Promoting financial awareness amongst beneficiaries: Xpress Money's Vinesh Nair

Xpress Money, one of the well known global money transfer brand recently initiated a four month below the line activity (BTL) titled ‘Ghar Kab Aaoge’ in 10 states of India. The campaign is an extension of Xpress Money’s philosophy based on ‘Bringing Home Closer’ millions of migrants residing away from their homes. Through this campaign a Xpress Money branded canter covers the key remittance pockets in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar, West Bengal, Karnataka and Maharashtra.

The campaign which was flagged off in April is expected to cover the various states of the country by July 2013. This initiative is a unique blend of an emotional connection and financial awareness at the grass root level.

Adgully caught up with Vinesh Nair, Vice President, Global Marketing and Communications, Xpress Money to talk about the recent campaign.

Briefing us about the unique campaign that Xpress Money has come up with, Nair said, “The  idea behind this campaign  is to connect with the people who receive remittances from foreign countries. The Xpress Money branded canter visited key remittance pockets across India and engaged with the families of migrants who have settled overseas for a better future."

Through this campaign, Xpress Money promotes financial awareness amongst beneficiaries educates them about safe remittance practices, investments and the importance of remitting money through organised channels.

Although this campaign is an extension, the original brief on which the campaign was built centred around the approximately 27 million Indians who live and work abroad to provide security and better living conditions for their families back home and that too at the cost of staying away from their loved ones for years. Xpress Money salutes these customers and rewards them in a manner, way beyond their expectations.

When asked how the concept of writing messages on post cards came up, Nair elaborated, "‘Ghar Kab Aaoge’ is a very personalized campaign and therefore the mechanics too had to be in line with the feel of the campaign. Personally writing postcards to your loved ones and having them physically read, is an awesome feeling that cannot be substituted with an email or a gift coupon."

Xpress Money used a healthy mix of television, broadcast, print and social media with an aim to reach out to maximum people. “In broadcast, we had a tie up with Radio Mirchi 98.3 FM.  Press releases too were rolled out in all the 10 states where the ‘Ghar Kab Aaoge’ campaign was initiated. Apart from that social media was a key medium wherein we updated and posted real time canter activities on our Facebook page," added Nair. 

Speaking about using digital in the media mix, he said, "We have been actively using digital media for just over a year now but the response and support we have received has been overwhelming. We recently celebrated our 100,000th fan on our Facebook page and hosted a Twitter campaign with the #100kReasonsToCelebrate which was immensely popular and was the top India trend for 2 days."  

The focus was also on online advertising campaign that targets specific corridors hence Xpress Money recently revamped their website as well.

"We understand the importance of having an active online presence today which if not handled properly can tarnish the image of a brand within minutes as the TG of most brands are extremely active online," he added.

Xpress Money has always made it a point to engage and maintain a two way communication with their customers. When they receive a query on any social media platform the TAT response to the query is almost immediate.

With regard to Xpress Money’s social media spends Nair said that about 2.5% of their total marketing budget is spent on online initiatives, of which the large part is their social media exercise.

Social media according to Nair, is all about a pull communication and an environment has to be created which people would want to be a part of, which is the sole focus of their ‘Ghar Kab Aaoge’ campaign.

Xpress Money began its operations in India 13 years ago and has created a network of 44,000 agents. Recently, it launched a service where people can directly send money on the remittance credit cards issued by Punjab National Bank. The company has further plans of tying up with other banks, too.

For information and records Xpress money was established in 1999 in the United Kingdom. The brand has grown by leaps and bounds and has spread its geographical presence across 150 countries in little over a decade. Working with some of the largest banks and non-banking financial companies, Xpress Money has been able to establish one of the largest remittance networks in the industry. Present across 170,000 agent locations across the world, Xpress Money is focused on rapid expansion to the far corners of the globe.