ITV

Tag: Banking

  • ASCI fine-tunes rules for health and finance influencers

    ASCI fine-tunes rules for health and finance influencers

    MUMBAI: The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) has given its influencer guidelines a much-needed shot in the arm — and a dose of financial clarity. In a fresh update to its Influencer Advertising Guidelines (Addendum 2), ASCI has introduced sharper distinctions for influencers operating in the health and finance sectors.

    Previously, anyone posting about commercial goods and services in BFSI (banking, financial services, and insurance) or health and nutrition needed proper qualifications and certifications to avoid leading consumers astray. Now, the rules add a pinch of nuance: qualifications are mandatory only if influencers are dishing out technical information or advice likely to be interpreted as expert opinion.

    If it’s just generic promotion — say, an insurance company urging annual health check-ups through a lifestyle blogger, or a food influencer whipping up excitement for a health meal service — formal qualifications need not clutter their bios.

    ASCI  chief exective & secretary general Manisha Kapoor commented, “Influencer marketing has matured beyond simple endorsements and now often involves strategic partnerships for various aspects of brand communication. The updated guidelines bring in the required nuance for influencers operating in the BFSI and health & nutrition space.”

    Influencers keen to stay out of regulatory hot water can dive into the full update here.

  • NDTV Profit conclave 2025 unites industry leaders to shape India’s future

    NDTV Profit conclave 2025 unites industry leaders to shape India’s future

    MUMBAI : The NDTV Profit Conclave, a premier business event, is coming to Mumbai on 18 February 2025. With the theme ‘blueprint for Viksit Bharat 2047,’ the event will unite leading corporate and political figures to chart India’s journey toward becoming a developed nation by its 100 year of independence.

    The conclave will serve as a key platform for dialogue on inclusive growth, sustainability, governance, and youth empowerment, reflecting India’s commitment to long-term economic transformation. Industry stalwarts and policymakers, including Piyush Goyal, CS Setty, Raamdeo Agarwal, Ridham Desai, Anish Shah, Dipali Goenka, Nadir Godrej, and Ashishkumar Chauhan, will lead discussions on manufacturing, AI, banking, investment, and sustainability.

    Live coverage will be available on NDTV Profit’s tv & digital platforms from 10 am on 18 February. Attendees can register online, with entry granted on a first-come, first-served basis. 

  • Ramkumar Uppara roped in as Crisil communications director

    Ramkumar Uppara roped in as Crisil communications director

    MUMBAI:  Ramkumar Uppara, a seasoned public relations strategist with over 20 years of experience, has taken on the role of director of communications and public relations at Crisil. Uppara brings with him a wealth of expertise in corporate communications, crisis management, and stakeholder engagement.

    Most recently, as senior vice president of PR and communications at Ujjivan Small Finance Bank, he played a pivotal role in transforming the bank into a leading retail institution, aligning communication strategies with the bank’s business objectives. His initiatives enhanced stakeholder relationships and reinforced the bank’s commitment to financial inclusion.

    Uppara has also held significant positions at renowned organisations including Ketchum Sampark and Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, where he honed his skills in reputation management and brand advocacy. Throughout his career, he has earned recognition for crafting strategic PR campaigns that elevate brand visibility and drive significant business growth.

    With a diverse background spanning sectors such as banking, healthcare, and real estate, Uppara is poised to bring innovative PR strategies to Crisil,  enhancing the firm’s communication framework and overall market presence.

  • Havas Worldwide India creates brand film for Stashfin

    Havas Worldwide India creates brand film for Stashfin

    Mumbai: Stashfin, the fintech platform, has launched a new campaign to drive awareness about its unique offering. Stashfin provides instant access to funds in a seamless and efficient manner with a flexible mode of repayment, making it one of the most convenient digital lending platforms.

    Created by Havas Worldwide India, the campaign promotes an innovative product that allows customers to get instant funds for a variety of needs, providing them with the ideal financial boost in the easiest and most hassle-free manner.

    Stashfin has been dedicatedly working towards the financial inclusion of various customer segments who find it difficult to be accepted by traditional banking systems, with a brand promise of “Nobody in India should be credit-starved.”

    The company also assists the under-represented in developing their credit footprint, allowing them to improve their quality of life. Stashfin provides flexible tenures ranging from three to 36 months; quick processes and easy application; instant funds; and the unique proposition of only paying interest on the amount used.

    With a quirky approach in the two-film campaign, a witty superhero fumbles and appears to be an antihero, unable to use his superpowers to help those around him. However, the only good he does is introduce others to the all-new Stashfin credit line app, which becomes their superpower as well.

    Speaking about the campaign, Stashfin co-founder Shruti Aggarwal said, “Stashfin has always strived to provide a positive customer experience, which is why we focused on every detail of making our product simple to use. With the goal of making Stashfin’s offering available to everyone who needs credit, it is critical that credit be made available to the majority in an effortless way. As Stashfin plays a critical role in fulfilling people’s needs, it is evidently a superhero. With our latest films, we want to show how Stashfin, as a superpower, can help anyone in need.”

    “The ever-changing fintech space allows us to tell very interesting stories, and collaborating with a brave brand like Stashfin has been great fun. We are always eager to take on the challenge of portraying the dynamic fintech space as not only exciting but also relatable and aspirational. A bumbling superhero who makes mistakes is a novel concept that communicates the brand’s core concept of quick and easy access to funds. I’m confident that, like our previous collaboration, this one will bear fruit too, with people choosing the brand Stashfin,” added Havas Group India chairman & chief creative officer Bobby Pawar.

  • R K Swamy launches Amrit Mahotsav Campaign for finance ministry

    R K Swamy launches Amrit Mahotsav Campaign for finance ministry

    Mumbai: The ministry of finance has released a special music video called “Thank You” as part of the “Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav” celebrations, which mark the 75th anniversary of India’s independence. 

    The song was composed by the duet Salim-Sulaiman and has a star cast of singers in several languages. It was written and conceptualised by R K SWAMY. This music video stands out since it was created as originals in 11 languages and was originally rendered in each language.

    The video is intended to recognise the contributions of everyone involved in the ministry as well as the workers in the banks, insurance, and other financial services sectors to nation-building and the fight against the Covid pandemic.

    R K SWAMY executive creative director Sangeetha N said, “We wanted to break the clutter for these special people who never shut down their service even during Covid, so that the country could cope. We cast for talent in every language, and we have a lineup of the best of them. Remarkably, there was so much enthusiasm for this project from everyone. It shows in the genuine expression of gratitude we could capture both in the song and in the video.”

    Music composer Salim Merchant commented, “This was a super special project for us. It was a privilege and an honour to be able to execute this on behalf of the ministry of finance. It was a special thought. It needed a magical expression. We were fortunate to get such good talent to participate. Hats off to Team R K SWAMY for their conception and management of this project.”

  • BankBazaar uses music to make you #GoPaperless

    BankBazaar uses music to make you #GoPaperless

    MUMBAI: Online financial marketplace, BankBazaar, has launched a #GoPaperless music video to encourage digital adoption for finance-related queries. Ditching the staid old set-up, the music video gives personal finance a fun twist and explains the advantages of paperless banking in an unexpected new format.

    Finance, despite its seriousness, is thought to be boring and dry. Its complex nature and lack of adequate information have kept people aloof. Today, paperwork is giving way to digital even as seamlessness and convenience are the new buzz words.

    BankBazaar is offering a paperless e-KYC platform for instant loan approval. With digital documentation, sanction time can be as low as one business day. The new digital campaign elaborates how these changes can make the life of the customer simpler and give them faster results.

    BankBazaar brand marketing head Prince Thomas says, “BankBazaar has always tried to bring about a change in the way people think about finance. This time, BankBazaar attempts to break the norm of finance as a boring topic and talk about all the benefits of paperless finance through an exciting music video. Today, as the world moves on from long, tedious, paper-based processes to instant and paperless processes, it is essential that customers understand what this means and how to leverage it best. We are trying to do this in a way that makes imparting this information as well as receiving it fun.”

  • BFSI’s changing communication in the digital era

    BFSI’s changing communication in the digital era

    MUMBAI: BFSI equals boring. That is usually what people think about anything to do with banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI). You may have witnessed how their ads tend to be dull and monotonous. But, lately, the BFSI companies have been the forerunners in the digital revolution and the drab tones have given way to smarter messaging.

    The sector comprises of commercial banks, insurance companies, non-banking financial companies, cooperatives, pensions funds, mutual funds and other smaller financial entities. This industry’s clear shift toward digitisation and virtualisation of communication, despite the highly regulated market, is transforming the banking experience for consumers and representatives. BFSI sector was one of the earliest entrants to leverage digital medium to connect with consumers by proving online banking and insurance facilities.

    IDBI BANK true friendship ad:

    The BFSI sector has seen a shift in behaviour and communication plays a part in both capturing and supporting the change. Over the years, as digital caught pace, BFSI companies have tried to leverage it differently from offline. At the forefront was building communication and conversations that speak to the attitudes and trends of online consumers. Moreover, digital also allows the sector to have direct contact with the consumer in a controlled and transparent way, which the traditional model limits.

    BankBazaar #GoPaperless ad:

    Lately, the sector has experimented with creative and innovative ads through good storytelling rather than just promoting the product, which was the case earlier. Businesses are opening their eyes to the value of using video for their marketing and communications. This involves breaking down information into easily digestible sound-bites and not having customers pour over hundreds of words to understand the technical aspects of the products/services they are purchasing. Kotak Mahindra Bank even came up with India’s first downloadable bank account – 811, which has made opening a fully functional bank account a matter of 5 minutes or less.

    The tough task for BFSI is to make a low-involvement area a very attractive one for customers. Kotak Mahindra Bank executive vice president Elizabeth Venkatraman points out, “The effectiveness of the communication depends on the apt choice of media. Marketers have been closely observing the changing customer segments and their behaviour, and have been trying to create distinctive ideas, each time.

    #LaterMaybeLate – Kotak Life Insurance ad:

    With fin-tech startups like BankBazaar.com and paisabazaar.com trying to change the market, customers can get instant loan or policy online without having to step out of the house.

    Today, banks and insurance companies are ardent social media users to communicate to customers about their offerings like credit card offers, life insurance policies or home loans. While Aegon Life Insurance spends more than 90 per cent of its brand money on digital media, Kotak Mahindra and IDBI Federal Life Insurance shell out 40-50 per cent of their advertising budget on digital platforms.

    BFSI ads work best when the communication is two-way, which is restricted on TV. Unlike FMCG, where a brand can mass-target, BFSI needs to focus on individual needs. In-cinema advertising, a favourite spot to pick customers, may soon wither as the spends in this area are already being reallocated to other mediums.

    Aegon Life Insurance chief digital officer Martijn De Jong says, “We tried using in-cinema couple of years back and the medium is not very cost effective compared to other forms. The only advantage is its localised reach.”

    On a similar note, IDBI Federal Life Insurance CMO head product & strategy Karthik Raman believes that in-cinema advertising is not as effective as it was earlier because the cost of advertising has risen but the effect has reduced. Venkatraman points out that though the medium gives quick impact and is less cluttered, the effectiveness still depends on perception as there is no industry metric for measurement.

    Print, a medium that has been around for centuries is starting to lose its sheen among the BFSI sector as the cost per ad is very high, forcing the industry to shift to cost-effective mediums such as OOH (Out Of Home), digital and BTL (Below The Line).

    It is left to see whether BFSI can make it to the top of the memory rank of customers when recollecting their most memorable ads.

  • Span to create MoF media campaign

    Span to create MoF media campaign

    MUMBAI: Span Communications has won a media campaign for the Ministry of Finance, Government of India focusing on demonetisation and making India a cashless economy.

    Understanding the high level of cash dependency in India, the campaign is based on the theme — Chhodo Kal ki Batein — highlighting the ease of digital transactions through various platforms and moving with the times, accepting the change.

    Actor-director-producer Ajay Devgan also participated in the promotion of the campaign and urged the public to push digital and e-transactions to the forefront, making e-banking, e-wallets, and other transaction apps more prevalent.

  • Span to create MoF media campaign

    Span to create MoF media campaign

    MUMBAI: Span Communications has won a media campaign for the Ministry of Finance, Government of India focusing on demonetisation and making India a cashless economy.

    Understanding the high level of cash dependency in India, the campaign is based on the theme — Chhodo Kal ki Batein — highlighting the ease of digital transactions through various platforms and moving with the times, accepting the change.

    Actor-director-producer Ajay Devgan also participated in the promotion of the campaign and urged the public to push digital and e-transactions to the forefront, making e-banking, e-wallets, and other transaction apps more prevalent.