Muthoot Pappachan Group (MPG), a financial services provider, has unveiled a new corporate identity and brand transformation exercise as the Kerala-based group looks to widen its range of loan products with increased focus on younger borrowers.
“Time is changing and so are customers’ needs,” Thomas George Muthoot, director, MPG, said in an interview. “The basic objective is to take care of all their lifecycle financial needs. And we want to provide it through one Muthoot experience at their doorsteps.”
The group, which provided gold and MSME loans for years, plans to now broad-base its offerings by adding loans for education and marriage. It is also investing in digital technology to reach out to the children of people who had once availed loans from it.
“The new branding signifies our unchanging values of excellence, collaboration and integrity all focused on gaining and maintaining the trust of our stakeholders,” Mr. Muthoot said. “These values signify the group’s focus on serving the common man and his needs through new ventures and new services and products,” he added.
Though the group traces its origin 131 years back to a small village in Kerala, it got a separate identity in 1980s. Since then, it has intiated two brand transformation exercises, the current being the second. The first one being its brand philosophy, ‘Believe in Blue’ unveiled in 2014.
With ‘Blue is Belief’ as the brand philosophy, the campaign’s key message is that MPG “supports blue soch [thinking] in an endeavour to enable these women and men to work towards transforming their own lives,” said Sanjeev Shukla, chief marketing officer, Muthoot Pappachan Group.
The National Campiagn is led by a series of films. A blue outline frames the main protagonist, the customers who demonstrate blue soch.
As a part of this transformation, the group has also roped in Bollywood actor Vidya Balan as its brand ambassador to drive greater awareness about its offerings that are focused on empowering human ambitions by way of meeting the lifecycle needs of this customer segment.
The new campaign therefore dedicates blue soch to define the progressive thinking of this set of customers who demonstrate hard work and determination along with firm self-belief in the face of adversity.
“MPG today has set a benchmark in the industry in its role as a partner for the unbanked and common man, helping them realise their dreams and aspirations, Mr. Muthoot said.
“As we now aim to move the group to the next level of growth; our new brand philosophy, reflects our evolution and expansion, our core values, our growing strength in the market and our dedication to our partners, customers, stakeholders and employees,” said Mr. Muthoot.
The new advertisement campaign will be aired across markets pan-India. It will be supported by print and digital ads across the South, West and North. The campaign has been conceptualised and created by Team L&K, Saatchi and Saatchi.