PNB Housing Finance revamps brand positioning through weaver bird nests

The OOH campaign has been ideated and executed by DDB MudraMax.

We all aspire to have that dream home of ours, but often, fail to realise that dream due to lack of financial resources. But, there are ways to turn that dream into reality. PNB Housing Finance, a subsidiary of Punjab National Bank (PNB) can perhaps do just that -give us our dream home.

The New Delhi-headquartered housing finance company has launched its month-long multi-media campaign in the second week of January, to help people own their own homes. The campaign aims to communicate to its customers the ease with which they can avail home loans from PNB Housing Finance and realise their dream to own a house.

Hinged around the proposition, 'Door to your dream home opens easier with us', the campaign stands out due to its outdoor activation, ideated as well as executed by DDB MudraMax in the form of gigantic weaver bird nest across Tier I and Tier II cities spanning major touchpoints such as arterial roads, major junctions, and market places. The campaign intends to familiarise its target audience with its revamped brand image.

As part of the out-of-home activation, a real weaver bird nest formation has been created where a piece of the nest is added to the structure everyday to show the gradual development of the nest over a period of time. The nest has been placed strategically to grab the eyeballs of commuters.

The campaign also draws a parallel between birds, animals and human beings in order to drive home the message that Nature has not made provisions for rented accommodations. On the contrary, human beings opt for rented accommodation as opposed to the birds and animals who create their own homes. The brand has, therefore, tried to convey the message that each and every human being has a right to own a home, which is made easier with the help of PNB Housing Finance.

The OOH campaign is being executed in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Hyderabad and Pune, and is targeted at the social economic classification(SEC) A and B, in the age group of 30-45 years. As part of the outdoor campaign, billboards, installations at airports and malls have been created using weaver bird nests, with more than 100 units of billboards being used for the purpose.

The installation has also been executed at Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport which experiences one of the highest footfalls in India, in addition to mall activation through contextual branding on security doors at malls carried out in the seven cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Hyderabad and Pune. A Mumbai Metro jingle has also been created as part of the activation.

Apart from OOH, the campaign is also being amplified through TV, radio, digital and print across all major Indian cities. A digital innovation was recently carried out on the Times of India website with 'The Times of PNB Housing' flashing in a flip-flop fashion. A similar concept was implemented on The Economic Times website. This was followed by a change of cursor with that of PNB Housing logo on the Hindustan Times website. The brand has also rolled out a TVC titled 'Door to your dream home opens easier with us'.

Commenting on the campaign, Shaji Varghese, chief marketing officer, PNB Housing Finance, says, that in the socio-economic backdrop of Indian society, the decision to purchase a house is a carefully constructed emotional decision. "This makes it even more imperative for the home loan provider to make the right connect with the customer. Besides being trustworthy and transparent, it is important that the financial institution providing the home loan brings in ease and convenience to the customer throughout the loan journey. With this campaign, we want to drive a single point message: door to your own home opens easier with PNB Housing, he says."

Amita Karwal, executive vice-president, media, DDB MudraMax, adds, "Through this campaign, the effort has been to create a differentiated imagery for PNB Housing Finance in the category. The media strategy has leveraged the brand insight across key touch points that will result in buzz and word-of-mouth."