 Welcome to Pitch Brand Talk where Insights meets innovation in the world of brands. Today we have with us CM of MoneyView, Mr. Prashant Naidu, who will be sharing with us some great insights on the world of Vintec and whatever is happening in the marketing domain in that area. Hi Prashant, welcome. Hey, hi Ritika. Pleasure to be here. I think that it's always been interesting to have conversations with exchange for media and I'm looking forward to this one as well. Thank you so much for doing this today and I mean my first question is of course going to be about, you know, with changing consumer preferences and especially in the financial sector, how is MoneyView kind of marketing the brand and the product in the service and you know, how is the marketing strategy ensuring the alignment with the evolving consumer behavior? Okay, sure. So just to give some context, right? MoneyView, we have around 65 million plus app downloads and we service close to 19,000 pin codes, right? And we have more than 5 million loans that are disbursed today. So we do operate at scale, right? And we do make sure that whether it is our marketing strategy, whether it is our communications that go out, whether it is in-app experience, there is always a sort of a cohesive flow that happens between all three, right? That is something that which is very, that is something which is very core to us. We have our app available in eight languages and it gives the users a very simple and intuitive experience. You know, whether it is the upper middle class, the middle class or even the affluent segment, right? We service everyone and we ensure that the kind of offers that we make, the way in which we communicate to these different consumer cohorts is customized. And the customization happens not just at the communication stage, but it also happens at the offer generation stage. Currently we are working, we are giving out personal loans to consumers, but we are also working on a banking product, we are also working on a credit tracker product. So I think that it's not just about, you know, we also ensure that from the first touch point, which is the Play Store, we have custom Play Store pages, the app journeys, the life cycles on communications, they are all tailor made for the consumers, right? You know, the fintech industry has evolved a lot over the years and customers are expecting a seamless journeys between multiple touch points, right? That is one of the primary reasons why fintechs are even present. So that's the area that we have focused on. So yeah, I think that's broadly it. The other philosophy of ours is that we want the customer to feel empowered, right? So in terms of, you know, choosing your loan tenure, choosing your interest rate that you're comfortable with, etc., we do allow for a great level of customization for the consumer, obviously depending on their credit score, right? So we feel that fintech as a space itself is a little challenging to understand. There's reasonable level of understanding that consumers have, but still there's a lot more that we can do. And in that, with the industry being at that stage, wanting to give the power to the consumers to be able to choose is something which is a key focus for us. Right. And you, please continue, sir. No, yeah, you can go on. Yeah. So you rightly mentioned that there's a lot of pin codes that you service, right? And I'm sure a lot of it is not just in the tier one area, the sum of it is in tier two also and beyond as well. So when it comes to servicing remote areas as such, you know, how are you engaging with the customers there? And I'm sure there are some challenges also and what are the successes and challenges and how are you ensuring her, you know, seamless experience for them as well? So for tier two to tier three customers, like I mentioned earlier, I think one of the big things is of course the availability of the app in vernacular, not just the app, but we send out vernacular communications even through our SMS email or WhatsApp and push notifications, right? So channels outside of performance channels and brand channels, we ensure that there is enough representation of vernacular content and the consumers seem to be responding to that very well, whether it is click rates, whether it's click rates, whether it is engagement rates, we see that there is a much higher level of, you know, engagement that is present once we start offering vernacular content to the consumers, right? So that is one. The second thing is that so we use a lot of ML and AI. We have in-house data models and systems that allow us to identify and refine the quality and cost of acquisition, right? We use a lot of internal analytical tools. It's not just in marketing, but it's also with our underwriting, obviously, where we are able to give very personalized offers to consumers and, you know, we are able to identify a lot more about the consumers through this approach and hence are able to give very personalized offers, right? That is the second thing. The third thing is that we have a research and insights team who constantly does a lot of consumer understanding to see what's working for them, what's not working for them. We continuously do A-B tests to identify what kind of communication, what kind of offers are working, what are not working. So, you know, we are constantly experimenting, evaluating and A-B testing with audiences. So it's not just about tier two, tier three, right? It's about any consumer who's there in India. We leverage these tools that we have and make sure that customization is at the core of whatever we are offering to them, right? Because I think in financial services, customization is one thing which is extremely critical because the offer that works for you might not work for me and vice versa, right? Absolutely. So, you know, it's a very different industry to say how maybe an e-com works or a traditional retail sector works or services industry works, you know, for certain things. But customization is key in this industry and that's where we have put a lot of focus. So, even though we reach out to 19,000 pin codes, we literally have the underwriting capability to be able to generate unlimited number of offers and with permutations and combinations. Right, absolutely. And I mean, finance is an area especially when money is involved. Trust is paramount. I mean, consumers just won't give you their money. Even money is involved if there's no trust. So, in that sense, how are you building trust through your marketing maybe or maybe the experience? How is it working for you? So, I think that if you talk about trust, right? Now, currently we are predominantly in the personal loan category, right? The call of the initial person loan or the personal loan category, right? So, there is an outflow of money from our side, right? But as we are moving towards financial services, for example, we'll be launching a banking product, already launched a credit tracker product for cross-sell, et cetera. Trust would become a key factor, right? So, there are two, three things, right? The first thing is that our, the way in which we approach consumer communication itself is very transparent, right? There are no hidden charges. There are no hidden, you know, there are no asterisk more often than not. And we ensure that, you know, there are no caveats in the offer that we are making to the consumers, right? That is what we also treat consumers with empathy during repayment hurdles, right? Especially, you know, you hear a lot about it, you know, all around in the news about, you know, the way in which companies collect the repayment from the consumers. But we are very different with our approach. We are very empathetic towards them. And that also builds a certain level of trust because there are a lot of situations where people take loans when they are in a fix or in a spot, right? We identify that and we try to deal with that in a very empathetic manner. The next thing is that we have introduced a chatbot and a voicebot, right? For quick query resolution and at least first level resolution is being provided to the consumers much faster now as compared to where it would have been earlier. So the department of a customer care executive then, you know, doesn't have to be so early in the, early in the flow and hence it can be addressed much quicker, especially if there are smaller issues that we are addressing. The next thing is that, you know, we have also on boarded a brand ambassador at Ranbir Kapoor. We've done a campaign called Man Het or Mani Hai, right? And the reason we got the celebrity also was to build a certain level of credibility with the consumers. And, you know, I think that that has also helped to a great extent for us to be able to really build our top of mind with the consumers, build our consideration with the consumers. And that reflects the number of downloads that we've had, the rate at which we've been growing. You also look at, we also continuously keep using social listening tools. We keep evaluating how our Play Store feedback is coming through. If you see we have one of the highest rated apps on the Play Store, right? We have a 4.7 star rating and our, you know, endeavor is in spite of having so many downloads and in spite of it being a business where you say no more often than you say yes to customers, especially in lending. It speaks volumes about our credibility as a platform because, you know, especially the Play Store rating, right? So it's across our marketing approach. It's across our marketing approach, the way in which we are transparent with our communications, the way in which we are very upfront on our app with respect to all the offers, etc. that we give out to the consumers. We are very on the face and there is no caveat involved if we are doing something, especially for a promotion. Also, I mean, in India, recent surveys have said that financial literacy is only at 27%. So in a country where financial literacy is so low and it is a key aspect of the fintech industry, right? So I mean, how does MoneyView approach customer education also and the challenges also that come with it? So we are very, I think we are very cognizant of this fact that financial literacy is quite low and I mentioned this earlier as well. So if MoneyView actually started off as a personal financial manager app. Right. And I think that ethos of educating the consumer about, you know, how are they spending their money? How can they be more prudent about the way in which they are going about their finances? You know, how should they be careful of the quantum of loan that they are taking, what interest they are taking at, etc., right? We want to educate them and actually improve the literacy because it works well for us as well, right? And it is always a better consumer. And so we use a graduation based strategy to help borrowers bring discipline and growth in their financial journey, right? We do blogs, we do videos and SMS communications where we educate the consumers about various aspects of personal finance and we offer valuable insights as to how they can go on their financial journey and how they can become much more robust with respect to their decisions, right? We have explainer videos, we've tied up with influencers to simplify finances to the masses basically. Now that being said, along with that we have also launched the Credit Tracker product. Currently it's on the flow but it will soon be on the app flow as well. And the Credit Tracker product is a state-of-the-art product because there we are not just telling consumers about what their credit health is, but we are also deep diving into how they can improve it, what kind of initiatives they can take for them to be able to move their credit score from A to B and what it unlocks for them, right? We are also telling that credit for people to understand that a better credit score unlocks, better opportunities, better access to credit in general, right? And not just that, right? Whether it is, you know, there are multiple other initiatives like conflict resolution with Sible, etc. that's going to be introduced. So our Credit Tracker product is another key product to talk about, you know, how consumers can be more prudent, how they can be more informed with their decision-making around their personal finances, right? Lastly, I would say that even in our collection counts, right? We don't try to strong-arm consumers but instead if they do miss an EMI for example, our focus is more about telling them, you know, how to avoid the pitfalls of not reaping their loans on time. How does it affect the credit score? How does it affect their financial journey, right? So just time back into my earlier point, it's all about empowering the consumer and education regarding finances or other financial literacy is the biggest step towards that with respect to, you know, getting the consumers to feel more in control of their life and their finances. Right. I mean, you're a company of the digital kind and I'm sure there are so many others as well. Today credit is so easy. You just have to log into an app, put your details, get the KYC done and boom, the money is in. So I mean, there's a lot of competition. So how are you also maintaining a competitive edge? And I'm sure agility is also very important in doing that. So how are you steering through that? So I think one of the things, some of these things I covered earlier, but you know, just to reiterate that, right? A big part of maintaining and increasing our competitive edge is to do a lot of experimentation, right? Experimentation on comms, on targeting, on offers, on product categories that we are involved in, right? Personalization with machine learning and generative AI. Yes. So generative AI like barge, LGBT, et cetera, which makes us very quick, makes us very agile to be able to react to what the consumer needs at a particular point in time, right? Not just, I would say more than the digital age, it is the social age now, right? Where consumers have unlimited access to information from multiple touch points, right? Right. So that decision making is no longer linear. And in an environment where there are multiple points of education for the consumer, some of them might be wrong, some of them might be right. You know, it's extremely important to be able to use the new age tools like AI in order to cater to these consumers. So that is one of it. We also take, you know, we test on new campaigns, new ideas and channels to see what resonates with the audience the most. Like for example, we did a campaign during Diwali called Hardin Diwali where we were giving away interest fee loans to 100 consumers every day, almost for a month, right? It was a lucky draw. And we actually saw a lot of response. And what this means and what we learned from it is that whenever you do a brand marketing campaign or you do any sort of campaign with the consumers, there has to be some sort of a payoff rather than a pure play, you know, brand building campaign. There's no brand building campaign person in today's day and age unless there is some of the other consumer payoff that we are tying into it, right? Right. So that is another thing that we've learned, right? The idea has to do a lot of quick, smaller campaigns, get learnings from that and keep evolving as we go along to see what kind of offers work with the consumers and how do we package them. And I think that consumer research is something that we do on a constant basis just to identify, we do both online as well as offline, just to identify what are the key factors that go into the decision making when consumers are taking loans or when they're looking for a banking product or when they're looking for a credit help product, for example, or a credit tracking product, right? So I think a lot of experimentation, quick experiments, not very large scale experiments, not very high post experiments is an approach that we are taking to the overall marketing to stay abreast with what's happening on the consumer landscape. Right. And we're stepping into a new year. So what do you think are going to be the key trends in the Pintek industry per se? Good question. I think that one thing that I see is that, like I said, it's not about doing big associations and, you know, big campaigns which run for a couple of months and then, you know, you see the benefit and that continues for a certain duration of time. It's all about doing smaller, quicker campaigns, having a strong consumer payoff that is backed by a lot of research and a lot of A-B testing that has been done in the past. So that is one, right? That is one thing which I see will be one of our key approaches for the next year as to how can we maybe do 12 to 15 campaigns in a year which are much smaller rather than do a large scale campaign. It's not that we won't do that, but I think the primary focus will be on the former rather than the latter. The second thing is, you know, influencer marketing has been around and it has penetrated a lot in the e-commerce space. It is now starting and it has started, I think, say, for the past 8 to 10 months, you're seeing a lot of influencers getting into the tech space, right? The influencers who has to speak, right? So our plan is also to really leverage YouTube as a channel to build a lot more educative content on how consumers can improve their credit score. How can they earn better with us? What are the pitfalls of their financial journey that they can avoid? You know, what are the things they need to be wary of? What are the opportunities that they can leverage? All of that, right? The second thing is to employ a lot of micro influencers in this segment. So ETL already does it. FinTech brands have started doing it, but that's going to be a key focus for us as we build our social media channels. So the next thing is that, you know, there's not much loyalty per se in the FinTech space towards a particular brand, right? You don't have a brand of choice when it comes to, say, a car that you purchase or, you know, which FMCG product you use, right? But when it comes to FinTech, I don't think that there is a great level of loyalty here because I think brand building as an exercise has not really been done to great depth, right? The way in which the FMCG brands have done or maybe certain FinTechs abroad. A few FinTechs have been able to do it in India, but I still think that there's a lot of opportunity. Like today, if you were to ask a consumer as to what, according to them is the big difference as a brand that they see between all the FinTechs currently who are offering, whether it's a loan or any other product, I don't know if they'll be able to tell what the brand personality is. So that is another area where we plan to use a lot of surrogate brand marketing, you know, cost-effective initiatives, you know, guerrilla marketing, short bursts of social media engagement, as we can continuously keep chipping away and building the brand, you know. The next one is another key focus is how do we build our low-cost channels? We started our referral program and we started scaling that. We are seeing good results and we started seeing that in the loan category, you know, word of mouth through referrals is something that really seems to be a good, you know, low-cost channel and that's going to be a key focus for us. Along with building, you know, the affiliate channels, right, currently, you know, a lot of dependencies there are the traditional, they've actually become traditional, right, channels like Facebook, etc. The idea is also to diversify to see how we can spread our share of wallet and make sure that we are using most cost-effective techniques because that's going to be a key focus for the coming year. Right, I think that a key focus for every manager or every CMO and any fintech currently is going to be how do you develop cost-effective channels for acquisition, right? Cross-Till is going to be another key focus because we've been a loans only platform till now. The credit tracker being launched, we'll use it as an acquisition tool which is not just for personal loans but also for the banking product. So, still as a theme is going to be another key area that we're going to be focusing on. And last but not the least, we definitely want to, you know, we have certain associations that are coming up from a CSR point of view as well. Right, we want to be perceived as a very responsible fintech platform. You know, MoneyView is one of the founding partners of the Digital Lending Association of India. Right. We want basically to get the word out there, right, for people to actually know this. We already do it, it's already there in our DNA. It's just that I think the right form of communication, the right kind of engagement will help us bridge that journey. Right, right. And also, I quickly wanted to understand you have a credit tracker coming up. What else can we expect from MoneyView in the coming year? So, we have a credit tracker product coming up. We also have one of a kind of banking product also that's going to come up, which is going to give consumers the opportunity for like never before, right? They're going to have the kind of security that you would expect from, say, a fixed deposit, but also an earning rate, which you would expect from a high yielding investment. Right, so that is a product that we are very excited about and that should be live within the next couple of months. We are also completely revamping our app journey because we're moving into a super app sort of an interface and that would mean that, you know, we have, we would have a much more fluid journey between products that's going to go live within the next couple of months. We've also worked with McCann Group for our overall brand positioning, McCann World Group India for our overall brand positioning exercise and we have our brand book in place. And so now the idea is going to be to disseminate this brand book to the different aspects of the company, whether it is culture, whether it is partners, whether it is consumers, etc. So that's going to be a big area of focus for us. Yeah, so I think that as of now, and secured loans also could be a part of what we are doing going forward. Currently, it's predominantly in unsecured loans, but we are also exploring, you know, the secured loans space in line with whatever we've been hearing from the regulatory bodies in general. Right. So yeah, that's, it's exciting times ahead. But I think the biggest thing is for us to become a platform that enables consumer literacy around finances. I think that your big initiative not just on marketing but on the CSR front as well. Right pleasure interacting with you. Is there anything else you'd like to add please go ahead. I think I pretty much covered everything and great question. So it was a pleasure being here. Thank you so much for doing this.