Axis Bank builds network ProgressTogether.in

Axis Bank has extended its new campaign, 'Badhti ka naam zindagi', with a social network called ProgressTogether. The campaign, launched recently, highlights how an individual's progress in life is interlinked with the growth of others. Taking the same premise forward, the website ProgressTogether.in focuses on how progress of one impacts many.

According to the company, there is a social network or a professional network but in all these networks, people are forgetting who they are truly indebted to. ProgressTogether positions itself as a progress network. Launched on February 1, the platform has so far recorded 3,650 registered users.

Leveraging the Facebook API, the network allows users to acknowledge their Facebook contacts and explore their connections. While it enables people to create their own network, it also enables them to navigate the networks of people.

The site has also included interactive videos based on various products and services offered by Axis Bank. "The idea here was to avoid doing standard product advertising and give different consumers a much more engaging experience of the products on offer, in turn building interest value and equity in a way never done before by any bank in India," the company says in a statement. The products have been included on the site with space being allotted to the product section on the homepage.

Commenting on the mandate behind creating a network, Arun Iyer, national creative director, Lowe Lintas & Partners tells afaqs! that after establishing the new brand campaign, the plan was to seamlessly extend this philosophy to digital.

"ProgressTogether.in is a way to bring alive the philosophy as digital is the medium to express and share. The root being that in today's increasingly connected world, people are becoming disconnected. We hardly recognise those to whom we owe our progress. Thus was created ProgressTogether.in, which enables one to acknowledge those who have helped him/her progress in life. On the other hand one also gets acknowledged by people for the difference that one would have made in their life," Iyer explains.

Iyer points out that consumers are interacting with banks more and more online, versus offline transactions at branches. It is because of this changing scenario that Axis Bank has planned a unique move into the digital world to strengthen its engagement with its customers.

"Considering the potential of the digital world and its impact on the banking sector, the brief was to extend the new brand philosophy, 'progress together', into the digital space. The ultimate objective was to further strengthen the engagement level with the target group," Iyer adds.

The platform is being promoted on other media such as TV, print, outdoor and via social media advertising on Facebook, and display advertising on websites such as Rediff, IBN Live, Times of India and Economic Times. Communication to Axis customers through various touch points like email and statements are also being sent to promote ProgressTogether.in.

Speaking about the activity, Manisha Lath Gupta, CMO, Axis Bank, says, "Time spent online has been on the rise with the advent of social media and high speed networks on smartphones. For a brand to truly engage with its customers it is becoming imperative to have a brand engagement platform online. Axis Bank has launched ProgressTogether.in which builds beautifully on our advertising idea of 'On the Highway of Life, no one progresses alone'."