Speakers:

• Punit Dharamsi – Executive Vice President, Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI)
• Tuhina Pandey – Director, APAC Communications & Chief Marketing Officer, India and South Asia, IBM
• Jahid Ahmed – Senior Vice President and Head of Digital, HDFC Bank

Moderator: Devajit Roy: Head of India, Mid Market & Growth – Marketing Solutions, LinkedIn

Highlights:

Punit Dharamsi

• Financial communication works best during important life moments like first jobs, marriage, childbirth, retirement, increments and tax planning
• AMFI focuses on contextual messaging linked to key financial milestones and consumer behaviour
• Campaigns encourage young earners to begin SIPs with their first salary
• Investor education and trust-building are prioritised over panic-driven communication during market volatility
• Continuous communication and always-on visibility help maintain long-term consumer trust and recall
• Surround content, explainers, calculators, branded integrations and educational formats are used extensively to simplify mutual funds
• Character-led storytelling and relatable financial education help improve accessibility and engagement
• Consistency in messaging has helped improve investor confidence and reduce panic exits during volatile markets

Tuhina Pandey

• Relevance matters more than reach in today’s attention economy
• High-trust and high-relevance content is critical for influencing modern buying committees
• Content needs to resonate differently across CMOs, CFOs, CEOs, CIOs and multiple stakeholders
• AI has become both an audience and a content intermediary, changing how relevance is measured
• Sequencing and storytelling should align with audience intent and stages of decision-making
• Short-form content can create hooks while long-form content helps influence deeper decisions
• The credibility of the storyteller is as important as the story itself
• Strong storytelling combined with smart repurposing of content strengthens engagement across the funnel
• Content effectiveness should be tracked against business journeys and pipeline impact

Jahid Ahmed

• Attention today is built on trust, safety, relevance and frictionless experiences
• Marketing is shifting from interruption-led communication to intent-led ecosystems
• Trust and credibility are becoming more valuable than traditional reach and impression metrics
• Creator economy partnerships need to focus on genuine influence and authentic advisory value
• Peer validation and positive sentiment play a critical role in financial product adoption
• Owned platforms and first-party data are becoming central to digital business growth
• Different campaigns require different success metrics depending on conversion, trust or awareness objectives
• First-party data and customer behaviour insights are critical for improving relevance and lifetime value
• Creator-led education is helping brands both build awareness and drive conversion
• Personalisation at scale through multiple creative variations is becoming increasingly important
• Consumers are tuning out direct selling and responding better to educational and advisory-led communication
• Financial literacy and ecosystem education are becoming key responsibilities for financial brands
• Helping consumers make smarter financial decisions builds long-term trust and eventually drives business growth