Tata Mutual Fund

Increasing Financial Literacy and Share of Voice in B30 Indian cities



The Creative Ask

Did you know that the lion’s share of the mutual fund industry’s business comes from top-tier Indian cities, but that just 17 % of its assets originate in smaller cities like Raipur, Aurangabad, and Vizag? Regulatory bodies like SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) and industry associations like AMFI (Association of Mutual Funds in India) are keen to correct this imbalance, promote financial awareness, bust myths, and increase participation from Indians located in B30 cities (Beyond the Top 30).

In this context, market-leading AMCs (Asset Management Companies) like Tata Mutual Fund are finding creative ways to evangelize personal finance products and increase the common man’s understanding of financial instruments like Mutual Funds. A leading player in the sector, Tata Mutual Fund approached Agrahyah to design a clutter-breaking solution to popularize mutual funds in India’s hinterland.

About Tata Mutual Fund

Established in 1994, Tata Asset Management PL manages investments of Tata Mutual Fund (TMF). As a leading Indian Investment Manager, the company offers a range of investment solutions for financial planning and wealth creation and manages funds across the entire risk-return spectrum. The diversity of TMF fund offerings enables investors to invest as per their life stage, financial goals, and risk profile.

The Agrahyah Response

In a landscape where audience attention spans are shrinking, how can potential customers be enticed to listen past the 15-sec mark? Our content experts consulted with in-house teams at TMF to solve the problem of cultivating and retaining audience attention.

Looking past the traditional ad spot approach, we zeroed in on creating a fiction-led storytelling podcast format to appeal to Hindi-speaking audiences -And arrived at the ‘Ishq Bhi Risk Bhi’ show proposition.

The 10-part audio fiction series went beyond the traditional approach, creating a slice-of-life narrative revolving around a love story between a man from small-town India who hopes to woo an urban Indian woman from a more affluent background. Does our hero succeed in winning the attention of his lady love? Listeners are hooked onto this relatable romance, where a wise Mama Ji character dispenses valuable life advice and financial gyaan.

What Did We Do ?

Themed around this evergreen narrative, Agrahyah helped conceptualize, script, record Voice actors, edited, packaged, and launched the 1st season of ‘Ishq Bhi Risk Bhi’ in October ‘19.

The overwhelmingly positive response from listeners followed, resulting in the launch of two more successful seasons, with Season 2 launching in April ‘20 and Season 3 releasing in September 2021.

Project Scope

In keeping with its goal to improve investor education for the emerging set of semi-urban and rural consumers, TMF sought to create a digital-first, content-rich intervention in Hindi to influence audiences in HSM regions. Over time, we hoped to influence non-metro consumers to explore newer financial instruments like mutual funds & SIPs over traditional routes like gold and real estate.

Common Episode Themes

  • Reducing new investor concerns and fears
  • Explaining concepts like SIP, modalities of investment (online, paper route)
  • Introducing different kinds of funds - equity and hybrid funds
  • Discussing common investor goals (vehicle ownership, vacation, home ownership, marriage)
  • Talking about sound investment criteria

What makes this cool + challenging ?

  • We kept listener interest going by scripting short 10 minutes episodes and embedding a mutual fund related insight as a hook at the end of each episode, in the form of an analogy.
  • Eliminating intimidating jargon or complicated financial language in order to explain financial concepts in a simple, fun, and engaging manner was a breakthrough strategy that helped the show cultivate a loyal audience amongst listeners.
  • The conversational style and dramatic elements helped keep audiences hooked. At the same time, the message itself was progressive, focusing on wealth creation for both genders across age groups, appealing to both salaried and the self-employed, to be inclusive in its approach.
  • We integrated brand mentions organically and helped dispel myths that persisted in the category, positioning mutual funds and SIPs as a product for all (and not just reserved for the elite)
  • We made it easy for audiences to consume the show making it available free of cost on aawaz.com, without any mandatory signup or login.
  • The show was promoted via banners on the aawaz app and website, TMF website, a show-specific microsite, emailers, and social media handles, with the support of a paid marketing campaign.

The Outcomes

Ishq Bhi Risk Bhi has become a powerful case study for AMCs looking to improve their presence in non-metro India by achieving 20+ million impressions and 130K+ streams in the 3rd season, growing from 16+ mn impressions and 90K+ streams in the past season.
To date, this amounts to 159,000 hours of audio consumption, with investment education banners registered a 9.5% CTR, way above the industry average.