Axis Bank: #MyIdeaofProgress: A Mass Consumer Interaction

Axis Bank’s articulation of progress, Badhti ka naam zindagi..., captures the continuous, all-inclusive nature of progress. And the current campaign, on-air since June, is about how progress has different connotations for different people. Deepika Padukone, the brand ambassador has been roped in to represent this campaign.

To put it simply, all of us have our own idea of progress. For some progress would be material possessions like owning a house or a latest car. For some it could be an experience like travelling around the world. And yet, for some others it could be something as simple as bringing about a change in the lives of the under-privileged children by educating them or working towards a cleaner nation.

Here are 7 Reasons Why Axis Bank’s Campaign Works!

1. It gives an opportunity to ‘Express’

Everyone wants to share what their idea of being successful in life means. People in general love to share their dreams, especially when it lays focus on bringing about a radical change in the lives of others. Keeping this insight in mind, Axis Bank gave the audience an opportunity through this campaign to see their idea of progress coming to life.

So here’s what Axis Bank did - a dedicated micro-site was created, inviting people to submit their ideas of progress. Participants were also required to submit a 10-day Progress Diary, in which they had to post a picture of one step they took everyday towards making their idea of progress a reality. They could also invite their friends to come and vote for their ideas. Out of all the entries received, few were shortlisted to be put up for another round of voting, followed by a jury selection. Axis Bank will then bring some of these ideas to life basis the voting and jury selection.

2. Axis Bank encourages Progressive Ideas

The brand did not just provide people with a platform to share their ideas of progress like empowerment of women, education of the under privileged children, working towards a greener planet, but also went a step further by saying that it would help bring some of these ideas to life. And since bringing alive these ideas would take more than mere financial support, it shows the truly progressive DNA and outlook of the brand.

Axis Bank from their official Facebook, Twitter & LinkedIn accounts urged users to vote for the ideas which they wanted to see come to life.

3. Involving Celebs to Share Their Ideas

India is a celebrity loving nation and when we see our favorite stars talking about their ideas of progress, it strikes an instant chord with us. Axis brought together celebrities from various walks of life to speak about their ideas of progress. To name a few, below are 3 celebrities who shared their ideas of progress on the microsite.

Ranbir Kapoor -

R Balki -

Manish Malhotra -

4. The Campaign Goes Beyond Banking Talks

Axis Bank has taken its philosophy to the next level by embarking on a journey to connect directly with existing and potential customers of the bank, instead of just mainline communication.

Banks usually tend to be very sector specific on social media while promoting their brand. It is also very challenging to make their sector bright and interesting for the users.

Unfortunately, the content banks create is mostly revolving around issues related to savings, money related matters, various features of a bank etc. This tends to become very mundane and boring for a consumer. Axis Bank has altered its approach to social media marketing by talking about a subject that interests the masses.

5. Mass Consumer Interaction

The campaign is easily one of the largest consumer interaction activities of its kind taken up by a bank in the country with the entire network of Axis Bank actively promoting the philosophy along with a 360° media campaign on TV, digital, outdoor and radio to reach out to as many people as possible. Apart from the commonly used Facebook and email sign-in, Axis Bank also used LinkedIn as a platform through which people could sign in and submit their progress ideas. Not many brands leverage this platform in their campaigns.

It is a unique attempt by an Indian bank to involve people beyond just transactional talks; to start a conversation with them and to get them to experience the brand’s philosophy.

6. Reassuring fans that the brand is listening!

When you reciprocate with your online community, it only assures the audience that the brand is actively listening & this in turn motivates them to participate & engage with your brand.

Axis Bank boosted its online community to participate by putting up posts that showcase some of the participants’ ideas of progress. By acknowledging the fact that the brand is listening closely to their community, Axis Bank moved a step ahead in connecting with its audience. Axis Bank ‘progressed on’ from using regular promotional content and actually converted some of the entries submitted by participants to ads, promoted posts and tweets.

Below are some posts that portray how they gratified some of the participants:-

Similar activity has been carried out on their Twitter & LinkedIn accounts as well.

7. Connecting with fans through an Audio-Visual medium

To amplify the campaign further, Axis Bank partnered with India Film Project, whose theme for the year 2014 was 'My Idea Of Progress'. This initiative got together over 600 film makers & by provided them a platform to express their ideas of progress. A jury comprising of stalwarts of Indian cinema like Shyam Benegal, Hansal Mehta, Omung Kumar and Umesh Shukla.

Apart from this, the campaign also generated a lot of user-generated video content, hosted on the brand’s YouTube channel, with users sharing their ideas of progress..

Closing Thoughts -

The campaign was highly engaging and a great strategy by the brand to start a conversation with its consumers. It also successfully trended on Twitter with the hash tag #MyIdeaOfProgress. Recently, Axis Bank also revealed its jury members & the winners on their social media handles such as Facebook, LinkedIn & Twitter. The brand also extended the campaign to its annual painting competition for children, ‘Splash’ conducted on 15^th Nov 2014 getting children to paint their ideas of progress in over 2,500 branches. Overall, kudos to Axis Bank on a great campaign. What remains to be seen is how the brand takes forward and brings to life the winning progress ideas, and how they leverage it on social media. We, for sure, will be watching.