L&T Finance: A home for everyone

The new campaign highlights the fact that the brand has the right loan for every need - no matter how big or small the requirement.

A roof above one's head - isn't that the dream for millions? But for most people, it remains just that. Either their salaries are not enough, or they do not find guarantors for a financial institution to give them a loan. So, calming all fears of would-be homeowners, L&T Finance Home Loans has brought out a campaign talking about how simple a loan can be.

The campaign 'Jiski Jaisi Zaroorat' revolves around three slice-of-life stories. In the first, a young man shows his brother and sister-in-law a house he plans to buy. The elder brother makes fun of him, because the younger sibling has only just started working. But he is left amazed the next moment when he learns that he has already secured the required loan. The second film revolves around the need of a big family, which needs to move out of a rented place to a bigger house. The final film talks about providing home loans for someone who is not salaried but has a steady income from his own business.

"We launched the first press campaign for Jiski Jaisi Zaroorat in 2013 along with OOH and radio. We have extended it now to show the value propositions for specific needs of the customer," explains Vasu Ramaswami, CEO, L&T Finance Home Loans.

Starting with just eight locations, the company's network has now spread to 32 centres in the country. Along with the home loans, it now offers new product segments and services - affordable housing, loan against property (LAP), construction funding, balance transfer and top-up loans.

L&T Finance has two segments of people it caters to - the salaried and the self-employed. While 60 per cent of people who take loans from the institution are self-employed, the remaining are salaried. However, even within these two segments are the younger ones who want to own a house to become independent as well as the middle aged family man who either lives in a rented accomodation and needs to move into his own house, or lives with an extended family in a smaller house and needs to own a bigger house. In that sense, the TG is more than just the middle-class family man. But the new TG for the brand is aspirational and looks at buying a house not just as an investment but as a need.

"We needed to make a simple and effective communication that also told the viewer that we have solutions to every need, even if they do not have the documentation that is usually required. Our insights came from feedback. This was not just collected from customers but also from markets we are working with - channel partners, distributors and obviously the ad agency," adds Ramaswami.

According to the feedback, many people worry about factors like: 'will I be eligible for a loan?', or 'will I be able to manage the interest on the loan?', or 'if I have just started working, will someone give me a loan?' These are the kinds of worries the brand is trying to solve through its communication, which is being played on television screens, digital platforms and select cinema screens as well. While it does sound like a good proposition, does the communication impress, we wonder?

According to Manish Bhat, founder-director, Scarecrow Communications, the communication does not cut the clutter of financial advertising. "There are two types of communication. One which is bang on strategy but the interest is shortlived. While the other has the strategy sorted out, but also has a longer impact on people's minds. In that case there is brand recall even when the product is not needed. The L&T Finance communication, though attractive, does not play the larger role of communication," explains Bhat.

"The films manage to communicate quite clearly that L&T Finance has home loan options for everyone and every need. The loop gets quite neatly closed in the wrap-up VO and tagline 'Jiski jaisi zaroorat'. The subtle suggestion that maybe these loan options aren't on offer elsewhere is an added bonus. The characters, situation and location contextualise and lend to the relatibility factor," says Suraj Pombra, managing partner, Minority Brand Creation.

However, Pombra wonders how much clutter it can break, and how much it would really move its audience? "While it espouses the benefit, it also seems to remain chained within the brief and falls short of flying. Perhaps because it's missing those motivating human insights that could have led to bigger stories, truly bringing the benefit alive not to mention lending some edge to creative cut-through."

DDB Mudra North's creative head, Sambit Mohanty, however, feels that it has done its job. "Different strokes for different folks. I think that's what is at the heart of this campaign. The films per se are pretty cut and dried, so there's no issue with comprehending what they are getting at. In a way I'm glad they're not in a soppy, emotional space that communicate nothing whatsoever about the offering. A home loan is a thoroughly considered, well thought-out decision, and these films work well in telling it like it is," explains Mohanty.