Motilal Oswal's ad campaign: Perfecting the art of investment

Its latest campaign makes a case for reaching out to experts to make smart investment calls

Brand: Motilal Oswal

Budget: Rs 20 crore

Agency: Mullen Lintas

Financial services is a serious category and except a few, most advertisers have a very high emotional play and gravitas at the core of their communication. With low financial literacy, educating investors without boring them and yet encouraging them to reach out to experts while making investment decisions is akin to treading a tightrope. Motilal Oswal Financial Services’, in its latest campaign, succeeds in highlighting its leadership in equity investments in a serious yet light-hearted manner as the company drives home that it pays to focus on one thing at a time.

Conceptualised by Mullen Lintas Mumbai, the campaign titled “Think Equity. Think Motilal Oswal” captures different professionals who are in control at their workplaces simply because they have been single-mindedly focusing on one task at a time. For example, we see a clerk at an office who’s quicker than a machine in processing paperwork, a chef at an hotel chopping fruits and vegetables in the blink of an eye, a barber nonchalantly going about his task, a bartender mixing multiple drinks with ease, and a paper vendor arranging a huge stack of newspapers in a jiffy. The commercial goes on to claim that “if you focus on one thing for a long time, you master it”. And that’s what has driven Motilal Oswal to emerge as a leader in equity investing.

“Equity markets have delivered stellar returns in the past six months. However, given low penetration, there is low understanding around equity investing. In a category with low penetration, it is awareness and consideration that builds brand trial. To create consideration for our brand, the communication aims to position Motilal Oswal as an equity investing specialist,” says Ramnik Chhabra, marketing director, Motilal Oswal.

Glimpse from Motilal Oswal Financial Services' ad campaign

The company has been dealing in equity investments for the last 30 years. This single-minded focus on equity, claims the company, has helped it master a unique stock-picking methodology (QGLP) to create wealth. And it is this focus that makes Motilal Oswal lay claim to be an equity investing expert.

The company is targeting mass affluent investors looking for avenues to create wealth. While they may have invested in various asset classes (fixed deposits, gold, real estate, fixed income funds), they realise that equity is probably the best asset class to create wealth over the long term. 

The inspiration for the campaign proved to be a popular quote by the legendary martial art guru, Bruce Lee. According to him, “I fear not the man who has practised 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practised one kick 10,000 times.”

A scene from Motilal Oswal Financial Services' ad campaign

For Garima Khandelwal, executive creative director-Mullen Lintas, the campaign captures the flair, the rhythm and the style and how to be the boss. It features people who are masters at their skill of doing what they do every day. 

“The investment-savvy consumers would be aware of the brand Motilal Oswal, but there is a significant chunk of people who have not engaged with the brand in a big way. We wanted to use this opportunity to both create awareness and also establish desirable language and grammar for the brand,” adds Ayyappan Raj, executive vice-president, Mullen Lintas.

The campaign aims to appeal to people who have not engaged with Motilal Oswal in a big way

Talking about the challenges associated with equity investments, Chhabra says that equity investing may look simple but is hard to master. The biggest issue is of knowledge and discipline. Wealth creation involves painstaking research and process to identify winners. It also takes discipline to control emotions of greed and fear. These are the qualities that most investors lack and precisely what an expert brings to the table.