Q] At the very start, I want to ask you about the current mood in Bandhan Bank with Chandra Shekhar Ghosh’s imminent exit.
Leadership change is part and parcel of any organisation. Some of the best organisations have had these transformations in their journeys as well. What is important is the organisation’s foundation, culture, and values, which ensure that transitions take the organisation forward. When these are strong, there is no significant impact because of leadership changes. Mr. Ghosh has created a strong foundation here at Bandhan Bank with the culture that he promoted. We continue on our path of growth, and I am extremely confident that Bandhan Bank will make Mr. Ghosh proud, even when he’s not in an executive capacity at the company.
Q] Bandhan Bank went from being a non-profit organisation to an NBFC and later got a banking license from the RBI in 2015. It’s been a stupendous journey for the bank. Can you tell me about your brand journey and how it has strengthened over the years? What are the innovative marketing techniques that you’re using today to accelerate the growth of the bank in this current hyper-digital world that we’re living in?
East India is where the bank’s roots lie, and hence, this market is really strong for us. It was a natural choice that we build the bank in the east first and then look at other regions. We are a household name in the East, and we need to build that same strength for the brand in the rest of the country. In the beginning, it was about building on an equity that already existed, converting that equity from an NBFC to a bank. Today, after almost nine years as a bank, our network pans the length and breadth of the country. So now we are focussing on the entire country rather than the East alone. We need to develop the right kind of brand equity in the rest of the country, and we must do so quickly. We’ve partnered with properties such as Indian Idol, Sa Re Ga Ma, and Zee Cine Awards, and all of them have given us a fair bit of visibility and equity. In addition to that, we also do Out-Of-Home displays in areas that see a good amount of traffic, as well as closer to our branches. The idea is to let people know about Bandhan Bank. We also onboarded Sourav Ganguly as our brand ambassador. He helped us establish this perception of trust far stronger than we would have without him.
Q] Which mediums do you aggressively target and why? Also, if you can tell us how much you allocate to each medium that you are targeting?
For us, it is mostly traditional because we are in the process of building the digital stack that can help us get more from our investments in Digital Marketing. So, TV is our lead medium. Our presence in semi-urban and rural is significantly higher than it is for the rest of the financial services sector. More than 70% of our banking outlets are in semi-urban and rural India. For the urban and metro audiences, TV still gives the largest reach in the most cost-optimised manner. The second most significant medium for us is OOH. We do very little Print and Radio, mostly triggered by some important developments in the bank, and engage in very small-scale property associations, but that has more to do with branches getting support and sponsorships. In digital, it is about creating awareness for the brand rather than performance marketing as of now.
Q] Do you think post-pandemic, brand propositions have changed drastically and the messages have altered to reach out to this post-pandemic audience?
From Bandhan Bank’s point of view, it is consistent. No matter what your banking needs are, we have a product. Bandhan means relationship, and we are a pan-Indian bank for all, always. As far as my experience with the rest of the marketing fraternity is concerned, most brands have not altered how they approach the consumers pre- and post-pandemic. Unless of course, it’s a brand that got a lot of uptick or decline, given how the pandemic affected them. So, for example, all the food delivery apps were saying the same things earlier, but now it has become more contextual. It was about convenience, safety, and security during the pandemic. I don’t see a significant difference pre- and post-pandemic as far as brand propositions are concerned. Unless of course, the core of the brand itself has changed. There would have been minor tweaks during the pandemic, but post-pandemic, I think it’s come back to the same.
Q] You said TV is the medium that you target the most. If you give us some insights on how you market your brand on TV. Can you give us some insights?
As I mentioned earlier, the most important thing for us is the message. The message that we want to drive is that Bandhan is a trusted brand. We are using Sourav Ganguly as the face that helps us get the right kind of attention, and therefore, we garner more brand recognition through that. We operate mostly through FCT and a little bit through Impact properties. We opt for news because that’s a male-dominated viewership, and also general entertainment and movies. Further, we are targeting the South, which becomes a little more intensive because the four states need to be targeted separately. Unlike in the Hindi-speaking markets where Hindi itself would cover a lot of states. What we are generally cognizant of is the fact that we want to be associated with properties when our campaign is on. As a brand, we don’t have as big media budgets as some of the other larger banks or brands. Therefore, it is important during that period to get as much SOV as you can and streamline the entire investment into one period so that it builds. The OTS increases and therefore the brand builds. So, that’s mostly our strategy on TV.
Q] We are amid General Elections. What is your advertising strategy during such a time?
We stay out of elections, and there are three reasons for that. Given the kind of media investments that we can afford, we need to be present in a sustained manner throughout the year. Tentpole properties like elections or for that matter, IPL as well, become a little difficult for us because a lot of investment would go there. The second reason is that there is a significant clutter during this time. For any brand to have the right kind of SOV, it would require significant investment again, linking it back to the kind of media monies that we would have throughout the year. The third reason is that election viewership is mostly on news channels throughout the day, and everything depends on the kind of news that is developing, and you would not know when there would be spot drops, hence, making the visibility a little uncertain.
Q] What is your roadmap for future growth for Bandhan Bank?
There are a lot of developments that are currently underway in Bandhan Bank. Number one is that a lot of products are being worked upon, including the impending credit card launch. That’ll be a huge play for us. We are also working towards leveraging Digital wholeheartedly and going after performance marketing aggressively. We are also going to amp up on more directed and targeted marketing initiatives in markets that have potential. Additionally, we are looking at how we can enhance the CLCM or Customer Lifecycle Communications for all our customers and therefore add more value to how they see Bandhan Bank. We’ll continue to establish the brand Bandhan Bank through the various kinds of advertising that we are doing.
