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Tag: IDBI Bank

  • 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.

  • AICL to transform annual reports from boring vanilla to interactive

    AICL to transform annual reports from boring vanilla to interactive

    MUMBAI: Annual Reports is just more than numbers, it’s a piece of handiwork through which a company can promote itself, its prospects to its various stakeholders.  It is no longer just a compilation of statistics.

     

    And to make them more interactive rather than just plain vanilla, AICL Communications, a full-service strategic communications consultancy, has taken upon itself to change the way one looks at the boring text running over pages and pages.

     

    A recent survey by Burson-Marsteller found that 95 per cent of chief executives in the US believe corporate reporting plays a critical role in achieving key business objectives. To bring that thought and change in India as well, AICL is assisting several Indian corporates in giving shape and character to their annual reports, paving the way for stakeholder groups to understand them better.

     

    The company has big daddies of various categories as its clients. Reliance Industries, Zee, Hindustan Unilever, Kotak Mahindra Bank, IDBI Bank, Maruti Suzuki, Tata Group, Hero MotorCorp, to name a few.

     

    AICL Communications CEO Arvind Agrawal says, “Many companies now recognise the significant role an annual report plays in providing a road map of key messages and strategic direction. The role of annual reports has been largely changed by innovations in technology that have broadened access to information. At AICL, we are partnering the best Indian brands to help them create a corporate image among the investor community that is commensurate with their business potential.”

     

    The thought is to add spunk and interactivity in addition to containing relevant information, visuals and imagery. Today, good annual reports are as essential as good advertising for any company. The best practices to create a good annual report according to Agrawal are: data visualization, use of imagery to highlight company’s scale, highlight company’s contribution to people and the planet through its CSR.

     

    “Internet too has changed the way people look at things. We believe that if one can access the annual report online then it becomes very interactive,” says Agrawal while stating the example of HUL, Zee on how such companies have created micro-sites for their annual reports.

     

     “We have immense respect for the work and effort AICL invests to make our reports an interesting read. These reports not only help us gain a leadership position in the minds of current and prospective stakeholders, but also allows us to clearly state our goals and pioneering initiatives in the space we operate in,” added Zeel global head brands Ronald Landers for the company which is in its fifth year of association with the consultancy.

     

    AICL operates in the specialised domain of corporate reporting, with services spanning annual and sustainability reports, internal communication, digital and moving image solutions.

     

    When asked if the company is looking at raising funds from the market, Agarwal pointed out that since it operates in a niche space and has a high profile clientele, the company doesn’t need funds from the market and are self-sufficient at present.

     

    The company’s quest to underscore the importance of reporting has driven it to continuously strive towards innovation in the domain. In doing so, it has built a portfolio of clients which comprise nearly 40 per cent of the BSE Sensex, 30 per cent of the Nifty 50 and three of the eight Indian Fortune 500 companies, besides multiple MNCs and PSUs.

  • Ads piggyback kids

    Ads piggyback kids

    MUMBAI: The latest advertisement to hit television screens is testimony to the fact that advertisers can’t seem to get enough of children when it comes to publicising brands. And this includes brands which don’t target kids; not even remotely.

    The ad in question is for IDBI Bank and rolls with a little girl sitting beside her friend, saying she loves to eat ganna (sugarcane) but can’t until she gets a new set of teeth which is why her pal is busy peeling it for her. The commercial ends with a voiceover: ‘Bank aisa, dost jaisa’. Two other ads are part of the campaign conceptualised by Ogilvy & Mather (O&M) and have children speaking of their friends in different scenarios.

    O&M NCD Abhijit Avasthi exults: “When we started work on the new campaign of IDBI Bank, we were very clear that we are changing the campaign and not the values that the bank stands for. The idea we came up with does exactly this. In an innocent and charming way, we are telling people ‘What if a bank would do what a friend would do’. When you say something like this, you really don’t need to say much more.”

    Indeed, the ad has charmed its way into people’s hearts, especially on social media. But that doesn’t stop one from wondering what kids can possibly have in common with a bank!

    Again, this isn’t the first instance where children have been used to sell products and services which they have nothing to do with; be it detergents, power inverters, cars, insurance policies or e-commerce websites. So what is it about kids that advertisers find so attractive? Ad veteran Alyque Padamsee reasons that people notice kids more than they do adults. “It is heart warming to see kids on screen. And who does not love them?” says he.

    Padamsee gives the example of Vodafone’s earlier campaign. “Vodafone used a little boy and her dog for its ‘everywhere you go, our network follows’ campaign, and it worked for them. Everyone remembers the commercial and it beautifully conveys the message the telecom company wants to tell people.”

    “Anything in life can be told through the eyes of a child. It’s not difficult,” says BBDO’s chairman and chief creative officer Josy Paul who elaborates on the point by giving the example of the agency David (founded in 2000 by BBDO) and adds, “When you joined the agency you got a resignation letter, not an appointment letter. You had to resign from adulthood to join David. The whole philosophy was to think like a child.”

    The other factor is that kids today play an important role in family decisions, say buying a car. Remember the ad with the Sardar kid whose car doesn’t run out of petrol ever – that’s how Maruti Suzuki tried to convince people about the car’s performance.

    Ernst & Young consultant (media) Mihir Date goes to the extent of calling present-day children decision makers. “What they watch on television is what they want. For example, my nephew only watches Cartoon Network but wants everything shown on the channel, be it a kiddie product or not,” he says.

    Peer pressure too plays an important part where kids want what their friends have; points out Date, adding, “And marketers have been smart enough to understand the GenY. It is working in their favour to use kids in advertisements wherein both kids and parents get targeted.”

    There are enough and more examples where brands and their creative agencies have used situations or scenarios where kids fit in beautifully, and the overall image is always happy and colourful. Say Nerolac paints, now being promoted by Shah Rukh Khan, which earlier had the jingle ‘Jab Ghar Ki Raunak Badhani Ho’ with happy scenes of children prancing around while the walls of their homes are being painted in bright colours.

    However, there’s a flip side as well to using kids in commercials.

    Says ad film director Prahlad Kakar, “If the brand value or what they stand for is not woven well into the story, then the message will be lost.”

    Padamsee agrees: “Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan are all over the place. They endorse so many brands; do we remember which commercial stands for which brand? Hardly… Similarly, one might notice and love the kids in an advertisement but that doesn’t mean that people will remember the brand. Many a times, the ad gets noticed but the brand isn’t.”

    While this is an open debate, it’s true that putting children in the ad is a sure way of getting viewers to like it, most of the times at least…

  • Ogilvy Mumbai positions IDBI Bank as ‘Bank aisa dost jaisa’

    Ogilvy Mumbai positions IDBI Bank as ‘Bank aisa dost jaisa’

    MUMBAI: After a successful run of the elephant campaign, IDBI Bank and Ogilvy have decided to refresh the communication.

    While friendship was always the ultimate message in all their previous work, it was time to say it differently. Elaborating on the association, Ogilvy & Mather executive chairman and creative director, south Asia Piyush Pandey said, “Our initial thrust for IDBI Bank a few years ago had been to tell the world that just because we are a big nation-building bank, does not mean that we are not approachable to address your smallest need. And now when we look at the next step in the evolution of the communication, what better than the universal emotion of childhood friendships to symbolise the role that IDBI Bank plays in its customers’ and partners’ lives.”

    On the campaign, O&M NCD Abhijit Avasthi said, “When we started work on the new campaign of IDBI Bank, we were very clear that we are changing the campaign and not the values that the Bank stands for. The idea we came up with does exactly this. In an innocent and charming way we are telling people ‘What if a bank would do what a friend would do’. When you say something like this, you really don’t need to say much more.”

    The challenge before the creative agency was to craft the dialogues for each one of them. O&M group creative director Harshad Rajadhyakasha explained, “We wanted moments from a child’s world, because anything else would have been unfair to the campaign and fake. In one film a kid says, “One day my pant tore in school and my friend walked behind me all day to cover me.” It had to be as honest and as silly as that.”

  • Ogilvy Mumbai positions IDBI Bank as Bank aisa dost jaisa

    Ogilvy Mumbai positions IDBI Bank as Bank aisa dost jaisa

    MUMBAI: After a successful run of the elephant campaign, IDBI Bank and Ogilvy have decided to refresh the communication.

     

    While friendship was always the ultimate message in all their previous work, it was time to say it differently. Elaborating on the association, Ogilvy & Mather executive chairman and creative director, south Asia Piyush Pandey said, “Our initial thrust for IDBI Bank a few years ago had been to tell the world that just because we are a big nation-building bank, does not mean that we are not approachable to address your smallest need. And now when we look at the next step in the evolution of the communication, what better than the universal emotion of childhood friendships to symbolise the role that IDBI Bank plays in its customers’ and partners’ lives.”

     

    On the campaign, O&M NCD Abhijit Avasthi said, “When we started work on the new campaign of IDBI Bank, we were very clear that we are changing the campaign and not the values that the Bank stands for. The idea we came up with does exactly this. In an innocent and charming way we are telling people ‘What if a bank would do what a friend would do’. When you say something like this, you really don’t need to say much more.”

     

    The challenge before the creative agency was to craft the dialogues for each one of them. O&M group creative director Harshad Rajadhyakasha explained, “We wanted moments from a child’s world, because anything else would have been unfair to the campaign and fake. In one film a kid says, “One day my pant tore in school and my friend walked behind me all day to cover me.” It had to be as honest and as silly as that.”

    The campaign will see four films wherein in each one there are two kids and one kid is telling people why the other one is his or her friend. Curious’ Vivek kakkad has directed the films.

  • Kolkata firm picks up 12.5% stake in BAG Films

    Kolkata firm picks up 12.5% stake in BAG Films

    MUMBAI: B.A.G Films is diluting 12.55 per cent on an expanded equity to Kolkata-based High Growth Distributors (P) Ltd. for Rs 261 million.

    The production house will be making a preferential allotment of 13.07 million shares at a price of Rs 20 per share. “We have expansion plans and the funds will be utilised for this,” says B.A.G Films managing director Anuradha Prasad.
    Earlier India Bulls promoter Sameer Gehlaut acquired 25 per cent stake in B.A.G Films for Rs 262 million. On the expanded equity, Gehlaut’s holding will drop to 19 per cent.

    The promoters will have 38.39 per cent after the dilution, Prasad adds. Gehlaut’s open offer at Rs 13 per share for a further 20 per cent stake (as per regulatory requirement) would find no taker as the share price of B.A.G Films has jumped to Rs 23.

    Meanwhile, the company has decided to increase its authorised share capital from 100 million t0 125 million equity shares of Rs 2 each. The board has also given an in-principle approval to change the name of the company to B.A.G. Media Ltd or any variant thereof, subject to approvals.

    In the FM radio business run through subsidiary company B.A.G Infotainment, IDBI Bank has picked up a 10 per cent stake. The deal with Bank of Baroda for a similar stake did not conclude, says Prasad.

  • India Bulls promoter Sameer Gehlaut to buy 25 per cent in B.A.G Films

    India Bulls promoter Sameer Gehlaut to buy 25 per cent in B.A.G Films

    MUMBAI: India Bulls promoter Sameer Gehlaut is showing interest in the media business. The Delhi-based entrepreneur is buying around 25 per cent stake in TV content company B.A.G Films for Rs 262 million.

    The acquisition is through a preferential allotment of up to 20,250,000 equity shares of Rs 2 each at a price of Rs 13 per share. Gehlaut will have to make an open offer for a further 20 per cent stake which if subscribed totally, would make him the largest shareholder in the company.

    The promoters of B.A.G Films will hold around 37.5 per cent on the expanded equity. But their stake will go up after conversion as they are being issued preferential allotment of up to 10,000,000 warrants. The conversion price is fixed at Rs 13 per warrant. Gehlaut’s shareholding will also see change after the conversion.

    “Gehlaut has come in as a pure financial investor. We will be using the funds to meet our expansion plans,” says B.A.G Films managing director Anuradha Prasad.

    B.A.G Films will be investing Rs 160 million in new media and the animation business. “Besides, we will be retiring a part of our debt to Yes Bank,” says Prasad.

    B.A.G Films’ radio venture, run through a subsidiary company B.A.G Infotainment, has an investment outlay of Rs 480 million including the licence fee paid for 10 stations. B.A.G Infotainment rcently roped in IDBI Bank and Bank of Baroda for picking up 10 per cent each.

    B.A.G Films will also be issuing stock options of up to 10,000,000 equity shares to its permanent employees at Rs13 per equity share.

    The scrip touched a high of Rs 15.68 on Monday after opening at Rs 13.40. “The price of the scrip will stay firm and may see one more surge before steadying,” says an analyst in a broking firm.

  • Pyramid Saimira plans Rs 3 billion film funding, ties up with banks

    Pyramid Saimira plans Rs 3 billion film funding, ties up with banks

    MUMBAI: Financial institutions are structuring film financing in innovative ways. Chennai-based cinema chain operator Pyramid Saimira Theatre Ltd has tied up with banks, an insurance company and a film completion bond firm to provide an annual corpus of Rs 3 billion for funding film producers.

    IDBI Bank and HDFC have taken the lead and the guarantees from Infinity Film Completion Services (IFCS) will be re-insured by General Insurance Corporation (GIC). IFCS is a division of Infinity India Advisors Pvt Ltd.
    Pyramid Saimira plans to produce 25 movies through this route. “Our company will act as the guarantor to the banks for funding the producers. We will own all rights of exploitation including theatrical, satellite TV and international. This will provide a content pipeline of 25 films for our theatres. As we are also in film distribution, this will complete the value chain in the movie business,” says Pyramid Saimira managing director PS Saminathan.

    Pyramid has entered into an MOU with IFCS which will issue the completion guarantee for films to be procured by the company in the languages of Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam. These guarantees are fully re-insured by GIC. This agreement is a major step towards creation of film content supply chain for us and in effect indirectly funds close to Rs 3 billion of working capital as off balance sheet funding,” says Saminathan.

    The company will, thus, be able to build of library of movies while feeding the supply chain to the theatres and the distribution business. “Besides, film producers will get access to cheaper and organised finance. The banks will be charging around 14 per cent interest as against the unorganised charge of 40 per cent,” says Saminathan.

    Pyramid Saimira recently raised Rs 844.4 million through a public float to part-finance its expansion plans. This included refurbishing theatres after taking them on long term lease and installing digital systems of delivery.