'We're imbibing a culture that makes us think more like a startup and less like a bank'

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DBS Bank India recently announced its brand campaign ‘Live more, Bank less’ that underlines the bank’s belief that a different kind of bank is needed in a post-pandemic world- a bank that is more technology and sustainability-focused. In 2018, as it turned 50, DBS told customers it wanted them to ‘Live more, Bank less’. Four years on, the brand has launched the second leg of the campaign to show consumers how it is more than just a traditional bank.

Shoma Narayanan, Managing Director - Group Strategic Marketing and Communications, DBS Bank India in a conversation with exchange4media shared insights behind the new campaign, the promotional plan for the same, the ethos driving the brand, challenges of being a foreign bank in India and more.

Edited Excerpts:

Please walk us through the insight behind the recently launched “Different Kind of Bank” campaign in terms of conceptualization and execution.

We knew that customers needed banking services but didn’t want to deal with the hassles of banking. This required us to offer a banking experience that’s fast, natural, and effortless. Building on this, through our ‘Live more, Bank less’ campaign launched in 2018, we encouraged customers to seize life’s opportunities, and focus on their personal priorities, while leaving the hassles of banking for us to take care of.

Cut to 2022, the pandemic changed people’s perspectives and made us focus more on personal priorities. Now, more than ever, people are thinking about and taking action on issues more significant than individual annoyances. The new DBS campaign in 2022 - Different Kind of Bank reinforces our brand ethos “Live more, Bank less” and reflects our belief that banking has a higher purpose. We believe in rising to the challenge that the post-Covid world demands a different kind of bank.

How are you promoting this campaign? What has the response to the campaign been like?

A large section of our TG is on social media, so we used platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube to communicate our message and engage with them. Through in-cinema and on-location branding at major movie chains like PVR and Inox, DBS Bank India was able to approximately reach 1.6 million people. We also used branch branding, ATM screens and regional offices in our ~525 branches across 19 states to create a reminder medium. To create greater brand awareness, we took the campaign live on OOH by showcasing in key locations across 18 cities, garnering a reach of ~750MN.

The campaign witnessed a healthy score of 76% awareness in our top 5 cities and 82% brand association with DBS. Moreover, Brand Awareness in India for DBS Bank increased from 40% in 2021 to 46% in 2022, a year which saw awareness levels of most competing banks stay constant (as per a Brand Health study run by Acorn).

The campaign highlights and emphasizes start-ups, technological innovations and a sustainability agenda. As a bank and a brand, how true do you stand to these aspects of the campaign?

For us, the campaign is not just a slogan or catchphrase, but the way we live and operate at DBS Bank India. The bank has been on a transformation journey since 2014, imbibing an agile culture that helps us think more like a startup and less like a bank. This is reflected in our focus on being more relevant to customers by upgrading employees’ tech skills, while also adopting productive new tools such as Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning.

To advance our sustainability agenda, DBS has led the way by setting some of the most comprehensive decarbonization targets in the industry and is committed to advancing financial inclusion and enabling the movement towards zero food waste. A small example of this commitment towards sustainability is the fact that the outdoor flex materials on which the billboard ads were printed were delivered to DBS-supported social enterprise ‘Greensole’ to upcycle them into useful school bags for underprivileged children.

As a foreign bank in India, what challenges do you face and especially when it comes to devising the right kind of communication?

DBS Bank has been in India for the past 28 years, and during this period India has witnessed a dramatic acceleration in digital consumption, the rising challenge of social inequity, along with the various complications brought about by the pandemic. Instead of getting overwhelmed, we saw that this was a key opportunity to communicate that we are indeed a bank for the times. Post the amalgamation of the erstwhile LVB with DBS Bank India in November 2020, DBS positioned itself as a global bank with a strong local presence that has the expertise and reach to deliver the best of both worlds.

How has your marketing evolved in India over time? How do you ensure your positioning to reflect through your campaigns?

Since the launch of the DBS mini-series, ‘Sparks’ - based on true stories of bankers, DBS has evolved its marketing approach, focusing on our efforts to build the best bank for a better world. Our approach to storytelling evolved from traditional bank advertisements to newer formats like the mini-series that showcases compelling stories from across the region of customers, and partners employees, highlighting the way DBS enables them to live fulfilled. Finally in the latest brand campaign, Different kind of Bank, DBS aims to strengthen our Live more, Bank less positioning by making it clear that the bank is more like a good friend, more like a business booster, more like an award-winning techie, and less like a traditional bank.

What is your overall marketing mix for the Indian market? Please give us a sense in terms of the percentage of budget allocation.

For this specific campaign, the team focused on a mix of OOH, cinema branding, social media, and branch branding. Nearly 80% of the spending was allocated towards OOH/ Outdoor branding across 18 cities. Another 10% towards branch branding (across 200+ branches and counting) and the balance 10% on cinema branding and social media.