Inside: A ventriloquist & his puppet's journey of making IndusInd Bank accessible in the lockdown

With the help of a ventriloquist and his puppet, IndusInd Bank was able to create a humorous campaign to communicate about banking during the lockdown.

As the new normal started playing out, the team at IndusInd Bank sat down to list out the key concerns they felt would be on the minds of their customers as well as potential customers. Safety was found to be a key concern, followed by the need to be in control. They wanted to bring a smile on faces with their campaign without taking away from the marketing communication needs of IndusInd at the time.

The communication objective was thus to illustrate the two concepts. The character of a ventriloquist was chalked out to achieve this for it was felt that the relationship they share with their puppet is a great example of responsiveness, timing, and control. With Viggy & Victor, the brand aimed to explain the convenience that IndusInd offers its customers.

Two of the three films in the series are out now. They feature Vighnesh Pande and his puppet. The narrative of these films reflects the emotions and hurdles people have experienced in the last few months under the lockdown, with a sprinkle of humour. The campaign is IndusInd bank's attempt to talk about Social Distance Banking in an engaging manner. Most prominently, they detail the bank's video KYC feature and the deals customers can have access to if they were using the bank's card.

Talking about Viggy & Victor's journey, Anil Ramachandran, EVP and Head – Marketing and Retail Unsecured Assets, IndusInd Bank tells us, "The response to the V-KYC has been extremely gratifying. The characters of the ventriloquist and his puppet are something very new in the context. We believe it has made for very engaging communication."

Beyond the Campaign

With the lockdown, communication needs and content have changed significantly. In the beginning, a lot of content was centred around the safety and well-being of customers. For IndusInd, it was critical to communicate the safety measures they were taking at their branches as well as assure people about the banking facilities that were accessible to customers on digital platforms.

"Communicating, educating and encouraging adoption of digital channels have been some of the key focus areas."

Anil Ramachandran, EVP and Head – Marketing and Retail Unsecured Assets, IndusInd Bank

In the last couple of months, the bank has partnered with several brands across categories, including food & nutrition, household supplies, health, and wellness among others. These alliances were carefully curated by the team to provide customers with convenience amidst the testing times.

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He further explains, "We have to effectively communicate with our customers with meaningful content at the correct time. Digital media provides a great canvas for this. We could, for example, inform them about special offers on their debit cards on our mobile banking app, through alerts, or when they open it to conduct a transaction."

Upon being asked about the importance of influencer marketing for IndusInd Bank, Ramachandran explains, "For us, our employees, as well as our customers, are the biggest influencers. We are of the firm belief that good word of mouth works wonders. Customer referral is an integral part of our business."

Looking Forward

The demand and supply related challenges that most marketers are faced with, in the wake of COVID-19 haven't left banking untouched. Here too, the teams are brainstorming ways to spur demand and fulfill the existing as well as the newly generated demand. Business models are being reinvented in sync with the new reality.

"As a bank, we have to build strong innovations and digitalisation platforms that we already have and to constantly remain focussed on innovating and finding simple but robust solutions. The single-minded objective is to continue providing banking solutions that simplify banking and fulfill the requirements of customers in a convenient, simple, and speedy manner," Ramachandran tells us.

He further explains how the new brick and mortar are the customers' home. "Fulfilling their banking needs with the press of a button or the simplicity of a scan without ever taking away the safety and security of the customer or the traction is therefore what we do," he concludes.