Q] What drives PhonePe’s unique brand positioning, and how does it maintain consistency across all touchpoints in the crowded fintech landscape?
PhonePe’s brand identity is driven by a simple yet powerful vision: to be there for every Indian, not just a specific cohort. We’re incredibly fortunate to have earned the trust of over 600 million consumers, and with a smartphone base of around 700-800 million in India, our goal is to provide utility to all. The emotional connection with our users is key, and that’s why we focus on creating a brand that feels accessible and reliable for everyone. To ensure consistency, we lean heavily on our app, which is the heart of our user experience. But it doesn’t stop there—we also make sure that we show up everywhere in daily life, from QR codes in shops to auto-rickshaws, metros, and places of retail. These physical touchpoints reinforce the brand in meaningful ways. What truly sets us apart are the three pillars of our brand: the iconic purple color, the circle, and the PhonePe Pay symbol. These elements are the essence of who we are, and we ensure they’re present across every interaction, every QR code, and every piece of communication we put out. By staying true to these core elements, we’ve been able to build strong brand recall and an emotional connection with our users, making us a part of their everyday lives.
Q] What was the strategy behind PhonePe’s “No-Pin Payments” short video campaign series, which gained significant traction on social media, especially among millennials and Gen Z?
The ‘No-Pin Payments’ campaign was launched during the Cricket World Cup last year, providing a great chance to connect with a massive audience. The tricky part was that TV ads, especially the short 10-15 second ones, don’t give you much time to tell a full story. We were promoting PhonePe’s UPI Lite feature, which lets you make small payments without needing to enter a pin. The product was aimed at high-frequency users, particularly Gen Z, so we wanted the campaign to resonate with their everyday moments—like paying for a bottle of water or grabbing a pizza.
Instead of trying to tell a long, complicated story, we focused on relatable, quick moments that everyone has experienced. That way, we could show how the product fits seamlessly into daily life. We worked with a fantastic team who helped cast the right faces and bring the story to life in a way that felt real. The response was amazing—people really understood the product, and we saw tons of positive feedback on social media. It was a huge win for us, both in terms of product understanding and brand engagement.
Q] With every company leveraging influencer marketing today, where does PhonePe stand in the game?
This is a hot topic for the marketing team at PhonePe. Philosophically, I believe that influencer marketing, the way it is done, has a lot of merits, in a lot of categories, and it definitely works in lots of contexts, but for PhonePe, we do believe it’s something we typically have never dabbled in. The product and the performance of the product is the biggest brand ambassador that we have. And when it comes to advertising, for the longest time we had Aamir and Alia doing campaigns, and we considered them as our influencers and brand ambassadors. There’s just so many moments of truth on a daily basis, actions happening in real time. When you have so much going on for you, typically you feel that adding one more layer of influencers on top may not be the best place for us to be as a brand. So, that’s something we’ve never done. And till this day, we’ve chosen not to do it. And hopefully, will probably continue down that path for PhonePe.
Q] What is the marketing mix of the brand? Which medium takes the lion’s share?
It varies largely from campaign to campaign. There is no set formula or rule. If one were to just look at it in blocks of time and look at the whole of 2024, or probably the year prior to that or whatever six-month window, you might get some inference—60 percent here, 30 percent here, 20 percent there—but it’s very likely that the next six-month window could be very different because it just so happened to be a campaign, which is more digital, for example. So, there’s no set formula per se. It depends largely on where the audiences for that particular product or that particular category is. So, I would say it’s a healthy mix between Digital and offline. In the case of the ‘No Pin Payments’ campaign — that had cricket World Cup as the only TV-facing piece and then had a lot of Digital. So, there’s no set formula as such, but think of it this way — ‘India Jahaan Hum Wahaan’ or wherever the audience is, we’ll try and reach out to them on that platform, in that channel, in that medium. That’s how it is.
Q] With fintechs advertising soundboxes aggressively and placing them in kirana stores, how does PhonePe stand out? What unique features or pricing sets it apart?
When we entered the market, we realised that a merchant’s shop is a sacred space – it’s where serious transactions happen, and they spend long hours there, often with no breaks. There’s a lot of pride in running a business, big or small. So, if you’re placing a device in that space, it needs to be more than just functional. It should enhance the retail experience, add charm, and make the merchant’s day a little more enjoyable. That’s why our team came up with the idea to make the soundbox not only announce transactions but also entertain. We conducted surveys with merchants to understand what would make the experience more engaging. The overwhelming request was for Amitabh Bachchan’s voice, as he’s iconic. We approached him, and he was more than happy to be part of millions of moments with his voice. We also tailored this to different regions with local voices based on merchant demand. So, our smart speakers stand out by being more than just a tool for payments. They bring delight, break the monotony, and add a personal touch to every transaction. That’s why it’s doing so well for us.
Q] With PhonePe expanding into trading, e-commerce, loans, and more, how does it stay relevant in payments? What strategies drive its brand positioning?
We were thinking about it too when we started branching out. The leadership did a great job in helping everyone understand how these areas are connected. PhonePe’s roots are in payments, particularly UPI, and we’ve grown to a scale where we aim to do more than just help people send or spend money. We want to help manage and grow it. People’s relationship with money can be split into different areas – spending, receiving, managing, and growing. So, we’re covering all of these touchpoints. Every time someone interacts with money, we aim to improve that experience with technology, which is why we’ve expanded into these other services. All these offerings are linked in the broader vision of enhancing how people handle their money.
PROFILE
Ramesh Srinivasan is the Director and Head of Brand Marketing at PhonePe. Ramesh has put together an exceptional brand marketing cross-functional team, and leads its development, driving new ideas and crucial day-to-day brand marketing operations with the support of his team. He also plays a primary role in leading and driving the brand marketing narrative while building strong relationships within the business as well as externally. Before joining PhonePe, Ramesh worked at Flipkart, Essar Steel, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), and Asian Paints.
ABOUT THE BRAND
PhonePe Private Limited is one of India’s leading fintech companies. Headquartered in India, its flagship product, the PhonePe digital payments app, was launched in Aug 2016. As of March 2025, PhonePe has over 60 Crore (600 Million) registered users and a digital payments acceptance network spread across over 4 Crore (40+ million) merchants. PhonePe also processes over 33 Crore (330+ Million) transactions daily with an Annualized Total Payment Value (TPV) of over INR 150 lakh crore.
FACTS
Creative Agency: McCann Worldgroup, The Script Room, Tilt Brand Soutions, Ogilvy 82.5 Communications, AutumnGrey
Media Agency: Lodestar
DIGITAL AGENCY: Interactive Avenues
PR AGENCY: Torque Communications and Fuzion PR
