Treasure hunt at Marine Drive? Bank on it

Arc Worldwide recently undertook an activity for client Centurion Bank that had customers in a frenzy to sample one of its upmarket Mumbai branches

Nothing works quite like a free lunch. And Arc Worldwide, Leo Burnett’s integrated marketing arm, has proof to that effect. The agency recently completed an activity for client Centurion Bank of Punjab that had South Mumbai-ites stepping over each other's toes in a rush for freebies, while unsuspectingly fulfilling the bank’s secret wishes.

The story runs thus: in the days of 24-hour ATMs and net/phone/SMS banking, it’s quite a task for bank executives to get people to visit a branch. Not particularly good news for Centurion, a bank that decided to open a new branch in Marine Drive – Mumbai’s posh, sea-facing locality. The bank’s target group was specific: residents in and around the branch. To top it off, limited budgets were staring the Arc team in the face.

Treasure hunt at Marine Drive? Bank on it

The sandwich-man with a message

After some research and quick thinking, it was concluded that a bulk of the residents are found taking morning walks along the Marine Drive stretch, between 5 and 8 am (although the area is frequented by tourists and other Mumbaikars, few flock there in the wee hours). This segment, therefore, became the focus for Centurion Bank. Firstly, direct mailers and press insertions were sent out to residents in various housing societies, informing them of the bank’s new branch.

Next, Arc came up with the concept of creating two ‘treasure chests’ in the bank’s branch. Keys for the same were distributed to joggers by volunteers and sandwich-men in the area, and each key contained a special number, which, if sent as an SMS along with the person’s name to a certain number, had the bank recognising the entrant. The key made them eligible to come into the bank and try their luck with the treasure chests, which contained special gifts and vouchers, including free lunches at nearby posh hotels (The Hilton Towers and the Taj Mahal), or redeemable vouchers from Tanishq and other lifestyle brands.

A jogger examining the key

“Each person who would walk in would definitely win something or the other, as the key would open at least one of the chests,” reveals CVS Sharma, senior vice-president and director, Arc Worldwide. Of course, there was the grand bumper prize to be given away as well.

In case people had difficulty visiting the bank, they could even log onto a specially created site, www.banknextdoor.co.in, and see which chest their key fits into. At the two points of entry to Marine Drive (JJ flyover and Chowpatty), small hoardings and banners were put up with the bank’s logo and branch details, purely for the recall factor.

Arc set the site up, integrated the mobile engine and launched the program in a matter of a fortnight, while the actual activity was a week-long one.

Curious citizens crowd around the
volunteers

Romit Mitra, director, integrated marketing services, Arc Worldwide, says, “The area of Marine Drive posed its own unique obstacles. For one, the residents in the area are affluent and hard to contact. Even if we are able to contact them, they are cynical of promotions.” To add to that, the Marine Drive area (much like Times Square in New York) is dotted with hoardings that are often a blind spots to residents, and there are also severe restrictions in promotional activities and permissions.

With a shoe-string budget of Rs 2 lakh-Rs 3 lakh, about 60 per cent of morning walkers were given the keys and about 30 per cent of these key recipients visited the bank. About 70 per cent people logged on to the website, while 75 per cent sent SMSes. The bank also saw a significant number of new customers walking into the branch, and several of them ended up opening not only the treasure chests, but also an account with the bank.

Now, Arc is planning to replicate this activity for other branches of Centurion across India. There is such a thing as a free lunch, after all.

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