Can financial products become consumer products

From left to right Anand Bajaj, Chief Innovation Officer, YES Bank, Deepali Naair, Country Head Brand & Corporate Communications, L& T General Insurance , Lulu Raghavan, Country Director, Landor Associates,Tista Sen , National Creative Director & Senior VP,JWT Mumbai, at the Business Standard Smart Business event, held on 12^th Jan 2013 in Mumbai in association with SIES College of Management Studies

Business Standard Smart Business event held on 12^th Jan 2013 in Mumbai in association with SIES College of Management Studies brought together seasoned entrepreneurs to discuss upon the possibilities of financial products becoming consumer products.

Anand Bajaj, Chief Innovation Officer, YES Bank, shared the concept of replication – learning from each other sector, and said that FMCG replica is very evident in BFSI sector. For him, collaboration is critical in innovation. The youth will have to take the lead in innovation.

Bajaj also felt that challenges of regulators is possible via deregulating, and that a money doctor approach is necessary. According to him, the customer doesn’t care more about technology but the service. Like the facility of using ATM in other banks was a great support from RBI. Therefore, attribute mapping and customer closeness is essential. He also expressed that the use of technology will change the future course of action.

According to Deepali Naair, Country Head – Brand & Corporate Communications, L&T General Insurance, the role of legal & regulatory compliance is more pronounced in BFSI compared to the FMCG sector. She felt that even the urban consumer should learn how to make more money from savings account. She put forth an example of Marico’s brand management for Saffola and how regulators control the pricing, feature and exotic things rather than FMCG. She also felt alternate sales channel is a big support for BFSI sector and that technology tools are going to play a big role, and in India the challenge lies in consumer education.

For Tista Sen, National Creative Director & Sr. VP, JWT Mumbai, there is no difference between the two sectors, the product and consumer need is more important. She presented an example of Birla Wealth Management campaign, which took a different approach by employing celebrity endorsement where the emotional connect happened due to human understanding.

On the other hand, Lulu Raghavan, Country Director, Landor Associates, believed that financial products can turn into consumer products but the question was whether they should turn at all. He said that the focus should be more towards corporate brand and that it should stand for something at the overall level. There should be alignment of brand promise to the consumer level by delivering the same on a consistent basis. He also cited examples of CITI Bank lounge experience in their branches, Middle East HSBC - Sharaya banking for Muslim fraternity, and others.