This commercial deserves to wear the “epic” adjective. It’s a big, noisy and ambitious anthem by co-title sponsor, HSBC, and global marketing agency, 160over90, to get people excited about Hong Kong’s famed Rugby Sevens tournament runs this weekend, April 17-19.

The campaign builds on the 2025 concept, LET’S SVNS THIS CITY, now featuring rugby star, Bryan Habana. With Hong Kong and HSBC both synonymous with Rugby Sevens, the campaign doubles down on what makes their partnership unique as well as building off the high-energy carnival vibe, where elite sport meets fancy-dress celebrations, capturing Hong Kong’s spirit and energy.

The campaign features Hong Kong China rugby players old-and-new, including Max Woodward, Salom Yiu, James Christie, Christy Cheng, plus Bryan Habana, dressing the city as super fans in excitement for the tournament.

The hero film and teasers are airing on broadcast, in-stadium, social and DOOH.

The celebratory music theme is a collaboration between Asian music production company, Syn (founded by Nick Wood and Simon Le Bon of Duran), a Cantonese lyricist and an 80’s cantopop singer. It infuses the campaign with feel-good nostalgia to the beat of We Built This City, by Starship. The Cantonese cover of the song channels the authentic culture of ‘80s cantopop, right down to the fine musical details of many hits Hong Kongers grew up with – including unexpected moments of English.

More widely, HSBC is ‘SVNS’ing the city, dressing up the famous Aqualuna junk in Victoria Harbour, hospitality suites and the HSBC Premier Elite Hot Seat at the tournament and providing bilingual English and Cantonese karaoke lyrics for fans to sing along to whenever the ad plays.

Andrea de Vincentiis, global head of brand partnerships & regional head of brand, HSBC, stated, “For over 160 years we’ve been proud to call Hong Kong home. Supporting the Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong SVNS is a chance to show our commitment to the city and community that makes the tournament so great. This campaign celebrates all the people of Hong Kong, encouraging everyone to come together like they always do, as the tournament celebrates its 50th anniversary.”

Katie Moore and Nicholas Sellars, creative directors, APAC at 160over90 (and Aussie expats), added, “It’s not every day you get to partner with a brand like HSBC to kick off Hong Kong’s biggest sporting event (and party). So we grabbed the opportunity by the fake Viking horns, going big and dressing up the iconic Hong Kong skyline and locally famous Aqualuna. After finding the perfect stadium anthem, we were lucky enough to work with sound studio, Syn, to reimagine the track in authentic Cantopop detail – Simmons toms, white noise, whip cracks and all.”

Credits:

Client: HSBC
Brand Partnerships Marketing Manager, HSBC: Adam Webb
Global Head of Brand Partnerships & Regional Head of Brand, HSBC: Andrea de Vincentiis  

Agency: 160over90
SVP Asia Pacific: Gavin Hadley
Director, Partnerships: Seb Page
Account Director, Partnerships: Harry Thorp
Senior Account Manager: Ella Dean
Account Manager, Partnerships: Zephy Chung
VP, Strategy: Domina Ball 
Senior Strategist: Kaylis Cheng
Creative Director, APAC: Katie Moore 
Creative Director, APAC: Nicholas Sellars
Senior Creatives: Paddy O’Mahoney, Rattiya Suphatanasilpa, Henry Kember, Tim Green Design: Koen Arbouw, Alexander Glavatsky-Yeadon
Executive Producer: Honae MacNeill

Production Company: Austin Studio 
Executive Producer: Celia Nicholas
Director: Tim Green 
DOP: Grégoire Lière
Photographer: Owen Yu
Service Company: Spur Link
Executive Producer: Pat Lui
Edit: Tim Mauger @ The Editors
Music Supervision: Trailer Media
Audio: Syn
Colourist: Yanni Kronenberg
VFX: White Chocolate