Our web traffic and leads went up 50 percent during the T20 World Cup advertising: Kinjal Shah, Kotak Mutual Fund

The brand's latest campaign promoted Systematic Investment Plan (SIP) during the widely watched T20 World Cup.

In its latest campaign titled Sapno ko skip nahi, SIP karo, Kotak Mutual Fund took the cricketing route to promote its Systematic Investment Plans (SIP), aiming to build awareness around the category on the back of widely watched ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.

The central theme of the campaign pertains to financial constraints faced by consumers that often force some of their many dreams to be set aside, while potential investors remain hesitant, perceiving SIPs as risky. In response to these challenges, Kotak aims to encourage people to align their investments with future goals and and adopt a long-term perspective on returns.

The campaign comprises three ad films representing various lifestyles—all tied together by a common financial predicament—a middle-aged couple, a young man in an office, and a young woman out with her friends, all stressing over their dreams that they may have to 'skip'. The campaign has been conceptualised and created by Hyperconnect, a digital marketing agency based in Mumbai.

Initially starting with OOH ads, the campaign was then placed on Disney+ Hotstar across the length of the recently concluded ICC T20 World Cup on connected TVs (CTVs) and other digital screens. Consequently, the marketing yielded tangible results for the company, as per Kinjal Shah, who is the head of digital business, marketing and analytics at Kotak Mutual Fund.

“We saw a 50% increase in web traffic. And obviously, that translates into the number of leads generated during this period. We anticipate a further spike in these numbers as our campaign expands with time,” he says. 

The core insight for the campaign, according to Shah, came from Kotak’s self-conducted surveys and market research. “Before we try to bring fence-sitters or non-investors on board, we need to first understand what could be the primary reason for people choosing SIPs. Our existing investors revealed that the major reason people choose SIPs is to fulfil a specific dream. It could be a dream car, a dream to send children abroad, among other things. With our campaign, we wanted to leverage this insight to communicate in a language that people understand.”

Media mix

Speaking about the overall media mix for the campaign, Shah says, “We started with an outdoor campaign and digital. Going forward we are expecting to pick the pace up aggressively with print media while being supported heavily with TV ads on general entertainment channels (GEC) and news channels.”

In terms of the brand’s ad spends, the split is roughly 65% for digital and 35 percent for traditional channels.

Category overview 

The mutual funds category is highly competitive with many brands such as HDFC, ICICI, SBI, Axis, among others. In 2023, India’s SIP category saw 1.5 crore new registrations, including 50 lakh from millennials, as per Statista, an online data provider. Total SIP inflows reached Rs 1,83,741 crore, with the registered SIPs totalling 7.63 crore by December, as per the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI). Despite this growth, many investors still halt their SIPs prematurely due to risks associated with the investments, and short-term profit motives, as per Shah.

For the category to grow, Shah emphasises a dual focus: increasing the investor base and enhancing conversion rates. "We need to increase the top of the funnel because the number of investors in the mutual funds industry is very low. This will be our focus for the year. Most of our spending will go into education and awareness, supplemented by a remarketing strategy for consumers willing to participate." 

Speaking on the consumer trends that the industry is currently observing, Shah points out, "Consumers now consider the fact that returns on these investments are unpredictable because these are linked to the stock market. But at the same time, the longevity of the customer in staying invested has increased. The belief in the category is growing significantly, and as a result, the average time of investment is increasing. People are also willing to stay invested even if there is some degree of volatility in the market. The knee-jerk reactions to global events in the category are on a decline."

Business and expansion plans

Regarding business expansion, Shah highlights Kotak's presence in over 100 locations, with top contributions from Mumbai and other major cities. "The top ten cities contribute the maximum to our business, with Mumbai being our highest market, and for all players in the mutual fund industry. In terms of expansion, we are looking at cities beyond the top thirty. Prior to this campaign, we carried out other marketing activities where we collaborated with school teachers to build awareness about mutual funds."

Age demographics show that most business comes from individuals aged 25-55, with the 25-35 group driving volume and the 35-55 group contributing higher value investments. Additionally, the investor base comprises approximately 70% male and 30% female participants.