CIMB Niaga Uses Comedy IP for OCTOBIZ Campaign
Banking campaigns for the SME segment in Indonesia typically follow a familiar pattern, with fictional characters designed specifically to deliver the product message from start to finish of the story. However, when CIMB Niaga and creative agency ALVA Digital Network sat down to design the OCTOBIZ campaign—a digital banking platform for small and medium-sized enterprises—they took a different path. Instead of building their own character, they chose to borrow a figure already known to the market: Bossman, the character played by Reza Rahadian in the My Stupid Boss film franchise.
The result of this collaboration is a three-episode series titled ‘Bossman Kejar Mimpi’, directed by Dimas Djayadiningrat. Familiar faces that have brought the characters to life for nearly a decade return: Reza Rahadian as Bossman, Bunga Citra Lestari as Diana, and Chew Kin Wah as Mr. Kho. The story is simple and very close to reality, with Bossman expanding into Indonesia with great confidence but a rudimentary financial system. The first episode, ‘Eyes Look’, pokes fun at oversight that replaces processes; ‘Mental Wellness Day’ highlights payroll chaos wrapped in a goodwill initiative; and ‘Buck-One’ depicts instinctive decisions that end up harming one’s own business.
From a ‘disruptive’ insight
Before the scriptwriting process, the ALVA Digital Network team dug into insights from many business owners. Interestingly, the team found honest admissions from them. ‘Many business owners secretly fear being like ’Bossman’. This fear is the most honest insight underpinning this campaign, and we’re bold enough to show it,’ revealed Marvin Ramaputra, Associate Creative Director at ALVA Digital Network.
The pattern that emerged from this process is almost always the same. Decisions are made based on feelings, not data. Payroll is delayed because cash flow is not tracked. Vendors are paid from personal accounts to speed up the process. Spreadsheets are only understood by one person: the boss himself. ‘These business owners are not incompetent people. Most of them are smart, resilient individuals who build something from nothing. But as a boss, you’re not immune to wrong decisions. The problem is, when that moment comes, there’s often no one in the room brave enough to stop you,’ said Michael Fabian K., Executive Creative Director at ALVA Digital Network.
Why Bossman, not a new character
The SME banking category in Indonesia is not short of campaigns with fictional characters, from home-based entrepreneurs and shop owners to young startups. This pattern is consistent because it gives the brand full control over the narrative, personality, and direction of the character’s story. CIMB Niaga’s choice to borrow Bossman—a figure with an established personality, history, and emotional bond with viewers—comes with different trade-offs.
According to Michael, there are three reasons behind this choice. The first concerns cultural reference efficiency. A character built from scratch can spend half the duration just introducing themselves, whereas when Bossman appears, the audience immediately understands who he is. ‘They remember why this character is loved, even having an emotional bond with all his chaos,’ he said. For him, this head start cannot be bought with any production budget.
The second reason concerns comedy credibility. When a bank tries to create its own funny character, the result often feels awkward. In contrast, My Stupid Boss comes with proven comedy authority in the Indonesian market, so the creative team doesn’t need to convince anyone that Bossman is funny.
The third, and most unconventional, reason concerns permission to tell the truth. ‘If CIMB directly says that many bosses in Indonesia make stupid decisions, the message would sound preachy,’ Michael explained. Conversely, when Bossman—a character repeatedly ‘forgiven’ by the audience—does it, the message can sink in without triggering resistance.
At that point, the logic of traditional banking campaigns is turned upside down. Instead of positioning the brand as the hero saving business owners, OCTOBIZ chooses to sit in the same seat as its audience, laughing at the chaos that might also exist in their own offices.
Three layers of success measurement
The ALVA Digital Network team measures the success of this campaign in three layers, each with different metrics that cannot substitute for one another.
The first layer is awareness. At this stage, the measure is not just reach, but whether the audience really watches to the end, how quickly the content spreads in the first 48 hours after launch, and whether organic conversations can thrive without brand prompting. For a serial format, completion rate and spread speed are more informative than just the number of viewers, given that audiences might watch the first episode without returning for the next.
The second layer is consideration. Here, the metrics shift from viewing to exploratory behaviour, from traffic to the OCTOBIZ landing page, the duration audiences spend there, to the depth of pages they explore. Clicks are just numbers. What’s sought is intent, an indication that the audience is not only watching but actively considering the product.
The third layer, and the hardest to achieve, is behavioural shift. At this layer, what’s measured is the activation and use of OCTOBIZ compared to the pre-campaign baseline. Sign-ups can be an illusion because audiences might register without ever really using the app, while active usage is proof that the campaign has successfully driven real financial behaviour. For a product like OCTOBIZ, this layer is what most determines whether the campaign works.