Patience, persistence key: Tata Mutual Fund

You have launched new Tata Mutual Fund brand campaign. How is it going since?

Our new brand campaign #KhudPeVishwaas Hai SabseBadi Investment has found resonance across investors and channel partners. There was an impromptu deluge of compliments from our channel partners – banks, national distributors, mutual fund distributors, digital platforms. And they took it upon themselves to circulate the idea through their eco-systems to their clientele. The key was to have representative aspirations of different protagonists. It's their self-belief and not circumstances that drives them, with a subtle layer of staying put and seeing it through. That's the core of mutual fund investing too. This thought came through unambiguously and partners amplified it. To sum it up, it was a collaborative belief in the idea.

Would it be fair to say that the brand now expects to increase its presence on the back of this big idea? How do you plan to extend the campaign?

Absolutely, we are on it already. The core idea was extended immediately to our Balanced Advantage Fund. Here the protagonist is unfazed in the light of an unexpected trigger. He keeps his balance and wit to keep going. One will encounter unforeseen events, but self-belief is the calm in the storm.

What is your sense of the quality of customer franchise that you are building?

We wish to be a brand that is relevant to millennials and Gen Z in that order. We are also consciously encouraging gender neutrality. Most of our campaigns have protagonists who have an equal role or an independent view basis their life-stage and lifestyle. The clear messaging is dream, invest and eventually achieve. Each stage is glued to the other with self-belief. No dream is too small. No ambition too big. Patience and persistence are key. We are trying to use demographics as a pivot to discover attitudes for relevant messaging. From an investor perspective, the growth in direct online transactions in Q1 FY 22 are a primary indicator of the affinity of the millennials and Gen Z. Of course, growth in traffic, brand searches, etc., are the cause that effected this growth. Even in the digital distribution space which includes Digital RIAs, we are seeing growth. It is the same investor who is finding a platform agnostic Tata Mutual Fund Brand and the purchases are fueled.

What next from the Tata Mutual Fund Marketing Lab – if we could call it so?

We think every milestone is the beginning of a new journey. All that we spoke about are different milestones. And the journeys have been the genesis of KhudPeVishwaas, its extension to our balanced advantage fund, and further extension to our latest NFO of Business Cycle Fund. So, you see 'vishwaas' or 'self-belief' percolating our communication. We have also extended the campaign to capture stories of self-belief of our channel partners. They share their journeys in earning investor trust. A podcast and campaigns with newer flavour are all in the crucible. The 'TMF Marketing Lab' keeps experimenting, iterating, scaling and looking for the next new. Just keeps the momentum going for all our teams and the larger eco-system where the brand is plugged in.

How do you plan to keep both the investors and the channel partners glued together? Is it possible or are these different tracks for marketing to manage?

The core of all engagement is the investors. Everything we create is around the investors. Our marketing approach has also made it easier for a lot of our channel partners to connect with newer audiences. In a month, our team and communication partners churn out over 100 units of interesting communication. These in different form factors, co-branded to power a conversation with the manufacturer's (AMC) brand halo. Add to it some of our exclusive organic digital delivery mechanisms, have reduced the time to produce and deliver across the partner eco-system. Both as a Channel Partners and an AMC, we converge on the customer to ensure a duet in sync.