Freecharge aims to increase brand awareness and recall with IPL campaign

The Unified Payments Interface (UPI) market in India is growing, as the country’s attitude towards digital payments continues to evolve. The Union Information Technology (IT) Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw recently revealed that the UPI transactions accounted for 55% of India’s gross domestic product (GDP).

PhonePe, Google Pay and Paytm dominate the UPI transactions market in India.

However, Freecharge - a financial services app, is getting ambitious. It has been looking to increase brand awareness among the masses for a few months now. It’s a one-of-a-kind financial services brand under Axis Bank.

According to a Fintrackr report, Freecharge’s scale went up 12.5x since its acquisition by Axis Bank. The brand’s advertising and marketing spends have also increased considerably. Its advertising and marketing spends increased by 62% in FY22.

This year, Freecharge is leveraging the Indian Premier League (IPL) to a greater extent to increase brand awareness and recall, says Shweta Singhal, CMO, Freecharge, in an interaction with afaqs!.

The brand has launched a new campaign, titled ‘Pay Kar. Befikar’ featuring actor Jaideep Ahlawat of ‘Paatal Lok’ fame. The film will be promoted throughout the ongoing IPL season across JioCinema and other digital platforms.

In the film, Ahlawat is seen sharing the benefits of Freecharge UPI and Pay Later, and also encouraging customers to use the app to avail cashbacks and rewards.

Speaking about the campaign, Singhal says that unlike a few years ago, UPI transactions are a part and parcel of people’s lives now. Earlier, people had to be educated about what UPI actually is. However, that’s changed now.

“How do you make an ad about a well-known product that stands out? First, you have to own the fact that it’s a product the government is pushing, which is great for us. The only difference we wanted to bring about, apart from the cashback point, is that it’s fast and secure.”

“Thus, we went with a simple script. The timing also has to be kept in mind because when you are doing a 10-second OTT ad, you really can’t have a lot of riffraff. You have to choose a core theme and run with that.”

Singhal adds that Ahlawat was a conscious choice for the ad.

“He’s a Filmfare OTT award-winning actor, who’s immensely popular amongst today’s audience. He’s received critical acclaim for his work in ‘Paatal Lok’ and done some popular Bollywood films. His versatile acting style appeals to all customer demographics and cuts across age groups. This complements our brand’s diverse product portfolio.”

Campaign’s objective

As per Singhal, the campaign’s success parameters are going to be measured in terms of the increase in traffic on the Freecharge app and mobile site.

“It (IPL) gives us an unprecedented reach. I’m expecting an increase in the brand’s top of mind recall. There will be more awareness about our brand. We will expand our footprint as well as acquire new customers.”

“Our aim, for this particular campaign, is to position Freecharge as a one-stop solution for all your payment and credit needs.”

The IPL is like a brand magnet. Every brand - big or small - wants to be associated with it in some way or the other.

Asked about Freecharge’s strategy to ensure that it’s different from the clutter out there, Singhal says this is the first time the brand is advertising during the IPL. She says that the value the IPL brings to an ad, is quite advantageous for brands.

“It’s worthwhile to spend time and money on placing your product during the IPL season. We’re also promoting the ad on other digital platforms.”

Partnering with JioCinema, instead of Star Sports, was a conscious decision for Freecharge.

“We’re a mobile-first digital financial services platform. So, the digital strategy is more in tune with our overall brand strategy. That’s where an OTT platform is more relevant for us. The second factor is also the cost, even though the OTT platform is expensive, it’s a shade lesser than TV,” shares Singhal.

Ad strategy post-IPL

Freecharge wants to further leverage local media to reach out to local markets, mentions Singhal. The brand also wants to target small merchants and business owners.

“The overall marketing strategy will be much more focussed on local media. Pre-Diwali, we will look at doing a lot of stuff on local media in the states and cities that are our focus areas. ATL and national media isn’t something that we’d like to focus on again and again.”

“It’s a one-time campaign that we’ve launched to increase brand awareness during the IPL season. But later in the year, we’d like to focus on digital promotions as well as increasing brand awareness via local media. Along with digital, we could look at local print media or radio stations, and even local outdoor advertising.”

According to Singhal, for Freecharge, the most important factor isn’t to grab a huge market share in the UPI space. Since UPI is the fastest-growing payment mode in the country, the brand wants a pie in the space.

This year, Freecharge wants to position itself as the leading fintech in the country.

“Now, we’re also transforming to become a meaningful lending fintech in the country, and not just a payments platform. On the lending front, our offering includes ‘buy now pay later’, personal loans, etc. Freecharge is also a meaningful player in the merchants category and, again, offers both payment as well as lending solutions to small and mid-size merchants,” mentions Singhal.

She adds that apart from the ads running on JioCinema, there’s another film that’s currently running on YouTube.

“In May, we may have another lending product film for digital platforms on similar campaign theme, also featuring Ahlawat.”