Walking The Attention-Trust Tightrope

Banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) is not the easiest category to advertise. The products can be complex, the terminology can be difficult to understand and the decisions often involve something deeply personal: a consumer’s money and financial security. For a long time, BFSI advertising relied on a fairly predictable formula of advertising. There was a family facing a financial concern, a person offering a solution and a reassuring message towards the end. The objective was less about entertaining the consumer and more about making the brand appear dependable. LIC’s ‘Zindagi ke saath bhi, Zindagi ke baad bhi’ became one of the most recognisable examples of this approach.

But the advertising environment has changed significantly. Today, BFSI brands are competing for attention in a crowded digital environment where consumers are constantly moving between short-form videos, creators, entertainment, commerce and news. A financial brand has only a few seconds to make someone stop scrolling, but it also has to ensure that the message in those few seconds is accurate and responsible.

This has changed the way BFSI marketers approach communication. The category has become more creative and culturally relevant. Visa, for instance, brought Shah Rukh Khan into its ‘Paisa O Paisa’ campaign, while ACKO used the familiar song ‘Bahon Mein Chale Aao’ to communicate the idea of health insurance in an entertaining manner. Mutual fund brands are using poetry, comedy and storytelling to make investment conversations easier to engage with. Gold loan brands are trying to move the category beyond the traditional perception of borrowing during a financial crisis.