YouTube content released by the financial sector is scoring a string of hits. Analysis says the content goes beyond simple product promotion by combining storytelling and entertainment to broaden user touchpoints while lifting brand awareness and affinity at the same time.

KB Financial Group created a leading success case with its campaign video, "Daesi Sseuneun Daehan-i Salatda". The video surpassed 10 million views in about a month after its release.

The content is marked by a modern reinterpretation of the meaning of the independence movement and a structure that combines a public participation campaign. It encouraged participation by accumulating a set donation amount each time users shared the video or clicked "like". The assessment is that a structure that drives action beyond simple viewing helped fuel its spread. As it established itself as empathy-driven content, KB Financial plans to additionally release content that revisits historical events through follow-up campaigns.

Hana Financial Group chose a strategy to expand the content format itself. "Hana Universe," released to mark its 20th anniversary, is characterised by adopting the format of a short film running about 9 minutes.

Moving away from short ads, it produced a story-driven video and tried a new type called "banktainment". It naturally wove financial services and brand messages into a comic episodic structure set inside an aircraft cabin. It is also notable that it raised the completeness of the content itself by combining casting featuring well-known figures with cinematic direction. Rather than putting financial products front and centre, it focused on lowering users' resistance by integrating them into the narrative.

Woori Financial secured impact through collaboration with an externally popular creator. After creator Kim Seon-tae (김선태), who recently opened a personal YouTube channel, released content visiting Woori Bank, it recorded high view counts in a short period. The video also drew attention and became a talking point as it was the first advertising content on Kim's channel.

The video topped 1 million views within 3 hours of release and neared 4 million in 2 days. The result reflects the influence of the creator, who has already secured more than 1.5 million subscribers despite being in the early stages of the channel's launch. The video naturally included a headquarters visit, employee experience and interviews with management, conveying the inside of a financial institution. The assessment is that the effect of the collaboration model was confirmed, given the content format has a lower barrier to entry than existing ads and delivers high user immersion.

Toss YouTube subscribers top 700,000, expanding customer touchpoints

Viva Republica, the operator of Toss, is delivering differentiated results based on the competitiveness of its own channels. Its YouTube channel "Moneygraphy" exceeded 700,000 subscribers as of the 22nd, and cumulative views topped 190 million, eyeing 200 million views.

Moneygraphy is characterised by an approach that breaks from traditional finance content centred on investment information and combines consumption, culture and trends. Its flagship "B-ju-ryu Economics" series secured both mass appeal and expertise by explaining economic structures through everyday topics such as webtoons, coffee and distribution.

As its popularity grew through word of mouth, the fact that subscriber growth was driven mainly by organic inflows rather than advertising or events is also assessed as an indicator of the content's own competitiveness.

In this way, YouTube strategies in the financial sector are diversifying into participation campaigns, story-based videos, creator collaborations and building proprietary content platforms.

In the past, information delivery centred on product explanations dominated. Recently, the entertainment value and completeness of the content itself have emerged as key competitive factors. That is because structures that increase user time spent and induce voluntary spread are determining performance.

The industry sees this trend as likely to take root as a mid- to long-term brand strategy beyond short-term marketing. In particular, as financial services are being reshaped around non-face-to-face channels, platforms such as YouTube are functioning as key channels to secure touchpoints with customers. As metrics such as how long people watch and how much content is shared are emerging as important indicators beyond simple view counts, content planning capabilities are increasingly linking to financial companies' competitiveness.

A financial industry official said, "It is difficult to draw customers' interest just by explaining products simply," and added, "It seems that a strategy that naturally lets people experience the brand by raising the completeness and empathy of the content itself is becoming more important."