Rewind 2023: We’ve had a very expansive year - MVS Murthy

It’s that time of the year when we review the most significant industry developments as the year draws to a close. Adgully is reviewing the year 2023 for the M&E, advertising, digital, marketing, PR, and communications, along with leading names in the industry as part of our annual Rewind series.

Recapping the year 2023, MVS Murthy, CMO, Federal Bank, shares how the year 2023 was a pivotal year for Federal Bank. He also highlights some of the key trends and future plans for expansion in 2024.

“A very fulfilling year for Federal Bank”

Recapping the year 2023, Murthy said that for Federal Bank, the year has been “absolutely fantastic”. He added, “We’ve had a very expansive year. We have set up branches across the country, our book size has grown up to about four lakh-plus crore in terms of book size, the market has expanded and new customers are coming in. So, it’s been a very fulfilling year for us.”

According to Murthy one of the most important things was the launch of Sanjeevni, which he termed as “India’s largest program on cancer awareness”. In social networking, Tata Trust came on board as a knowledge partner. “I think it gives a lot of respect and gravitas to the brand, which no amount of advertising could board and keep. So, I think there’s a lot of Connect happening because of initiatives like this,” he added.

Murthy further said that the brand has straddled extremely well in terms of increasing reach and also in terms of CSR and ESG initiatives.

Key trends in BFSI sector

“We are increasingly using technology that is one of the most important trends I’ve seen,” he said, adding that now, the use of tech is not coming from the innovation ecosystem, which is a lot of fintechs, other companies, and e-commerce companies, but tech is also being espoused actively by regulators. He considers this a very big change and a big push, because they are also responsible for getting the BFSI sector to create better consumer experiences – be it managing data privacy or managing the onboarding experience or participating in something like a digital currency from a bank’s perspective, where RBI is actively involved. “So, the entire economy is rising to use technology as an efficiency enabler,” Murthy pointed out.

The road ahead in 2024

Shedding some light on the plans for 2024, Murthy said, “We will be very active in different markets. Our first branch in Arunachal Pradesh has been established. So, we are in an expansive mode. We are also investing actively in non-cricket sports, not that we will not advertise around cricket. We are also not looking just at advertising solutions, but a lot which can be done around an athlete or other sportspersons to ensure that they are able to go out and perform better at an international level. The third aspect that we are actively working on is to become a very efficient marketing house. So overall, this is the major play for Federal Bank.”

He further emphasised on the importance of CSR for Federal Bank and added, “We believe a lot of the respect for the brand will come because of what we do in that space.”