Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund launches investor education platform, Jaanotohmaano.com

Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund has launched an integrated investor education platform, anchored on the web at www.jaanotohmaano.com.

Announcing the launch of the initiative are three ad films, the first of which went on air on 11 November. The agency behind the campaign is JWT India.

The first film shows an eatery, where a waiter taking the order of a group of men says he’ll bring their food in two minutes. One of the men in the group stops him to ask if the food has been kept ready since the previous day. He tells the waiter to take his time, but to ensure that the food is good. A man at another table picks up from there, and explains to viewers that just as it is with food, mutual funds investments too take time to deliver good returns. He adds that people will believe this only if they are made aware - and urges viewers to visit jaanotohmaano.com.

“The problem with mutual funds as a category is that though it is a 49 year-old industry, and India has 34 of the world’s best brands, it accounts for 5 per cent of household savings. We identified three key barriers that prevent people from investing in mutual funds. The first barrier is that people think it’s about quick returns, the second is that people believe one needs a lot of money to invest in mutual funds. Thirdly, they believe it’s about equity, high risk and therefore ‘not for me’,” explained Ajay Kakar, CMO - financial services, Aditya Birla Group.

The first ad film addresses the first barrier of ‘quick returns’. Two more films are on the anvil.

One the creative route, Kakar said, “We did not want to start talking mutual funds, but engage the viewer with a real life hook. In the case of the first film, it’s a restaurant situation. All of us would have at some point asked for the food to be delivered quickly, but the truth is that it takes time.”

On the creation of Jaanotohmaano.com, he added, “Education in this category, normally, is done sporadically with no continuity. We wanted to create a common platform for all education initiatives. All the small things we do on education will find their way here, and we will keep enriching the online platform giving enough reason for investors to keep visiting.”

Credits

Client: Aditya Birla Group Financial Services
Brand: Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund
Creative agency: JWT India