‘Actively evaluating opportunities where we can onboard martech solution providers’
Apurva Sircar, Head of Marketing, Bandhan Bank, talks about the pressure banks are facing to match up to the nimbleness of fintechs, their IT transformation process, and more
“Banks today are not just facing competition from other banks but from a lot of other areas like neo banks, fintechs etc,” says Apurva Sircar, Head of Marketing, Bandhan Bank, as he engages in a chat with exchange4media.
He explained that because of this competition from varied areas, banks have to really match up to the nimbleness of fintechs. “For banks, given the size that they have, change takes time. It’s like a small car might pick up faster than a heavy car, while the heavy car might have a better top speed,” Sircar said.
However, he highlighted how banks are upgrading their tech stacks and have deployed IT cells to keep up with the changing dynamics of the sector. “We are currently in the process of an IT transformation, which should be complete in the next 2-3 months,” he shared.
Once that transformation is complete, it is expected that a lot of avenues will be opening up for Bandhan Bank with regard to their tech stacks.
For instance, Sircar mentioned, at present the martech stack of the bank is very basic. However, once the transition is complete, the bank will start looking at onboarding martech solution providers who can provide intelligent solutions to reach out to people, carry out customer communication, make it more relevant and current through the right media for the end consumer.
“We are actively evaluating and looking at opportunities where we can onboard martech solution providers,” he said.
Apart from an IT transformation, the bank’s brand identity has also recently undergone an interesting change. Bandhan Bank recently launched its sonic brand identity, or what we call musical logo aka MOGO. “Brands need to have a few key assets to be recognised among its target audience,” Sircar feels, and a sonic identity struck just the right chord with the bank.
Sircar explains that a logo is the most prominent brand asset that any brand would have and that most brand assets over the years have been visual in nature. “The challenge with the visual medium is that it is not subliminal. If you’re driving past a logo, if you do not pay full attention, it doesn’t register,” he said.
However, in the case of sounds it plays out differently. Sircar takes the example of how right from birth, a baby recognises the mother’s sound. Similarly, he adds, most of us even have musical tracks attached to milestones in our lives.
Bandhan Bank’s decision to adopt a sonic identity stemmed from the need to activate the various consumer touchpoints. “We got a musical logo in place, so even when people are not seeing Bandhan Bank, are hearing Bandhan Bank. This creates more familiarity amongst the consumers,” he mentioned.
