Financial services company Bajaj Capital recently announced that it has partnered with DDB Mudra for a brand revitalization. According to the Chief Digital and Marketing Officer and Head of Strategy, Aabhinna Suresh Khare, this revitalization comes on the back of a digital transformation that the financial services market in India is seeing at the moment.

“We recognized the significance of staying ahead of the times and forging stronger connections with the target audience. By updating our visual identity, messaging, and strategy, we aim to align with current market trends and consumer preferences while preserving our established equity and core values,” Khare mentioned, as he elaborated on what was the trigger of this brand reform.

According to the Financial Services Global Market report 2023 by Business Research Company, the global market for financial services grew from USD 25,848.74 billion in 2022 to USD 28,115.02 billion in 2023 at a CAGR of 8.8%. And the space continues to boom, with digitisation bringing in a surge in consumer demand.

Not so hunky dory

As pleasant this demand surge might sound to one, it actually also brings its own set of challenges. For instance, Khare shares that one of the key challenges for traditional financial services players are the fintech disruptors. “Fintech startups and tech giants are disrupting the traditional financial services landscape with innovative digital solutions,” he mentioned.

Khare also advised that established financial institutions must find ways to compete effectively with these agile and tech-savvy disruptors while maintaining their unique value proposition.

Another challenge arises when the ROI and attribution factors come into play. Khare says that marketers need to implement robust analytics and attribution models to gauge the impact of their campaigns accurately.

All of this begs the question, what can then be done to keep up with the digital trends that are shaping up in this industry. Khare’s mantra to this is something called ‘ADVANCE’.

The ‘ADVANCE’ model

He breaks this down and mentions that ‘A’ is for always staying curious, if one has to keep pace with the changes. “Embracing a curious mindset will keep you open to new ideas and receptive to emerging trends, giving you a competitive edge in the dynamic digital landscape,” he says.

‘D’ is for data-driven insights. Today, every modern marketer probably gulps ‘personalisation’ for breakfast, every morning. This is the era where consumers demand to be seen and heard, and hence, marketers get even more drawn towards personalising experiences for their consumers, to make them feel seen.

“By understanding customer behaviour and preferences through data-driven insights, you can optimise your marketing strategies, personalise campaigns, and make informed decisions to drive business growth,” Khare further explained.

‘V’ is for Value Innovation, to create a safe space where ideas are celebrated and experimentation is encouraged. According to Khare, embracing calculated risks and being willing to disrupt the status quo can lead to breakthroughs and novel marketing approaches that captivate one’s audience.

‘A’ and ‘N’ are for actively engaging and never stopping to learn, while ‘C’ stands for cultivating agility and ‘E’ is for experimenting and optimising.

The need for such mantras to become a part of every marketer’s playbook today rises all the more, since the younger generation is becoming a very important part of target audience across categories. If we were to speak of financial services, the youth now doesn’t just believe in earning wealth, it is very well aware of the importance of growing wealth and hence becomes a key TG for brands like Bajaj Capital.

Young guns in the play

Now, reaching out to an older target audience versus the youth can get tricky for marketers. For the youth, Khare shared that Bajaj Capital utilises digital at its maximum since that is where the youth mostly are. Be it a presence on social media or sharing success stories. “Through interactive content, webinars, and podcasts, we try to educate and empower the younger generation to make informed financial decisions,” he added.

The digital marketing plan for the brand also involves figuring out personalised financial solutions, millennial focussed messaging and collaborating with influencers.

However, there again exist a set of hiccups while putting these plans in place. The youth is a very volatile segment in the consumer pyramid. They are the easiest to mould and the toughest to gain trust and brand loyalty from.

Khare pointed out that there is a vast amount of information available on the internet that the younger generation can access. “This makes it even more essential for us to cut through the noise and provide relevant, concise,and valuable content to capture their attention effectively,” he said.

The Media Mix

Speaking of the brand’s media mix, Khare shared that while television advertising will be utilised to reach a broader audience, across different demographics, there will also be significant investment in digital advertising. This shall include targeted display ads, search engine marketing (SEM), social media advertising, and other online promotions to reach specific segments of the audience and measure campaign effectiveness.

Investments in print advertising will be more strategically driven, when there’s a need to reach a local or niche audience, Khare added.