Establishing Market Presence Through Strategic Paid Media for Bajaj Finserv Asset Management

Introduction

Amidst this burgeoning market of the investment solutions sections in India, Bajaj Finserv Asset Management Limited has emerged as a promising new entrant. As a wholly owned subsidiary of the revered Bajaj Finserv Limited, the company brings with it a legacy of trust and innovation. With the mutual fund industry's assets under management (AUM) expanding to over INR 37 trillion as of 2023, highlighting people's interest in diverse and strategic investment avenues to secure their financial futures, Bajaj Finserv has responded by offering a wide array of innovative financial products focused on tailored and future-focused investment strategies.

Challenges

Bajaj AMC, a sister subsidiary of Bajaj Finserv, faced the daunting task of carving out its niche in the competitive market which is dominated by giants like HDFC, Axis, ICICI, and SBI. To counter this and accelerate brand recognition, they collaborated with ARM Worldwide's paid media marketing team, leveraging their expertise to enhance the brand’s visibility.

Objectives

Our primary goals were:

To enhance brand recall and visibility
To educate the market about Bajaj Finserv's New Fund Offerings (NFOs) and educational podcasts and videos.

Strategy

To achieve the desired objectives, the team crafted a tailored and customised strategy.

#1. Right Platform Segmentation as per the Target Group

We strategically selected YouTube for its excellent video marketing capabilities, enhancing brand recognition by delivering engaging, visually appealing content to a broad audience. Additionally, we utilised Meta platforms, known for their vast reach and interactive features, to target users aged 25 to 55, thereby increasing our brand’s visibility and fostering meaningful interactions with potential customers.

#2. Campaign and Budget Allocation

For our Google campaigns, we implemented two strategic campaign types: Reach and Views.

We allocated 40% of our budget to Reach campaigns to enhance brand searches and recognition, broadening our digital footprint and visibility. The remaining 60% was dedicated to Views campaigns, focusing on using brand films to educate users about our products.

For our Meta campaigns, we strategically allocated our budget across three main areas.

We allocated 65% of our budget to Awareness campaigns to boost posts extensively, enhancing broad visibility and foundational brand awareness. Another 15% was directed towards Views/Consideration campaigns, specifically targeting our New Fund Offerings (NFOs) to spark interest and encourage engagement. The remaining 20% supported Traffic campaigns, aimed at driving specific actions like website visits or sign-ups during NFO promotions.

#3. Geographic and Demographic Focus

Our paid media campaigns were tailored to reach a broad and diverse audience across various geographic locations. We implemented a PAN India approach on Google to ensure our brand's presence was recognised nationwide. Meanwhile, for our Meta campaigns, we specifically targeted Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities for our traffic-focused initiatives, while maintaining PAN India coverage for our broader awareness and consideration campaigns.

Implementation

#1. Tailored Distribution Approaches for Varied Objectives

NFO Launches: For bi-monthly newly launched NFOs, our goal was to maximise reach and effectively disseminate information. We implemented a strategic advertising strategy that ensured the target audience received timely information about each new NFO launch.

Educational Podcasts: The team leveraged Bajaj's extensive library of educational content to fetch the key snippets which were repurposed into engaging ad formats, boosting viewer engagement and extending the reach of the content

Brand Films: Leveraging Bajaj’s brand films, which were crafted to solidify brand identity and engage potential customers, we strategically guided users towards these films to enhance brand visibility. These films provided a detailed and visually compelling view of Bajaj’s values and offerings, thereby strengthening brand recognition.

#2. Ad Types and Durations

Different ad format combinations were carefully chosen to target specific user preferences and ensure sustained engagement. Skippable ads allowed us to tailor our messaging to resonate with diverse viewer interests, maximising relevance and interaction. Meanwhile, non-skippable ads were crucial for delivering our full message uninterrupted, significantly enhancing brand recall and ensuring comprehensive viewer engagement. To optimise exposure and maintain viewer engagement across our platforms, we implemented a strategic variation in ad durations:

20-second ads: These non-skippable ads provided a concise and powerful method for guaranteed viewing, ideal for strong, impactful messages that capture attention quickly.
30-second ads: These ads balanced brevity and detail, offering enough time to convey more complex information while keeping the audience engaged.
40-second ads: These longer ads were used for detailed storytelling or when deeper explanations were necessary, allowing us to thoroughly explore the benefits and features of Bajaj Finserv's offerings.

With this approach we ensured that each ad was effectively tailored to meet the specific goals of the campaign, leveraging the strengths of different lengths to maximise reach and impact across YouTube and Meta platforms.

#3. Real-Time Adjustment

We continuously adapted our strategies based on real-time feedback to maximise campaign effectiveness.

On Google, we found that short video formats were particularly effective for promoting New Fund Offerings (NFOs), capturing the audience's attention quickly and efficiently.
For Facebook, longer, video-based content yielded superior engagement, providing more in-depth information that resonated well with users.
On Instagram, however, static visuals proved to be the most effective, appealing to the platform's visually oriented audience.

Results

The brand searches of Bajaj AMC increased by 77.38% since Jan 2023

The website traffic increased to 164% with a 41% lower cost per traffic than the targeted plan
We surpassed our targeted aim by achieving a 58% lower cost per click
Bajaj Finserv Mutual Fund maintained higher view counts than other competitors across most dates of NFO launches, indicating a consistently higher level of viewership among other competitors