Lowe Lintas wins Canara Robeco Mutual Fund

Lowe Lintas Mumbai has clinched the creative duties for Canara Robeco Mutual Fund (the joint venture between Canara Bank and Robeco of the Netherlands). The development follows a multi agency creative pitch in which eight agencies took part, out of which three, including Lowe, were shortlisted for the final round. The incumbent agency on the account is Chennai based Salt Creatives.

Confirming the win to afaqs!, Shantanu Sapre, vice-president, Lowe Lintas says that the job for the agency is two-fold: to launch various products under the brand; as well as investor education concerning the category.

"Many existing mutual fund players don't look beyond dealer meets when it comes to communication, and hence, there is no real connection with the end consumer," he says, as a result of which consumer preferences are driven by intermediaries.

Further, mutual fund advertising is generally in the functional/rational space, and hence, such ads tend to mirror each other. "In this kind of parity, driving consumer preference is what we are looking at," adds Sapre. With more than 38 players, the category is quite competitive but under-penetrated - less than 5 per cent of the investing public looks at mutual funds seriously - and investor education, therefore, is a key aspect.

On the plus side, Lowe Lintas executives feel that Canara Robeco bears with it the advantage of Robeco's global lineage in asset management and the benefits associated with the heritage of Canara Bank in India.

Avinash Ramnath, head, sales and marketing, Canara Robeco Mutual Fund, says, "We were looking for a Mumbai based agency that could further our plans for expansion in India and found that partner in Lowe Lintas." The main task will be to make concepts simpler for investors through the use of media other than investor camps - which is what the brand had been chiefly involved in so far.

For the record, Salt Creatives had won Canara Robeco about 2.5 years ago, and had launched the brand with the campaign, 'Mutual Fund for a changing India'. The campaign targeted the young, urban, middle class population.

The tagline drafted by Lowe for the brand will revolve around the thought, 'Why let go of your dreams?' in an attempt to forge a bond with consumers that keeps jargon out.

The media mix will make use of mass media and digital media, although television won't be involved in the near future.