HDFC Securities is looking at going big on YouTube: Navanil Sengupta

The pandemic has led to an increase in retail investors in Indian equity markets. The Central Depository Services (India) Limited (CDSL) numbers revealed a steep rise in investor accounts from 2.12 crore in March 2020 to 4.64 crore in September 2021. Additionally, retail investors have increased to 14.2 million in 2021 with the National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL) adding nearly 27 lakh accounts from April to September 2021 alone. 

People invest and trade to make a profit. They need the right set of tools and features to be able to make the best investment or trade possible. But even though the tools may be available on a certain platform, they may not be aware of it or may not know how to make the best use of it. To enhance the trading experience and bring ease to the investors, HDFC Securities have launched a digital campaign # FaydeKeFeatures. The digital-only campaign is aimed at protecting the investors and arming them with the right tools to make the most of the markets and seamlessly transact with a lot of ease. 

Speaking to Adgully for their column Talking Insights, Navanil Sengupta, AVP & Head, Brand, Content and Corporate Communication, HDFC Securities, speaks about the thought behind their digital campaign # FaydeKeFeatures, creating differentiation, engaging consumers and more. 

What was objective behind creating this digital film educating your existing customers and tapping new customers? Who is this film targeted at?

Investors and traders are increasingly seeking a superior experience from their brokers. They want an easy-to-use, powerful, secure and fast platform that will allow them to transact without any friction. We offer a powerful and innovative platform, across mobile and web.  The objective of the #FaydeKeFeatures campaign is to make investors and customers aware of the great features available on our trading platforms. Customers can use these features to track the markets, take better decisions and trade like a pro. They can understand the benefits of these features better and use them to their advantage. 

The films are targeted at our customers and the larger community of investors and traders. We want everyone interested in the markets to know about these features, how to use them and how they can benefit from them. 

How are you different from other shares and securities brands who are in the online trading business? What are some of the unique product offerings you have to offer?

We offer some of the industry standout products and features to the customers. Like the digital account opening, multiple trading platforms, zero interest for derivatives margin paid MF/stocks as a pledge and a wide range of research across 400 companies – for making informed investment decisions. 

We also have unique product offerings like Security Lending and Borrowing, E-margin (up to T+275 trading days), StockSIP, Basket Investing and Global Investing. 

Could you elaborate on the creative idea behind the #FaydeKeFeatures campaign?

People invest and trade to make a profit. They need the right set of tools and features to be able to make the best investment or trade possible. But even though the tools may be available on a certain platform, they may not be aware of it or may not know how to make the best use of it. The #FaydeKeFeatures campaign is designed to make our investors and customers aware of the different features of the platform that would benefit them every time they transact on our platforms. We used a mix of live action videos integrated with graphics to explain the features in an easy-to-understand way. The host interacts with the graphics, adding a unique visual element that makes the experience more engaging and understandable. We used conversational, colloquial language to communicate with a growing audience of new age investors, helping them realise the full potential of their trading accounts with us. 

How do you plan to engage with your target audience to drive visibility for the brand through this film?

The idea is to disseminate the series of films through all channels possible. We have planned an extensive campaign on social media to promote each of these features in buckets as well as individually. We are looking at going big on YouTube and reaching out to our existing base of over 1 lakh subscribers there. The films will also be disseminated to our existing customers through mailers and messages. WhatsApp will be another platform that we will be using to distribute the shorts video clips via our relationship managers and employees. The idea is to get as much organic traction as possible since the video has all the qualities that our audience likes to engage with – it provides valuable information that can benefit the viewer, it is produced with top notch quality while having an engaging script and presentation. We are hoping a lot of viewers will find value and start sharing it in their own circles. 

How do you plan to evaluate the effectiveness of this campaign? Any expectations that have been set?

Obviously, the idea is to reach as many people as possible and have them engage deeply with the content. We are expecting to see more and more of our existing customers start exploring the HDFC Securities platform for features that could help them have better trading and investing experience. We are also hoping new customers see value in the innovative and extensive bouquet of features that we bring to help investors and traders get more bang for their buck. Honestly, it is not about meeting our expectations, but meeting the expectations and trust our customers have on us.