From 'OH' TO 'M.O'!

 In the past 2 years, the number of new investors entering the equity markets has grown by leaps and bounds.

The bulk of these investors are new to market and adopting the Do It Yourself ( D.I.Y) approach and investing primarily through mobile apps. This approach is fraught with risks as when you are new to the markets; you need all the advise you can get to select the right stocks and navigate volatility.

In the equity broking space there are two kinds of models. 

1. Discount brokers offer cheap broking rates and a transaction platform to customers . 

2. Value added brokers that charge slightly higher broking rates  but provide a slew of value added features in terms of news, research, education, advise etc to help D.I.Y investors start investing right.

As a value added broker ; Motilal Oswal offers a unique advise based broking experience. This includes an equity advisor and unique digital advisory tools. This unique proposition has been communicated through our earlier campaigns 

To focus on some of the unique advisory features available on the Motilal Oswal Investor app; we have created a series of films focusing on each advisory feature available on the MO Investor app that will help newbies invest right.

Using a slice of life creative approach, the films demonstrate the individual feature in an easy to understand way. Objective is to get viewers to download the MO Investor app

The campaign is primarily on digital mediums and started in Jan 2022.

Have a look 

SOLID INVESTING ADVICE  

PRE-PACKAGED ADVISORY BASKETS

PORTFOLIO RESTRUCTURING

BUZZING STOCK UPDATES

CUSTOMISED MARKET NEWS

STOCK MARKET LEARNING VIDEOS

 

Point of Market Entry & the need for advice

 

In the past 1-year, equity markets in India have seen more than 14 million new investor accounts and counting. The bulk of these being first time/ new to market investors. 

Working from home and buoyed by the ease of transacting; many of these investors are tempted to invest the D.I.Y way. However; when just starting out, they may not have the experience or expertise to research and gauge stocks. Motilal Oswal’s 30+ years equity investing expertise offers a unique PHYGITAL Broking that combines expert advisory through Relationship Managers with Digital Advisory Tools to help new to market investors start investing the right way. This unique advisory experience is available through the phone as well as on the investing app.

To showcase this proposition; the campaign shows a series of people trying to accomplish tasks like swimming, gymming , fixing taps, cutting hair etc  for the first time on their own; without adequate knowledge and experience.  This leads to disastrous consequences. Things work out only once they take the help of an expert/advisor to get them started.

Have a look at the campaign 

 Social Media

https://www.instagram.com/p/COIuDb1rJRn/

https://www.instagram.com/p/CODikgnL0Ak/

https://www.instagram.com/p/CN-PbSRLOCR/

https://www.instagram.com/p/CN2ihTZrAol/

Some initial feedback on the campaign in media

Campaign India Magazine : 

https://www.campaignindia.in/video/motilal-oswal-cautions-newbie-investors-against-diy-investing-disasters/469168

The Economic Times Brand Equity : 

https://brandequity.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/advertising/motilal-oswal-targets-novice-investors-with-new-campaign/82143421

Pitch Magazine 

http://www.pitchonnet.com/blog/2021/04/19/motilal-oswal-launches-new-campaign-targeting-new-to-market-investors/

Media Infoline

https://www.mediainfoline.com/brand/mofsl-launches-phygital-to-help-the-first-time-investor

MXM India

https://www.mxmindia.com/2021/04/motilal-oswal-launches-new-campaign/

D.I.Y Disasters

With the recent boom in the stockmarket and lockdown induced free bandwidth; many first timers have entered the equity investing market.

Buoyed by markets reaching all time highs and discount broking platforms; new customer additions are increasing day by day. Most of these customers are using D.I.Y platforms to trade. While this is fine for knowledgable and experienced investors; newbies doing D.I.Y maybe injurious to wealth in the long term. Hence it is important for them to get the right advice so that they are able to create wealth - in the immediate AND long term.

Motilal Oswal has spent over 30 years in the markets and has evolved an advise based broking service for investors. This is especially important for those who are just starting out. 

To address this audience ; we have come out with a campaign targeted to newbie investors explaining to them the pitfalls of D.I.Y without learning and presenting MOFSLs advisory - available in the form of digital advisory tools as well as a relationship manager who customers can talk to.

Titled 'D.I.Y Disasters'; the creative idea uses the metaphor of many everyday tasks that you cannot do without sound learning and advise or the help of an expert

Have a look. 

SKIN IN THE GAME

When it comes to investing ; Trust is paramount. 

In normal products quality can be gauged upfront or on immediate use. In an investing product however, while past performance helps you decide to some extent; it is not the absolute barometer . You are handing over your savings in the hope that the brand is able to deliver in the future. This bet on future performance is typically based on which brand you trust to grow your money. This is especially relevant in equity investing where recent market volatility and mutual fund performance has got investors to re-evaluate their "Trustmarks"

In the past, Motilal Oswal Mutual Fund has based its messaging on differentiated reasons to become a such a trustmark

We are focused on equity investing and have been doing so for 30+ years. In that sense we specialise in equity. You would typically trust a specialist more than a generalist. We have been communicating this message in the past (see the campaign here). 

We also have a well documented equity investing philosophy which we follow across all our equity funds. This philosophy can be summarised in 4 words - 'Buy Right. Sit Tight'. We Buy Right using a QGLP investing process and Sit Tight by having the patience to hold onto stocks through the growth cycle; including periods of volatility. This focus on process and its implementation has also helped build trust (See the campaign here)

Our latest campaign tries to furthur emphasise the reason why investors can trust us to grow money. The key insight used here is that when it comes to trust; actions speak louder than words. 

Ever since the inception of the AMC ; MOFSL promoters personal investments as well as the company's money (treasury funds) have been invested in our own equity funds. So much so that the company and its promoters are the largest investors in the company's equity funds.

We  continue to stay invested in our funds ; be it market highs or recent lows.   

This 'skin in the game' proposition helps demonstrate the conviction that the brand has in its product and a reason why investors should trust the brand. This 'reason to trust' forms the basis of our latest campaign.

The creative idea is inspired by signs we see across various food outlets. To instill confidence and trust, many restaurants put up a sign - "The owner of this restaurant also eats here". This acts as a testament to the conviction the owner has of quality and hygiene of the food served. 

Here is one such example.

We used this observation as the basis of the creative idea to demonstrate the conviction that the brand has in its own product. 

Overlaying the now popular tone and manner and signature brand music of the Motilal Oswal films; the campaign would be promoted on business news channels, digital and social media. Have a look at the TVC below

To summarise; at Motilal Oswal we put our money where our mouth is. Coincidentally (and totally unintentionally); the campaign also connects "mouth" (food) with money (investing) :)

SOME INITIAL FEEDBACK ON THE CAMPAIGN

• "When it comes to trust, action speak louder than words" : Read what The Economic Times Brand Equity has to say about the campaign here
• Storyboard : See what CNBCTV18 has to say about the campaign here  and here
• "Invest in the fund owners invest in": See what Campaign India has to say about the TVC here
• Work that Speaks : Read what The Financial Express has to say about the campaign here
• "Mullen Lintas curates new TVC for Motilal Oswal" :Read what www.exchange4media.com has to say about the campaign here
• Read what AdGully has to say about the campaign here 
• Read what www.medianews4u.com has to say about the campaign here
• Read what www.tvwnewsindia.com has to say about the campaign here

#equity #skininthegame #eatwhatyoucook #trust #motilaloswal

SIP ka SHUBHARAMBH

We have continuously been educating investors on the benefits of SIP. Here are some of our previous efforts

https://bcwithrc.blogspot.com/2016/12/small-is-powerful.html

https://bcwithrc.blogspot.com/2017/07/annual-sip-new-way-to-encourage-long.html

The lockdown presented an opportunity to present the advantages of S.I. P in a more contextual way given lower stock valuations as well market volatility. While SIP offers the benefits of long term averaging, if you start your SIP at lower prices, you start with an advantage of lower NAVs of your investments. Hence we presented the time of market crash in April 2020 as a good time to start a SIP and get not just good immediate attractive valuations due to lower stock prices; but also the benefits of price avaraging through long term regular investments. You could also combine this averaging with immediate lumpsum accumulation at attractive valuations.

The campaign was executed completely digitally and completely in-house while working from home during lockdown

“ Market bottom ko time karna mushkil hi nahin. Namumkin hai!”

While COVID 19 affected your health, it also affected your wealth. A shaky economy coupled with COVID 19 related fears meant the Indian stock markets corrected almost 40% in March 2020.

While this was a cause for erosion in wealth; it also provided opportunities to savvy investors to enter at depressed valuations. However , the general feeling of pessimism meant that even people who had money and wanted to invest thought they would wait for markets to fall even furthur so that they could time the bottom.

However, as equity experts we realise it is impossible to time the markets. No one knows when the bottom will be hit. So the best approach when stock prices are depressed is not to stay completely out. It is also not to go all in ( after all there can be a furthur correction!). The answer lies in starting to accumulate to take advantage of attractive valuations yet accumulate slowly so as to cushion yourself from furthur shocks.

That's what we advised investors to do through a campaign that released at the height of pessimism in mid-April 2020. Don't try to time the markets. Accumulate slowly.

The campaign (executed completely in-house using stock footage and visuals) consisted of a TV ad on business news channels and digital/social creatives using metaphors around how market timing is impossible. Care was also taken to stay consistent with the brand personality and proposition ( Think Equity. Think Motilal Oswal)

                                  Have a look  at the TV ad https://youtu.be/6SJVlIQeM-Q

And some digital renditions of the same idea

Since the campaign broke on April 24th, the stock markets have bounced back smartly as can be seen in the chart below. Yet we believe that there is probable pain in the future based on stress on corporate earnings due to the listless economy, COVID19 and geopolitical challenges. 

Hence while things seem to be relatively stable right now; don't rush in. Just as you cant time the fall , you can't time the rise as well. 

So accumulate slowly. Buy Right. Sit Tight

MARKETING VERSION C.0

Lockdowns, Locusts & Ladakh . Through Earth, Air or Sea; we are currently living in challenging times. Given this unprecedented stage , would life in a ‘After Corona’ world call for a reboot of Marketing as we know it? Or would it be business as usual? The answer maybe lies somewhere in between. Like any new version of a software; you need to evaluate what works from the past and add some new/enhanced elements to be in tune with the new normal. Here are some aspects to consider.

UNKNOWN & UNKNOWABLE : In stock markets, sometimes uncertainty goes into a completely different dimension of non-knowledge. Richard Zeckhauser of Harvard University calls this the "world of ignorance"or "unknown and unknowable (UU)". A UU world is one where the future states of the world are not known- both in terms of outcomes and probabilities. As in Investing, so in Marketing. Consumers and Marketers have come to terms with the UU aspect of the environment. And that not everything can be planned and accounted for. At the same time having a fatalistic approach is also not the solution. Brands need to continuously arm themselves and their customers with Knowledge to reduce the impact of the Unknown. And act with Agility & Creativity in Marketing to respond to the Unknowable. The Lockdown was in a sense, a trial by fire for a UU scenario. At MOFSL, we received regulatory approvals for our S&P 500 Index Fund . In what was not planned before, we created a campaign on educating investors on the need to diversify investments into stock markets US stock markets(which had low co-relation with India) and helped them execute transactions from home; making it India’s first ‘digital only’ NFO.

PHYSICAL VS SOCIAL DISTANCING: While customers remain at home and would still be physically distant for some time to come, their need to interact with friends, family and brands is palpable. The reason why online video webinars received such an enthusiastic response during the lockdown; even among hitherto digital laggards. Man is after all a social animal (remember Maslow?) and hence has a natural need to interact. This need is fulfilled partly through physical interactions. But when that avenue reduces, the need for substantive relationships (be it personal, professional or with brands) still remains. As an example, stock brokers have seen increased stock market interest and engagement of investors during the lockdown. This lead to a rise in accounts opened and trading volumes. The lesson for Marketers- even if physically distant, you need not be far away in terms of building relationships

DOING BUSINESS - DIGITAL? PHYSICAL? OR…? : A recent online survey asked the question : “Who has been most responsible for your companies digital transformation?”. Choices were : A. CEO B.CTO C.CMO D.COVID. No prizes for guessing the winner! Jokes apart, the COVID experience has made the already ascending trajectory of Digital Transformation attain escape velocity. Doing business digitally has become the norm to survive. But go ‘digital only’ at your own peril. While such experiences are great for DIY customers, new to category and novice customers in high ticket/complex categories may still need advice to navigate through their decision making process; especially in volatile times. The ‘Physical’ experience (eg kiranawala service in lockdown) also provides an essential back up in times of crisis. Customer experience hence would not just be Digital or Physical but “PHYGITAL”. Here Physical interactions = interactions with a human interface (On Phone / In Person / Chat). For eg in investing while there are people who do their own research and decide what asset class, fund, stock to invest in and transact directly; there are also many who use the services of an investment advisor.

FRUGAL INNOVATION: With the state of the economy and business climate in general, spending power of both consumers and brands would be stressed. Brands that are able to innovate by providing better value to customers as well as create Marketing innovations at lesser costs would benefit. While overall, I feel that Marketing activity would remain the same (or even increase), expect reduction in costs of Marketing initiatives. For eg TV production may change (integrating stock footage , greater adoption of on-location shoots Vs people intensive set shoots) and briefs would be for shorter yet impactful TV commercial lengths to maintain media salience at a lower cost

WELLNESS AND ITS IMPACT : Given the health concerns in 2020, Wellness is a theme that would be top of mind . Besides physical , wellness can have many dimensions – emotional (ability to cope with uncertainty induced stress), financial ( wealth protection & creation despite paycuts, stock market falls, layoffs), occupational (skill enhancement; especially in WFH scenarios), social (building substantive relationships), environmental ( save the planet)  and spiritual. There would be opportunities for brands to engage with customers need for wellness on multiple levels. However care should be taken that these initiatives are only where the brand truly adds value. Every brand would be taking customers for a trip on the Wellness Wagon. You better be sure your brands trip is worth it!

VOLATILITY & TRUSTMARKS : In times of uncertainity/ risk aversion, brand Trust is  paramount. While being agile in terms of messaging, brands need to maintain a consistent and constant proposition and product delivery/credibility to build a clear image in an already cluttered (and stressed) consumer mindspace. At MOFSL, despite the stock market fall and current risk aversion to equity, we continue with our “Equity Expert” proposition and stayed invested with the firms money in the firms equity products. This consistency and skin-in-the-game commitment not only reassures investors, it also reiterates the brands belief in the long term wealth creation opportunity through equity investing

To summarise, with recent and ongoing tragic experiences, consumers are looking for beacons of hope. Brands need to be these beacons using knowledge, agility, creativity and a consistent message While staying away from the unrealistic, this optimism is what will help brands connect with consumers. To paraphrase a dialogue from the recently released Kaamyab  – Be Optimistic. Aur option hi kya hai!