NIFTY RE-MIXED - not your 'run of the mill' NFO communication

A lot of mutual fund communication suffers from what I call the 'middle path wallpaper syndrome'.

What's that?

Taking the safe middle road to communication messaging. Smiling, happy faces....dreams being realised...childs education....daughters marriage....better lifestyle.... better home etc etc. Not just mutual funds...banks, insurance and even share broking advisory all fall in the same rut.

Kind of a financial services advertising ghetto - all financial services brands bunched up in the same small space( see my earlier post on this one).

But MOSt Shares M50 is different. To start with; it's a unique product.

And a unique product demands 'category busting communication!

But the task was not that easy.

MOSt Shares M50 is India’s 1st Fundamentally weighted ETF based on Nifty. 
Fundamental weighing based on NIFTY is essentially a combination of active and passive investing. MOSt Shares M50 takes the NIFTY 50 stocks and reassigns their weightage in a different proportion using Motilal Oswal AMC’s pre-defined methodology.This methodology is based on the fundamental performance and valuations of each stock(rather than market capitalisation)

Challenge :A unique product; but also a complex product to communicate

Which is where the leap of looking outside the standard category wallpaper for a vivid metaphor came in. And we found that in music.

The way MOST Shares M50 works is pretty much like the way a remix song does i.e it takes a classic/blue chip stocks and mixes the proportion of the stocks based on their fundamental factors.

 So in a sense MOST Shares M50 is the ‘NIFTY Remixed’.

The whole look, feel and mood of the campaign uses music as a metaphor. The usage of vivid visual imagery in the form of a DJ and pink colour scheme adds a freshness and vibrancy to the execution.

Have a look at the complete campaign here 

https://www.slideshare.net/ramnikchhabra/m50-ppt

Here's one product that's trying to escape the financial advertising ghetto!

Financial Services Brands - Who's showing me the way?

Why are brands so important in financial services?

For one the category is fairly young. Be it banking, insurance, mutual funds or stock broking; there is a lack of knowledge among consumers about which product is better, cheaper, faster. Hence the need for trustmarks.Secondly, being intangible (with at best, a future promise of return on investment), you can’t touch/feel/enjoy financial products off the shelf. You can’t even show them off to your friends (Sorry Apple fans; no iLoans!). And lastly ; financial products are well regulated and financial transactions typically are recurring and relatively long term. This makes it one category where the offerer is of more significant than the offering itself.

No wonder in recent times every financial services company is rushing to create a financial services brand.

But then creating a relevant and powerful financial services brand is challenging.

Challenge 1 :India is a country of dichotomoy. We have a low human development index of 128 and yet over 1,41,000 millionairres. 1.5million Indians graduate every year and yet a 35.2% of population is illiterate. A savings rate of of 39%(growing at 20% CAGR) and equity penetration of less than 2%. There are many (often opposite) shades to India. To be truly ubiquitous; financial brands would need to address this dichotomy.
Challenge 2: The exuberance of youth :With an average age of only 26 years; we are one of the youngest countries in the world. With youth comes ambition. People today look at not what’s affordable; but what’s aspirational. Fulfilling aspirations requires financial prosperity . A promise that financial brands can help fulfill. However; in promising financial prosperity in a credible and responsible lies the challenge.

Challenge 3 : India’s Changing Mindset towards Money
• The Past ‘Socialist’ Era : Money should be saved and hence ‘Earning – Saving = Expenditure’.
• Todays ‘Consumption’ Era : Money should be used and hence ‘Earning – Expenditure = Saving’.
• The Future ‘Investment’ Era : Money should grow and hence ‘Earning – Expenditure = Investment which should create wealth
The role of financial branding would have to reflect the changing Indian need i.e from saving to creating wealth
The challenges are steep. But the end of the challenge rainbow lies a pot of opportunity.

Opprtunity 1 : Savings Boom in the Next Trillion Dollar era
In the next 7-8 years; India's GDP is set to double to over 2 trillion USD. And with a savings rate reaching 40%; savings in India will be over USD 1 Trillion . We are already in the midst of a consumption boom. The opportunity for financial brands lies in converting the huge savings into an investment boom .

Opportunity 2: The Entrepreneur at the center of India’s growth model : India’s growth is market lead (unlike China's which is state induced). If you look at history; you will see that India was one of the world’s original capitalists. Entrepreneuralism is ingrained in our culture. Given the right empowerment , knowledge and environment(sometimes even without the environment!); we have within our DNA to create wealth. The opportunity for financial brands lies in creating the right circumstances.


Opportunity 3: The Indian Capital MarketContrary to popular perception of the risks involved; if we see the returns given by the stock market over a 30 year period ; we can see that the Sensex has grown 170 times in the past 30 years. An annual return of 18 %. Capital markets ; if seen from a disciplined and long term perspective; are a powerful medium for creating wealth .

The Role of Financial Brands in Financial Inclusion
Be it colas or mobilephones; a category becomes really big when the a critical mass of consumers get included into the category. And that’s when the Cokes , Pepsi’s , Airtel's and Vodafone's move from the fringes to mainstream consumption .The real opportunity for financial brands lies in helping get consumers included into the category. The brand that does so will reap the benefits of the Indian opportunity.

Hence a key role for financial brands and financial branding is in financial inclusion. Making consumers interested and empowered in investing by showing them the way to better investing. ‘Financial Empowerment’ can lead to ‘Financial Inclusion’. And ‘Financial Empowerment’ can only happen with knowledge of financial products and how to benefit from them to create wealth.

If financial brands are able to provide the right kind of education and knowledge; Indians (with their entrepreneurial/’Do it myself’ DNA) will be able to make themselves financially included! A financial brands role is hence to clear myths about investing . Educate on the right process. And hence make Indians Financially Empowered.

A step that we at MOSL have taken in this direction is the education initiative in the form of Value Investing Forum for education on long term Value Investing in the stock markets and also a series of films on investing versus trading and the role of research. Besides education of customers and intermediaries through investment camps.

Hence to summarise the role of financial brands : Provide ‘Knowledge’ that leads to Financial 'Empowerment’ which leads to ‘Financial Inclusion’

Are Iconic Technology Brands a myth?

Classical branding taught us about power brands that stand the test of time.Across market conditions , geographies and time.Have a good product, invest in your brand over time; and it will continue to be iconic.

But in the recent past in an increasingly 'instant' world; not too many technology brands seem to stand the test of time and tend to lose their aura pretty quickly.

Let's look at cars. From the 1920's to 1950s the power brands(pun unintended) in automobiles were from the Ford and General Motors stable- Pontiac, Chevy, Dodge, etc. Soon these were upstaged by European superbrands - Mercedez Benz , Porsche and Audi (rememebr the Quattro?). In the 80s; the hitherto quirky Japanese brands started gaining traction. Companies like Toyota (based on their reliability and quality values) and Honda(refinement) became the brands of desire- Lexus,Accord and recently; the Prius.So much so that in emerging markets; the American/European brands didn't stand a chance in the desirability stakes. But today;on the back of a recession; its the Korean brands that seem to have taken centerstage.

Even in PCs; brands like IBM gave way to 'hip' brands like Apple.Which today are fighting for their 'hipness/tech' status with upstarts like Acer.In software - Microsoft upstaged IBMs OS but then became the 'big bad wolf' to Google .And today; the Google brand is fighting online upstarts in the 'cooltech' stakes.

Take mobilephones - Motorola (remember the cool flipphone and Startac?)gave way to Nokia. Today Nokia may be the world's largest selling brand but is it hip/iconic? That space belongs to IPhone/Blackberry in the top end, Samsung in the middle market and a host of Chinese brands in the bottom end.

Even in consumer electronics iconic TV brands moved from RCA to Philips to Sony to Samsung to "I don't know what's hip today!" pretty quickly.

Evidence suggests that increasingly, technology brands seem to lose their sheen soon after they become big. In the technology space 'trust' doesn't seem such a big deal after all;when compared to sexiness/performance/newness.


Its almost that technology customers are rooting for the underdog!

So how does a technology brand stay iconic ?

By assuming that brand decay is inevitable; despite your best efforts.

So does one you invest in the brand? Or reinvent it to keep it continuously fresh? Or just create a new brand using the resources and credibility of the cash cow mother brand?

I'm still to figure that one out but currently I am tending to the latter.

But what about financial brands?

Evidence suggests for financial brands it's the complete opposite! Trust is the biggest deal and newness be damned! The older the brand, the bigger it gets(like compounded returns!).

But then that's the topic for a different post!

Cheers.

Motilal Oswal Education Films: About Time Someone Did This

In the stock markets some people make money. And many make mistakes.

The reason why there's a new campaign from Motilal Oswal that helps educate investors and traders about some basic home truths of investing/trading in shares that will help avoid these mistakes.

We keep telling these truths to clients when we meet them or when we present to them. Taking it onto a broader canvas was the next logical step.

There are three films that try to drive home these truths

Film 1 tells people that there are two styles - Investing & Trading. Investing is like a test match(long term, patience, fundamentals oriented etc) while Trading is like 20-20 cricket( fast paced, quick decisions, buy-sell is momentum oriented, high risk-high return etc). Both have their role. But you need to be sure as to what your style is. We have a profiler that helps people find out just that. Which they can get done on the phone if they call us.

Film 2 highlights a common mistake many people make. Which is that they start off being investors and then somewhere let their emotions or market pressure get to them and suddenly become traders. This is a dangerous situation. Somewhat like playing a Dilscoop to a bouncer in a test match. It may come -off once; but eventually its going to hurt you. So whether you are an investor or a trader; its important to stick to your gameplan. A difficult task no doubt; but who said its easy making money.A booklet that you can write to Motilal Oswal for helps you do that.

Film 3 is targetted to traders. Traders often get so caught up in the action of trading that they forget to keep a safety net. Almost like going to bat without putting your pads and other protection on. Trading is a high-risk/high-return game. While we look forward to the high returns ; we should try to minimise the high risk as well. And that's what Stop-Loss does. Writing to Motilal Oswal gets you a booklet on Stop Loss, how to use it and another one on how to be a successful trader. Stop Loss is the helmet that helps you face the bouncers in the market with confidence!

The films are on air since a week and have received an encouraging response.

Have a look and tell me what you think.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwjO7ntBOTs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAAurpwz5Go

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDFpIwSvPks


Cheers

Raju Hirani's Advertising Idea

Saw 3 Idiots last week. And marvelled at the way Raju Hirani has been able to string together a series of hits. Cinema that is not only meaningful; but also connects with the masses. Pretty much like big advertising ideas.

Which got me thinking- what is Raju Hirani's advertising idea? Just as advertising ideas have different executions based on a common theme; so do Raju Hirani's films.

Any ad idea has 3 strong foundations; so do Raju Hirani's films:
1. Essentially like any ad idea his films too are based on a strong insight.Pepsi in the early 90s had hundreds of executions ; all of which were based on one insight - everyone wants to feel young.. Similarly Raju Hirani's films are also based on a powerful insight- people are looking to be inspired. That's what his quasi-social messages do - be it having a 'human approach to humans',non-violence and the virtues of honesty or the latest 'knowledge is about learning'.
2. Next is a strong brand personality. Any brand with a strong advertising idea has a distinct personality. This becomes the signature of the brand. While the brand name of Hutch has changed to Vodafone; across different executions you see a distinct(almost signature) personality . Fevicol is another example. Similarly Mr Hirani embellishes his films with a unique personality - a kind of everyday humour that is funny; yet believable.
3. And thirdly; most advertising ideas have a catchy executional phrase/concept that creates buzz for the brand. A kind of shorthand for what people think it stands for. So Pepsi had 'Ye Dil Maange More', Hutch - the Doggy or Zoo Zoos and Nike 'Just Do It'. The executional phrase/concept may change from execution to execution but its role (to make the core ad idea come alive) remains unchanged . Which is what Raju Hirani does in all his films - be it 'Jadoo ki Jhappi', 'Gandhigiri' or ' All is bhell'!
So there you ahve it. The Raju Hirani ad idea de-constructed. An idea that works across subjects, classes, heroes and market conditions.

Wonder which brand is going to snap him up first to write(and direct) their next ad campaign?

Jungle Book

There are different tricks advertisers do to make their ads more appealing and cut through the clutter. One of them is the choice of the protagonist in the advertising.

First; there’s the chubby baby. Goo Goo Gaa Gaa and some chubby skin show brings out the maternal instincts of every woman viewer from 16 to 60. Even men can’t help their ‘Cho Chweet’ instincts when encountered with that characteristic gurgle. I still remember a famous ad of the 90s (infact Mid-Day rated it the best ad of the 90s) recruiting models for Johnson & Johnson. It simply said “Nude Models Wanted”! Or the client in the mid-90s telling me to show more skin (of the baby kind) for a consumer durable ad!

Then; there’s the cute (or precocious; take your pick) kid. The kid who wins your heart with his childlike innocence(latest Airtel ads) or ‘one-up on adults’ attitude( a Rin detergent ad of a kid with the Big B actually made the child a star – in a parallel lead to AB in the film Bhoothnath!).

Then ofcourse; there’s the celebrity. Sign one on and nothing else matters. From AB to SRK to MSD to all the gorgeous Lux women– celebrities cut-through.

Most recently though; there’s a new kind of clutter breaker taking over the Indian advertising firmament. A protagonist who does not need to be paid a bomb, who can always be counted upon to deliver a stellar performance, whose innate values can be linked seamlessly to the brands proposition. And who manages to strike a chord with a variety of audiences- without mouthing a word of dialogue (no language dub hassles with this one!).

The latest successful advertising protagonist is not human.

It’s the Vodafone Dog, the Cadbury’s Gorilla, the IDBI Elephant, the CEAT Rhino (sadly discontinued) and ofcourse the Merrill Lynch Bull.

In todays advertising age animals have found their place not just as chaaps(Bandar Chhaap Dant Manjan, Tiger Chhaap biscuit etc) ; but as brand ambassadors.

If movies can make money out of animals (Jungle Book, Shrek, Sharks Tale, Ice Age, Bugs Life, Eight Below, Free Willy, Babe etc etc); why not brands?

In recent times brand benefits and advertising cut-through seem to be delivered more effectively through other species that inhabit our planet. Arguably; with good reason.

The innate qualities of the animal get automatically superimposed onto the brand (without having to establish them using precious airtime). And human emotions communicated through non-humans somehow seem to resonate more with humans.What's more you don't need to pay the performers much. Just a super in minimum font stating that you didn't harm them during the shoot and a few thousands of rupees!

So let's celebrate the coming of age of the animal kingdom in advertising. If you think advertising is running out of animals to use as protagonists; don’t . The 2005 Millennium Ecosystem Assessment notes approximately 2 million species formally described!

As for their ability to deliver emotions effectively; see any Disney Cartoon. Snakes can be cute , fishes can be smart and donkeys can have attitude!

The Motilal Oswal Brand Campaign

The Brand Challenge –the financial advertising ghetto Due to the large number of players across asset classes in the investing space; the consumer is bombarded with umpteen messages from umpteen brands. Due to the similarities of the offerings; the lines between what one brand had to offer versus the other were extremely blurred. As a result all the financial brands were seen as offering similar offerings ; all bunched up close to one another – almost like a ghetto of brands. What’s more; Motilal Oswal being a late entrant did not have the legacy that some of the other brands (especially the multinational wealth management companies and Indian/foreign banks).The need of the hour was for a differentiated brand proposition in what was hitherto an undifferentiated space.


Understanding the Consumer The investor today can be divided into 3 archetypes 1. Self-directed – hard core traders who understand money and the stock markets. They do their own research and take investment decisions on their own. All they need is a speedy and reliable trading platform. 2. Validators – The bulk of today’s investors; they rely on an investment expert to provide them with research and insight into the markets. They use the advise given by the investment experts to decide on where to invest and where not to. 3. Delegators – People who do not have the time or the expertise to handle their investments. They delegate the same to experts who manage their money at their discretion. These would typically be people who invest in mutual funds, portfolio management schemes etc.


The Motilal Oswal Brand Differentiator Ever since the company was started in 1987; there has always been a strong focus on research based advice. Today; with 28 member equity analyst team tracking 200 companies across 26 sectors, research based advice is the Motilal Oswal brand differentiator. The proof of this can be seen in the numerous awards it has won at the AsiaMoney Brokers polls since 2003 as well as in the Starcom Mediavest Investment survey 2007, ET Starmine awards and Institutional Investor Awards for Research.


The Communication StrategyFrom the three consumer segments; the brand focus was on the validator archetype. Reason being that this was one segment that would be willing to pay a premium for the services that the brand would have to offer. Moreover; it also fit in very well with the brand proposition of research based advice.


Advertising Idea In the financial services space there are a plethora of brands trying to position themselves on providing the end benefit/payoff to the customer. As a result different brands of mutual funds, life insurance and wealth management were bombarding the customer with messages on better returns, fulfilling dreams, better service etc. Rather than focusing on these undifferentiated propositions; the brand positioned itself on an attitude. One that believed in putting research before everything else we do in the advice we give to our customers. Hence the advertising idea ‘Knowledge First’ To give the idea a larger than life feel, the creative idea was to link the fact that all great inventions, discoveries etc were based on knowledge. Hence be it science or creating wealth; it pays to know more.


Creatives

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wwjjHhGrEw


ResultsThe campaign broke in November 2007. We conducted a brand track in October 2007 and also in March 2008. In just 6 months of the campaign, brand recall has gone up from 64% to 89%. Brand Consideration from 24% to 58%. Brand Recommendation from 17% to 41%. On the key image parameter of ‘Has strong research’; brand scores have gone up from 12% to 52 %. (Source – Hansa Research Brand Track Study. See annexure for details) What’s more; in the Cirrus PR Tracking study for the year 2007-08; the company achieved a ‘visibility’ score of 6087, an ‘image’ score of 11020 and a ‘quality of exposure’ score of 181 – the second highest in the category(