A refreshing new way to promote SIPs among young savers
Gaurav Suri, Head of Marketing, UTI MF
12th February 2016
In a nutshell
Young earners think very differently from the earlier generation says Gaurav. While they don't shirk responsibilities, they do not want to sacrifice their aspirations at the altar of responsibilities. What they want is something that helps them turbo charge their progress, and helps them achieve more. "Tarakki ki raftaar to SIP ki shakti dein" is thus the message that powers UTI MF's new SIP campaign aimed at young earners.
Gaurav takes us through the huge expansion in UTI MF's investor education initiative Swatantra, which now reaches 4 crore readers through the print medium in addition to radio, TV shows and an all new exclusive website. Hundreds of IFAs have allied with UTI MF in the Swatantra initiative and are benefiting from the increased visibility that this powerful campaign offers.
Check out www.BeSwatantra.com and leverage its vast education resources to reach out to more investors and prospects in your communities.
WF: Your latest SIP campaign "Someday nahin..." is very different from the "save for a secure future" theme that we normally associate with SIP campaigns. What was the thinking behind this campaign? What were the consumer insights that led you to develop this message?
Gaurav: The basic campaign proposition is "Tarakki ki raftaar ko SIP ki shakti dein" - let SIPs power your progress. A challenge for the MF category is to find ways to engage with India's youth by understanding their aspirations and attitudes better and then offering solutions that cater to these. This campaign is our attempt to do just this.
Today's young salary earners are in a sense "unencumbered" by responsibilities. They don't shirk from their responsibilities - but they don't want their aspirations to be killed by the burden of responsibilities. Saving up for a house, for children's future, for their own retirement - all of these are relevant, but so are aspirations like going on a foreign vacation, buying a good car and so on. Long term for today's youth is a series of short terms. Upgrading lifestyle is a key aspiration. They want to do more with the money they earn - and that is where our proposition comes in. Giving the power of SIPs to your savings enables you to do more - it enables you to boost the "raftaar of your tarakki" "speed of your progress
WF: Do you see this campaign as the beginning of an industry effort to extend SIPs beyond long term life goals into the realm of "save to spend" kind of short and medium term aspirational goals?
Gaurav: I think as an industry, we have for far too long been doing generic communication. Some fund houses have now begun very targeted communication, with specific investor segments in mind. We have also embarked very actively on this path. As more industry players join this movement, mutual funds will increasingly become relevant to different investor segments for different needs. That's the way it ought to be.
WF: The industry now boasts of 92 lakh SIPs with an annual inflow in excess of Rs.25,000 crores - SIPs are slowly becoming mainstream savings vehicles. What factors have driven SIP momentum in the last couple of years? We have after all been propagating SIPs for over a decade now.
Gaurav: We have 40+ AMCs communicating their messages, and most of our communications focus on SIPs as the best way to invest for the long term. Distributors have also been aggressively promoting SIPs. This is a case of one brick at a time - each effort seems small in isolation, but collectively when all the bricks are in place, you realize you have jointly created quite a superstructure. The SIP book size which looks significant today, is a result of individual efforts of all fund houses and distributors over the years.
I also believe that the banking channel has contributed meaningfully to this. Acquiring retail SIPs as a cross sell is more viable for banks than as a stand-alone acquisition strategy for distributors.
WF: What are some of the new education initiatives you have launched within Swatantra - UTI's flagship investor education initiative?
Gaurav: One of the most visible aspects of Swatantra is our presence in Times of India. We have now significantly boosted the reach of this initiative through the One India Plus program in addition to TOI where we broadcast the Swatantra messages across , Hindustan Times, Mint, Ananda Bazaar Patrika, Hindu BusinessLine, Hindusthan in Hindi, Sakal and regional newspapers. From a reach of 70 lakh readers, we have expanded reach to 4 crore readers.
We have a central content team that curates content and puts out customised content - which is different for larger markets and smaller towns. Our effort has also been to drive byte sized content - crisp and a little prescriptive in tone, which appeals to readers who are deluged with information but need clear answers.
We have been extensively involving our distribution partners in Swatantra. We created an influencers column, through which over 550 influencers - IFAs, thought leaders, educators - have written columns in different publications, in different languages, expressing their thoughts on how to invest successfully. This initiative has given many of our IFAs a platform that strengthens their brand equity among existing clients and enables them to reach out to many more prospects, through the medium of investor education.
Swatantra has moved in the direction of multi-media content, with radio shows, TV shows and a website. We have a weekly radio program in Mumbai and Delhi in the 94.3 English channel, in association with RJ Hrishi K. We have partnered with ET Now for an on ground and TV initiative which is all about money conversations. Our convergence platform is our exclusive website www.BeSwatantra.com, which brings together all our investor education initiatives on a single platform. This is also under revamp for better content search facilities and lay out.
I would like to encourage all distributors to browse through this website and see how you can leverage all of our education initiatives to reach out to more investors in your own communities.
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