Sunday, August 19, 2007

Axis Bank - What a lost opportunity !!

I started my life with advertising and from then I have been witnessing the fight for marketing budget that marketing teams always used to crib about. Marketing team wants to do so much for the brand through mass media but where is the budget ?

Today I am witnessing an ironic spectacle when marketing budgets have been showered on to the marketing team for a mega relaunch of a brand due to legal stipulations. And the marketing team wasting the opportunity - the once in a lifetime opportunity for a mega brand building exercise.

I am talking about the multi-crore mass media splash being done by Axis Bank - the erstwhile UTI Bank.

The message of the campaign - UTI Bank = AXIS Bank.

I wonder why Axis Bank cannot be better than UTI Bank?

It seems to me that UTI Bank is very disturbed by this development that they are forced to change their name from UTI Bank to AXIS Bank. As if it is a big loss for them. It is a lightning that struck them and they are fighting to say that they are not hurt.

I would have taken the situation to advantage. It would have been an opportunity to claim that we are changing for the better.

I would have understood if ICICI Bank or SBI had made such a claim that they have not changed. They have quite a sizeable share of market to worry about consumer dissonance. But UTI Bank has only to gain by changing for the better !!!!

What a loss of opportunity?