Web film: Birla Sun Life - The Mutual Fund Song
By Malay Desai By: JWT Mumbai The latest in an investor education series by Birla’s mutual fund brand is a song that attempts to bust common myths regarding the investment option. Shot in an office environment, it introduces a character called the ‘Mutual Fund Man’ who interacts with his hesitant colleague. The hero-like character responds to his concerns such as risks involved, requirement of watching over one’s investment, beginning at the right time and more. The over two-minute song ends with the Mutual Fund man saying ‘Jaanoge tabhi toh Maanoge’, also a site dedicated to the awareness initiative. Do we like? Mutual fund investment ads are subject to market boredom, but please give them a chance online before judging. One of the biggest challenges of personal finance products is to break down the wall of ignorance that many urban Indians live with, choosing to trust their opinion leaders, generalising and worse, feeling safe in their half knowledge. The first attempt in recent history toward breaking down this wall was in 2009 by Religare Insurance with Irrfan Khan, whose matter-of-fact tone landed him more ad films. Vinay Pathak’s ‘Subbu’ did something similar for Kotak later, and now, one rather unknown ‘Mutual Fund Man’ is telling you how little you know. He isn’t the hero of the film though, it’s the song. The mutual fund house has invested well to produce an energetic track for a medium its target audience spends most time on, the internet. Picking up the top FAQs any ignorant investor (or non-investor, in this case) would have, the lyrics are the core of this film, creating a to-and-fro conversation between the Mutual Fund Man and his colleague. From ‘What if the markets crash?’ to ‘I don’t save enough money’, the noninvestor’s fears are tackled in a funny manner, the MF Man replying to each with a rhetorical question. His words could be condescending if you read them, but the song makes him that friendly school teacher whose scolding you don’t mind listening to. The lyrics are rappy and the music not exactly peppy, but the chatty tone of the film makes it worth a watch (yeah, skip that ‘Cute twins dancing to dad’s song’ sort of YouTube video once for this).Also, the campaign’s Facebook page has been cleverly supporting the ‘know to believe’ bottomline. The best part about Birla’s web film is that neither Birla nor its mutual fund brand are really visible through it. The onus remains on investor education and to drive the viewer toward its portal, which is a dummies guide to mutual fund investments. Like Irrfan Khan would say, “Yeh sab batayega apko, sab sab sab… sab!” To watch this film, feed this easylink into your browser: Vimeo.com/84668725 SOCIAL NEWSFEED We like : Kerala Tourism’s social channels We knew if it were any tourism board earning brownie points for clever use of social media, it had to be God’s Own Country. Recently, we spotted a live webcast of one Nishagandhi festival, which was viewed by thousands on YouTube. That led us to check the Facebook page of Kerala Tourism, which enjoys a massive 853 thousand likes and high engagement levels. It has also used Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest to its advantage, the hashtag #GreatBackWaters particularly getting good attention from across India and curious backpackers across the world. Tourism is one of the sectors that is using social media to an exciting effect, and while you are at Kerala’s pages, we also suggest you read what Turkish Airlines is doing, Tourism Australia is upto and how many awards ‘Visit Sweden’ has won and why. Visit Sweden likes this Are you having 100 Happy Days? If you’ve been reading shiny, happy posts on your Facebook, mostly by ladies whom you think have no job (or the best job ever), let us tell you that the New Year has brought with it a 100 Happy Days trend. The project is about documenting 100 reasons for everyday happiness and filling up social networks with happy posts from the mundane to the exotic. Now while many folks have taken this well and are taking even more selfies and pose pictures than last year, some others, mostly cynics (uhm, this writer included) are finding this as an irritant . ‘What are you going to do on the 101st day, slit your wrists?’ is what they’re saying, apart from asking the pointed question that if you are truly happy on a particular day, would you find the time and inclination to go to your nearest internet icon and tell the world about it? Mr Bean likes this Why you must read Bill Gates’ Open Letter For those not in the know, Microsoft founder and philanthropist Bill Gates has been writing open letters to the world at large since 2009, enlisting his thoughts and insights over charity, technology, poverty and much more. The man’s quite active role in his foundation is reflected through his tweeting as well, and you’d know he also makes regular trips to India. Anyway, his 2014 letter, published last week is food for thought for the US citizens and government. It talks about supporting hungry children, cost of healthcare and schooling and busts myths related to donation. ‘Saving lives leads to overpopulation’, ‘foreign aid is a big waste’ and more myths are debunked by his wife Melinda and himself. It’s a useful exercise in keeping your ear to the ground coming from one of the world’s richest men. Look it up! Melinda Gates likes this
Tags : AD View