 "Digital rings the brand bells at IDFC Bank")
Last month, IDFC Bank launched a unique recruitment campaign on Twitter; a first for any Indian bank so far, where it asked people to send in their resumes in 140 characters.
For the youngest bank on the Indian firmament, using Twitter as the first point of contact with potential employees helped strike down two goals with one shot: reach out to young talent and build its brand with a demographic that it is keenly pursuing, the urban millennial.
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This is also in keeping with IDFC Bank's branding strategy so far. Scripted by Alok Nanda & Company, the bank has eschewed the usual forms of communication employed by the sector. No television or print campaigns, a low-key digital campaign on Twitter and Facebook, a couple of short films on YouTube and a home-to-home outreach campaign in areas where it is setting up its branches. In contrast, Bandhan bank which was handed a banking license at the same time as IDFC has run a high pitched campaign on television, hoardings and in print.
IDFC has opted for point-of-sale advertising and, over the past year, devoted much of its attention to rural banking where the emphasis has been on word-of-mouth promotions. And to tap into the urban space, it has put its weight behind digital media; a unique strategy for a banking player, especially a new one.
Break from the past
For IDFC, known largely to a select group of educated elites, it was important to build a completely new identity for its bank and perhaps, that explains its unusual branding strategy. However it also had to be able to draw on the goodwill that the institution had within the corporate world. It was a line that the branding team had to walk very carefully.
Rajiv Lall, executive vice-chairman and managing director, IDFC Bank, in his media interactions made it clear that a brand isn't just advertising or a message that the bank promotes. Instead, he said, a brand is a reflection of organisational philosophy.
For the bank, this meant defining the identity around the principles of simplicity, speed and social connect. The challenge was to convey this message to customers in urban and rural areas.
The bank also had to ensure that its branding stayed relevant in the future. It had to be able to withstand changes in customer demands and government policies and stay resilient to technological and other disruptions.
According to Alok Nanda, founder of the eponymously named branding agency, "The identity had to address two challenges: One was to make an institutional bank more relatable and consumerise it. The other was that the design solution had to work for urban and rural India." Given the bank's digital focus, it was also important to ensure that the logo displayed well on mobile handsets. The new logo meets with these specifications, he adds.
Different from the pack
Not only was IDFC Bank looking to break from its past, but it was also keen to break away from the crowd. According to Lall, the logo and its visual identity help do that. "The palette symbolises transformation, energy, youth and optimism, qualities of modern India. The colours are translucent to capture the transparency in IDFC Bank's DNA," he says.
Going digital with its campaigning was another way to differentiate itself. Alok Nanda says that before shaping the new bank's identity, he studied the competition. "Every category creates its own cliches. For most banks, the logo is an abstract symbol, followed by the name, blocked in a single colour on the signage. The new IDFC logo does not have a separate symbol rather the logo is the symbol," he says. The colours also appeal to both rural and urban customers, he adds.
The rural experience
Bharat Banks were IDFC's first step into retail banking. The organisation decided to reach out to the rural consumer before taking its service to the cities and here too publicity has largely been through the "word of mouth" channel says a senior executive with the bank. "The perception (about the bank) would be built on experience with the bank's services," he says. For example rural consumers benefited from ATMs at their doorstep. And sustained outreach programmes helped improve visibility. For its urban service, a similar strategy was put in place. The bank used social media to spread the word instead of going for television and print campaigns.
Lall says that the branding strategy was fashioned keeping in mind consumer banking clients, self-employed and young salaried persons. The emphasis has been to use the digital platform for connecting with customers and also to position the brand, he says. Now, IDFC Bank is now readying itself for increasing visibility on digital media and in about a year, it will step up its branding activities in mainstream media.
