Subbu knows it all!

The recent TVC by Kotak Mahindra Bank features Subbu, a jack-of-all-trades and master advisor, as its mascot.

Who do you go to when you require counsel on automobile, lifestyle, health, or monetary issues? One of your 'friendly neighbourhood know-it-all' guys? Kotak Mahindra Bank's new campaign's mascot Subbu is just the person. He knows it all -- food, automobiles, finance, and where to open a savings bank account.

Created by Cartwheel Communications, the TVC opens with Subbu, in the process of solving an intricate Rubik's Cube puzzle, while sharing invaluable insights on recession, cricket, smoking, money, cars, and planning. This goes on, until he is interrupted with news about the recent increase in interest rates on savings bank accounts provided by Kotak Mahindra Bank. A voice-over says Subbu Sab Jaanta Hai.

Marshan Karthi, head, marketing, Kotak Mahindra Group, says that there were strategic reasons for coming up with this campaign. He says, "Our in-house research told us that people have not yet accepted the concept of interest rates on their savings accounts, which benefit them."

Highlighting the October 25 decision of the Reserve Bank of India to de-regulate interest rates, Karthi says that the bank wanted to communicate quick to the masses the fact that one gets up to 6 per cent interest rate on deposits in savings bank accounts.

The Reserve Bank of India de-regulated interest rates on savings accounts on October 25. This move meant that banks are now free to set the rate they want, instead of the 4 per cent that was fixed for all banks earlier. The main condition put forth by RBI is that the interest rates for all account holders with less than Rs 1 lakh deposits will remain uniform.

Secondly, banks can create a tier structure for interest rates on a balance of over Rs 1 lakh; so, they may offer 5 per cent for a balance in the range of Rs 1-5 lakh, and 6 per cent for a balance over Rs 6 lakh, and so on.

"We immediately started our print and outdoor campaign on the offering of up to 6 per cent on savings accounts, and this communication preceded the TV commercial. Next in line is radio, cinema, and a lot of digital activity," adds Karthi.

The campaign is produced by Jamic Films and is targeted at the retired and salary account holders. "For those who draw a salary, it is like giving themselves an increment," pronounces Karthi.

Prem Nath and Ramki Ramakrishna of Cartwheel Communications have worked on the copy of the campaign.

A character of its own

Played by actor Vinay Pathak, the character Subbu has a thick South Indian accent. Karthi explains how Pathak came across as a believable person and a very good actor. "We did not want a star to overshadow the message we were trying to communicate." Karthi gives full credit to the advertising agency for the choice of Pathak.

Ramki Ramakrishna, owner, Cartwheel Creative Consultancy, explains the need to build a memorable, 'South Indian' character to which most turn to for advice. "Many people we meet are laid-back and lethargic in terms of investment. The money lies in their savings bank accounts. They need a mentor such as Subbu to channel their investments. We made the character South Indian as the community is known to be more analytical, statistical and mathematical, as well as conservative," explains Ramakrishna, while adding how Pathak has finely portrayed the character.

Financial services companies have often come up with iconic protagonists like Subbu to drive home messages. It may be recalled that ICICI Prudential Life Insurance had experimented with a calculative cartoon character, Chintamani, while Bajaj Allianz General Insurance has an 'intelligent agent' to help the consumers with money matters.

Word-of-mouth

Speaking about the concept, Karthi says, "Research told us that the key determinant to decision making is the word-of-mouth. Hence, we brought into frame a 'go-to-guy' named Subbu. He is a person with gentle authority."

The company has earlier banked upon word-of-mouth as a concept to communicate the message. About two months ago, Kotak Mahindra Bank built communication around testimonials of real people speaking their minds, in response to the question, Money ka matlab? (What does money mean to you?).

Knows it all -- but, says it all?

"All of us know a 'know-it-all' in our lives and rely on him/her to dispense information about unfamiliar territory, especially financial matters. This insight has been brilliantly used in the Kotak ad," says Sambit Mohanty, executive creative director, Bates 141.

He found the TVC very entertaining, and feels that the character Subbu is spot-on. "Most ads in the financial space tend to be pedantic in their quest to highlight their virtues, but this one stands out." Drawing an analogy from a line in the TVC that says it is not 2 per cent extra, but 50 per cent extra, Mohanty states, "The campaign is not just 50 per cent, but 100 per cent extra."

Narayan Devanathan, senior vice-president and national planning head, Dentsu Marcom India, attempts to analyse the ad from the perspective of both planner and non-planner. "I tried really hard to take off my 'planner hat' and look at this from a regular guy's perspective. Instinctively, I loved the vignettes of Subbu in the midst of laughter yoga, his know-it-all-about-Indian-cricket avatar that is a part of every adult Indian male, and so on."

However, he feels that what began as an endearing part of Subbu turned into a preachy, actually-I-do-know-it-all avatar, especially about financial matters, and it wasn't as endearing. "The difference between being a universal expert (aren't we all, especially about advertising?), and a subject-matter expert (such as on money matters) is that we're liable to believe the first (since we're also one) and disbelieve the second (because, while I'm an expert, what makes you think you are one?). And that, I think, is where this particular ad comes unstuck," adds Devanathan.

He then puts back his planner's hat and examines the campaign. "Is the strategy about establishing a decidedly un-macho, but almost as likeable a spokesperson as Isaiah Mustafa (TMYMCSL from Old Spice) for Kotak Mahindra? Or, is it about announcing the new interest rate?" he questions.

He says that because the first calls for a willing suspension of disbelief about Subbu the know-it-all, the second calls for a willing acceptance of belief from the same know-it-all. "You notice the disconnect?" Devanathan concludes.