Summary
Bringing back PayTM - India Kahe Paytm Kaho
Challenge
Digital payments are all- pervasive. Launched 2009, digital payments have today reached every strata of society. In 2022, India clocked 89.5 million digital transactions in the year 2022. As per data, India accounted for 46% of the global real- time payments, and that the digital payment transactions in India were more than the other four leading countries combined. But cash remained the undisputed king. The resurgence of cash was alarming for Paytm Since the habit of cash was decades old- it continued to be the biggest threat to the pioneer of digital payments. Which is why, Paytm's success lay in changing the way Indians transacted. Therefore, increasing preference for PayTM was key to its fortunes Therefore, our strategic challenge was: For India to truly become a cashless economy, how could Paytm replace the old habit of cash for Indians. While many people had Paytm on their phones, only a percentage of them used it for all transactions. Therefore, we aimed at increasing the number of active monthly users, rather than growing installs of the Paytm app.
Objective
In 2022, despite the widespread availability of digital payment options, a staggering 76% Indians continued to prefer cash transactions. This made Paytm struggle with high churn rates and low new user acquisitions. We understood that the only way to replace cash was to replicate the emotional and cultural associations with it. We launched the ‘India Kahe Paytm Karo' campaign- executed through TVCs, digital, radio, press ads and extensive outdoor. This transformed Paytm into a medium for transferring emotions and a cultural currency. Resulting in PayTM gaining salience and 19% in growth monthly active users post campaign.
Strategy
Our target audience lay in middle of this spectrum, the light users of digital payments. They had digital payments as an available option, but that did not mean they were using them every time. Insight: Indians loved cash, because cash was more than its face value. In India, cash had multiple emotional and cultural meanings. When given as an offering, it represented prayer to the almighty. When given by elders to younger ones, it represented blessings. When given before a big day, it was a token of good luck. The strategic big idea: To replace cash, we replicated its emotional and cultural codes in PayTM. Multimedia campaign that made Paytm a medium to transfer emotions and a cultural currency. This was executed through- television films, radio spots, extensive outdoor campaign placed at key shopping locations of each city, multi- lingual regional press ads, digital ads and contextual ads for online shoppers. Each media vehicle played a role in targeting people at different stages: PAN- INDIA Television films that placed Paytm in emotional 'cash- only' occasions. (3x30 seconds) Radio jingles that explained the functional benefits of using Paytm over cash. (3x15 seconds) HYPERLOCAL Outdoor hoardings that catch people at moments of truth. (4x per city- Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Bangalore =25 creatives) Regional press ads that went deep into the fabric of India's diversity. (4x per city- Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Bangalore) Digital and contextual ads that nudged the right user at the right time.
Data
In 2022, despite the widespread availability of digital payment options, a staggering 76% Indians continued to prefer cash transactions. This made Paytm struggle with high churn rates and low new user acquisitions. We understood that the only way to replace cash was to replicate the emotional and cultural associations with it. We launched the ‘India Kahe Paytm Karo' campaign- executed through TVCs, digital, radio, press ads and extensive outdoor. This transformed Paytm into a medium for transferring emotions and a cultural currency. Resulting in PayTM gaining salience and 19% in growth monthly active users post campaign.
Solution
Results
PayTM recorded a 19% jump in monthly active user, 4% higher than benchmark set. PayTM reported a 5% jump in consideration, 3 percentage points higher than set benchmark, crossing the 45% mark. Saliency increased by 4 percentage points for Paytm to reach an all-time high of 99% as compared to 96% pre- campaign.
