HDFC Mutual Fund banks on MD’s oft-repeated phrase for new campaign

Explaining complex financial terms is a difficult task on its own. HDFC Mutual Fund and Publicis India have come together for a campaign that throws light on the importance of systematic investment plans (SIPs) precisely. #ZindagiKeLiyeSIP is an investor education and awareness campaign.

Through parents giving their children life lessons, and a woman learning sign language to communicate with her partner, the campaign explains how SIP is a reflection of the way we inculcate habits through small but timely efforts.

In a freewheeling chat with e4m, Chief Digital & Marketing Officer of HDFC AMC Ltd., Harish Narayanan, and Managing Director of Publicis India, Oindrila Roy, shared insights into the campaign.

“The industry, as a whole, is playing its part in simplifying wealth creation,” Narayanan noted. He gave the example of AMFI (Association of Mutual Funds in India), which has been relentlessly working towards this end through its ‘Mutual Funds Sahi Hai’ campaign.

The ask for Publicis India was simple – making the entry barrier as low as possible. The guiding principle behind the communication was an oft-repeated phrase by the company’s Managing Director Navneet Munot that sound investment, time and patience is the only way to create wealth. 

Explaining the philosophy, Harish said, “Sound investment involves choosing the right funds and then investing consistently. It does not matter how small or big the investment is - it could start from Rs 500 a month. The point is that you are making it a discipline and then you give it time and you do not react and you are able to be patient with the investment.” 

 This was exactly what Oindrila had in mind as well. Talking about making the educational and awareness materials about SIPs a more slice of life experience, she said that for a sector like BFSI, the more we demystify and humanize it, the more we bring it closer to people's lives.

For this campaign, their idea was to make SIP the optimum choice amongst non-investors. “Two years ago, the term SIP was all over the place but very few actually understood it, or how it could help them in their investment journey. Very few campaigns were able to give a deeper meaning to the term,” remembers Oindrila about the time two years ago when the campaign was first launched. 

 The insight that drove the campaign was that today's India is full of hope and optimism for tomorrow. “As a society, we also understand that success comes to those who start early, stay consistent, and think long term. It was our CEO Paritosh Srivastava that made this connection between the pillars of success and SIP,” said Oindrila.

She adds that the creative team then thought of using the line ‘Jab zindagi jeene ka tarika hi SIP hai, toh zindagi ke liye kyu nahi?. Harish thought the line was an apt description for Indians. “As a country, we are very smart investors in different aspects of life. It could be our children’s future, the well-being of our loved ones, or nurturing relationships, we believe in making consistent efforts and are ready to invest for the long term in all of these things. The campaign brings this idea to life,” he said. 

The campaign films tell the stories representative of contemporary India. One film shows a father ensuring that his daughter gets the time and place to practice badminton, aspiring for her to make it big in the sport. One is about a young girl who is in love with a hearing and speech impaired man, so she makes the ‘investment’ of learning sign language. In both cases, the educational and awareness materials stress on making consistent efforts with a long-term plan is shown as a way to achieve one’s goal, whether that of a successful career or a fulfilling relationship.  

Oindrila shared that the mutual funds industry has about 4% penetration (Source: AMFI), which gives it an immense potential to grow. Conveying to people the ease of investing and the benefits of mutual funds, she believes, will open up the industry. “It is imperative that the onus of making this communication is on HDFC Mutual Fund as one of the top players in the industry,” she said. 

Harish believes that campaigns like this have helped uplift the entire industry. “The overall search queries for SIPs have gone up during the period of this campaign. Overall, the mutual funds industry has crossed Rs 20,000 crores (SIP Book) worth of investments in April 2024, which is thrice the entire mutual fund investments made in the entire financial year of 2018-19. In fact, there were Rs 5 million new SIPs started in May,” he shared. (Source: AMFI)

It is due to the investor education initiatives, said Oindrila, that we have become a nation of investors from a nation of savers. The behavioural change of Indian investors over the last five years is a remarkable phenomenon, said Harish. “The domestic investor has now become the foundational bearer of the equity markets. We have developed into a very vibrant participatory capital market as they become more confident in India’s growth story,” he said.