

  1. Naming the Community where we gave community the ownership and stake to create and name their own community. We received 8,000+ name submissions from the community and high voting engagement from the users.

  2. Weekly Lunch and Learn on Discord & Telegram, where users share photos of their Filipino lunch and a new crypto fact or tidbit they learn.

Second phase

JP Grabador, a Coins Champion, sharing how Coins.ph helps him to achieve his financial goals and why he wants to help others learn more about digital finance and cryptocurrency.

Launched Coins Champions, an ambassador program, to educate and onboard Filipinos about digital finance and introduced a series of crypto education activation events, both online and offline (i.e Crypto Free Throws at PBA Finals, Crypto Campus Roadshows in De La Salle and Ateneo de Manila).

Tapped into Coins Champions to rollout Coins Crypto Night and Trivia Nights to Cebu, Quezon City and Manila.

@coinsph_official We would like to extend our gratitude to those who attended the #Coinmunity Event: Coins Trivia Night last Friday, March 31 🧠 Hope you enjoyed the fun & facts we shared with you! 'Til the next one! 🎉 #fyp #foryou #qc #crypto #coinsph #cryptocurrency #cryptok #fypシ ♬ cupid twin version - ⟡ TRACYTRACKS ⟡

@coinsph_official Salamat kaayu, Cebuano Coinmunity! 🚀 Thanks to everyone who attended our first-ever Coinmunity Meetup in the Queen City of the South 💙 We hope to see you again soon! #fyp #foryou #cebu #crypto #cryptocurrency ♬ hold u down twitdasounds - TjⓂ️

Results

  1. Grew followers organically (without bots) from 800,000 to 960,000 in 9 months with a limited budget of $5,000 through localized memes, content strategy, & UGC engagement.

  2. Generated at least 20K UGC content across UGC and branded campaigns

  3. Expanded brand presence of Coins.ph and increased crypto share of voice from 40% to 52% in the Philippines.

Skills Utilised

  • Team Management
  • Content Strategy
  • Branding
  • Social Media Marketing
  • Community Marketing (i.e AMA, Campaigns)
  • Localized Memes
  • Event Marketing
  • Marketing Partnerships