An interesting advertisement from Ujjivan Small Finance Bank featuring R. Madhavan caught my attention. The headline asks, “‘Small’ Finance Bank. Really?” and the campaign declares, “Nothing Small About Us.”There is an interesting branding dilemma here, one that was perhaps unintentionally created by the regulator itself.
When the RBI introduced Small Finance Banks, the objective was to promote financial inclusion by serving underserved customers, small businesses, marginal farmers and others who had limited access to formal banking. The word 'small' was essentially about the segments these banks were expected to serve, not necessarily the size or ambitions of the banks themselves. But consumers don't always interpret regulatory terminology the way regulators intend.
For an ordinary customer, a Small Finance Bank could easily mean a small bank with limited branches, products, resources or capabilities. An unintended perceptual disadvantage built into the category name!
The problem becomes more interesting as these banks grow. They compete for customers with established banking giants, whose ability to serve smaller customers is not similarly restricted. Yet the smaller challenger carries a label that could make it appear less capable.
Ujjivan has decided to confront this perception head-on. With R. Madhavan as its brand ambassador, it is highlighting its one crore-plus customers, 800-plus branches and presence across 26 states and Union Territories to communicate that there is nothing small about the bank.
But is this the best positioning strategy? One option would have been to ignore the word 'small' and promote its wide range of banking products, convenience and customer experience. Another would be to embrace the Small Finance Bank identity and build a distinctive position around accessibility and financial inclusion.
Ujjivan has chosen a third route: challenge the meaning of the very category to which it belongs.
From a marketing communication perspective, this raises an interesting question. When you repeatedly draw attention to a potentially negative association in order to correct it, are you weakening that association or inadvertently reinforcing it?
Of course, Ujjivan's campaign is based on customer insights, and there is merit in directly addressing an existing misconception. But once that misconception has been challenged, the brand still needs to establish what it wants to stand for.
Perhaps that is the larger branding dilemma.
When your category name itself becomes a positioning constraint, do you fight the category, redefine its meaning, or build a distinctive identity within it
Ujjivan has made its choice. It will be interesting to see whether other Small Finance Banks follow.
#BrandStrategy #Positioning #Banking #SmallFinanceBanks #UjjivanSmallFinanceBank #MarketingStrategy #BrandPerception #FinancialInclusion
