Q] How was 2023 for SBI Securities and what are your goals moving forward?
Last year was very good for the company in terms of overall business, new customer acquisitions and revenues. The numbers have been good and the market is also supportive. It is because of this support from the market that we have made several internal changes, as well as changes in our marketing initiatives. If you look at other units of SBI, be it banking, mutual funds or other subsidiaries, you will see that most of them are at the top of the tally. But we fall a little behind in comparison to the other units. My goal is to hold the same space and further take advantage of SBI’s presence and logo.
Q] Could you paint a picture of your marketing mix and talk about the mediums that you use for your campaigns?
In the past, we never went to the public; all our campaigns were done internally. After undergoing a tech upgrade, we saw our product getting accepted well in society. Our acquisitions are growing at a fast pace, and we are among the fastest-growing firms in the market. Since we were getting good results and feedback, we decided to aggressively promote our application. In a bid to further popularise our product, we launched our campaign in October and used all channels.
Initially, we started with TV, wherein we went after some 24 business and general channels. Then came YouTube because of its popularity and viewership. The main film, which was created as a one-minute film, has already crossed six and a half million views. Whether it’s TV or YouTube, our film has been launched in different regional languages. In addition to this, we have also used audio channels like Spotify and Jio Saavn for our marketing initiatives. Furthermore, we covered local kiosks in Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata to spread our brand’s message.
Q] What was in your mind when you were making this campaign?
We realised that we were ready for the market after the tech upgrades and receiving positive feedback for our product. What we felt is that we should be reaching out to the entire market because we no longer need so many branches and people. With marketing, the numbers can multiply very fast, and we decided to take the same approach. This is a dynamic market, and the customers must be acquainted with the happenings of the brands. This is what we had in our minds.
Q] In India, the number of people who invest has increased in recent years with the help of digitalisation. However, a large chunk of the nation still stays away from this avenue. What are you doing to communicate with potential first-time investors and attract more people?
We try to communicate that we are a complete application where all the investors can get investment-related solutions. We not only provide options to deal in equity but also in mutual funds, gold bonds, policy bonds and corporate fixed deposits, among others. One of the good things here is that all of these offerings are available on a single-sign process, and everything is digitalised. With us, you don’t need many lockers or accounts, you can find all the information on a single screen.
I am also providing enablers. We give you full control over your investment, and with a click of a button, you can redeem your sum or invest. You can also get investment-related information and stats on our app, and compare the stats with other investment options. With us, you can immediately change your nominee, account details and even addresses. Hence, I am very sure that with this kind of enablement, even the people who are not particularly tech-savvy can utilise all the services and make investments..
