Is the BFSI sector breathing Bharat?
Neeta Nair speaks to BFSI leaders at a roundtable during the second edition of Pitch BFSI Marketing Summit hosted by e4m in Mumbai
The Pitch BFSI Marketing Summit hosted an insightful panel discussion, chaired by Neeta Nair, Editor, IMPACT Magazine. The topic, ‘Breathe Bharat’ saw the participation of Rathin Lahiri, Head – Marketing & CSR, SBI General Insurance; Sapna Desai, CMO, ManipalCigna Health Insurance Company Ltd.; Pratik Gour, Co-founder, Footprynt; Satya Prabhakar, CEO, ProManage/Sulekha; Shwetha Iyer, SVP and Head of Marketing, RING & Kissht.
The topic ‘Breathe Bharat’ delved into the marketer’s approach to rural audiences. Introducing the talk, Neeta Nair explained how marketers today have bifurcated their approach for rural and urban audiences. Sapna Desai of ManipalCigna Health Insurance Company Ltd. concurred with the idea of Breathing Bharat, stating that it is a ‘great opportunity’ for marketers in terms of strategy. According to Rathin Lahiri of SBI General Insurance, the intensity of competition varies in metros and smaller towns. He says that in smaller towns you need basic education on insurance and its needs. But, according to him, the opportunity exists everywhere today, thanks to the growth of small-scale industries, infrastructure development by state governments, etc. He further stressed integrated marketing as the need of the hour.
Speaking of marketing, influencer marketing is one of the key highlights today. Pratik Gour who runs an influencer marketing company, Footprynt, elaborated on how BFSI marketing is a different ball game in rural areas. He mentioned that rural and semi-urban influencers create content for their specific geographies. Such influencers must create straightforward and honest content, and it must be entertaining in some way. On the topic of influencers, the panellists agreed that not just FinTech influencers, but lifestyle influencers can also work for the BFSI sector.
Shwetha Iyer of RING and Kissht explained how the sensibilities regarding borrowing from a digital platform differ in rural and urban India. The FinTech industry, replete with unfortunate scam incidents, struggles with trustworthiness in rural India. She further explains how there is a mental block against borrowing in India, and taking a loan is looked down upon. All this goes against the potential growth of a FinTech organisation. Iyer explains how she battles these problems through customer education in Tier II and III regions. According to her, the message must appeal to the audience’s sensibilities.
For Digital SaaS platform ProManage/Sulekha, helping brands to reach the right audience effectively is of utmost importance. Satya Prabhakar of ProManage/Sulekha mentioned during the round table that almost 90 percent of the purchases in India continue to happen offline. But, interestingly, about 100 percent of the searches are happening online. A customer who goes through the three phases of searching, researching, and purchasing a product, usually spends a lot of time in the first two phases. According to Prabhakar, several customers in these two phases do not have a brand in mind, and this is the sweet spot to target for marketers.
Sapna Desai spoke further on the topic of innovation where she mentioned that it is not just marketing innovation, but its product, service, communication, and the entire gambit of things. Hence, it is important to break the clutter and understand the product and the means of communication. She further mentions that more innovation means a lower cost of acquisition.
