Meet Abhijeet Gupta - The sole survivor of #Taxytis

Are you obsessed with digits, accounts, computations or finances? If yes, then you’re probably struck with the disease of #Taxytis, just like Abhijeet Gupta. Taking a humorous turn within BFSI, which usually is an unseen pair, DSP BlackRock Investment Managers rolled out a campaign that surfaces our financial problems with gleeful comical content for our comprehension.

#Taxytis - A scary disease

In the mundane world of finance, the brand attempted to sprinkle some comedy through three snippets from the life of Abhijeet Gupta, who happens to be a #Taxytis survivor, a made up terminology to resonate with the dilemma of tax payers.

It’s the season of tax planning, thus leveraging this topical state of mind that people are going through, the brand took them through three relatable films, broken down into the symptoms of the tax disease, #Taxytis. Further dramatized to garner attention, along with the disease there is a specialist Anuj Sharma who later comprehends the disease for the viewers and towards the conclusion of every film, breaks down the disease symptoms and prescribes with ELSS of only DSP BlackRock Txer Saver Fund.

Abhik Sanyal, Head - Consumer Marketing, DSP BlackRock, said, “Tax planning, as simple and straightforward as it should be, sometimes masquerades as a disturbing condition that can cause anxiety, confusion and last minute chaos in a working professional’s life. This was the insight that helped craft our #Taxytis campaign.”

The first video speaks about the obsession with calculations where they narrate the story through Gupta’s secretary Shirley D’souza. She describes how Gupta is usually a very calm person, but that particular day when she enters his office, it’s filled with calculations. Not just the white board but the walls, floor and basically everything is covered with ink and there’s a frazzled Abhijeet on the floor trying to figure out something.

Next symptom is absent mindedness as the video projects. Here, Gupta’s wife speaks about how usually her husband has a good memory but one evening, he accidentally gets his neighbor’s dog home instead of his own son.

Sleepless Nights are apparently the third symptom of this disease as the film proclaims. Gupta here kept washing all cars through the night, as narrated by his night watchman.

To speak about the pattern of these films, its narrative is by a member associated with Abhijeet, first the secretary, then his wife and last his watchman, each describing a symptom humorously through visuals. But the latter part of the film by the specialist remains constant .

The primary target audience for the campaign is the typical Indian salaried individual, in the age group of 30-45 years who may not have invested to save tax yet.

“Or  Perhaps they had been investing in traditional tax saving instruments but are now looking for better options to save tax and grow their wealth,” shares Aditi Kothari Desai, EVP and Head - Sales, Marketing & E-Business, DSP BlackRock.

Clearly through this campaign we interpret that now brands are trying to get more personal, drive awareness and engage their target audience with light hearted content keeping serious at bay.

Breakdown  

Overall, compared to most BFSI brands leveraging social media, this brand builds a rather engaging piece with content that is uncomplicated to consume.

Aditi Kothari Desai explains further about the campaign saying, “We believe that tax saving should not happen only during the JFM season when most people start thinking about it. Hence, our campaign will remain live throughout the year in some way or the other, with slight changes in messaging from time to time.

While the humor route works well in the first half, the monotony of the last part in all three films keeps the pattern very standard and predictable.

On YouTube, the first film of obsession with calculations received over 1k views, sleepless nights earned 975 views while absent mindedness received almost 2858 views.

Are you prepared to #DealWithTaxytis? #Taxytis can make you nervous, absentminded, sleepless! Know more: https://t.co/ou7sTTti2Y

— Mohammad Kamran (@Mohamma73106597) January 28, 2017

Learn how to deal with #Taxytis. Visit https://t.co/CgQYNmThYy pic.twitter.com/hzPp97OQ49

— DSP BlackRock MF (@dspbrmf) January 24, 2017

The films promotes their microsite which encapsulates detailed information and  guidelines revolving around tax paying.

#Taxytis would have worked better only if the brand managed to market it as well as the execution of the content was done.