The bank is the last place on Earth anyone wants to go to. And the convenience of mobile applications have ensured we don’t have to go to our home branch again and stand in long queues, waiting to get our passbooks printed. Even most bank advertisements now focus on apps.
But Federal Bank’s new campaign — Rishta Aap Se Hai, Sirf App Se Nahi— turns this narrative on its head. The idea that digitisation is putting distance between people is not new, but even the most vocal critics of the digital age might fail to put a positive spin on visits to the bank.
In two 45-second TVCs, the bank claims that its personnel have built long-lasting friendships with their clients and that this will keep them coming back to the brick and mortar buildings. This is despite the fact that all banking needs can be fulfilled at the tap of a button. It hints at a high customer retention rate and attention to each individual client.
At the same time, the ads also communicate the functionality of the app effectively. It goes as far as saying there is no real need to go to the bank, implying that those who do come, come because they want to.
The first shows a young boy cribbing about his father sending him to the bank to get a passbook. The employee tells him that this too can be done online but that his father would still keep coming to the bank because the app can’t laugh at his father’s jokes.
The second features a young woman. The teller asks her if she needs anything, but she’s done everything on the app already. She’s come all the way to invite the teller to her wedding.
The ads don’t harp on customer care, or how they’re the best bank to open an account with. They’re not selling a product, they’re building a brand. The messaging integrates seamlessly with their philosophy, digital at the fore, human at the core.
Nobody ever talks about the deep relationships one used to build with the strangers, who funnily know everything about us when we’re sitting in front of them. From cashiers to managers to relationship partners — banking professionals are often depicted as well wishers, never as friends. Just capitalising on the insight of increasing impersonalisation of banking makes the Federal Bank ad stand out.
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Focus on apps not wrong
Since the late 2010s, banking ads have focused on the wonders of their apps.
Axis Bank’s 2016 campaign with Deepika Padukone is a good example of this wave. Padukone’s assistant offers her sweets on the occasion of his daughter’s birth. He notices a passbook and insists on going to the bank to take care of it. Padukone promptly sends him home, as she holds up her phone showing the app and asks “why do you need to go to the bank to go to the bank?” A perfectly good, informative ad.
State Bank of India’s ‘integrated digital banking platform’, SBI Yono has been promoted heavily in a long-running campaign. The quirky ads, geared towards the younger demographic have done well. Their taglines — You Only Need One; Lifestyle and Banking Dono; Say YO To Life With YONO SBI — are catchy. The taglines also have good recall value, and are much stronger and less cliched than rishta sirf aap se hai, app se nahi.
App-centric campaigns are not bad, and the banks are not wrong. The storytelling has just gone stale. The Federal Bank’s campaign brings in the emotional quotient without dismissing the convenience of the digital. The ads feature the app, but it is about building lasting relationships.