How PhonePe won Kanpur

The Challenge

After the ambush in Kerala by PhonePe, the market was aware that regional campaigns do well and help in building traction. The leadership of rival payment app came from an early start and being ubiquitous to all: trade and consumers. They were also investing in local brand activation.
By 2022, thanks to pandemic, digital payments had become everyday and there was a brand that was synonymous with this. They had no need to download another app on their phone and use that app to make payments. We did discover that while the audience was well aware of certain features, they were not aware of some more interesting ones that were not offered by competition.
This was a feature by feature battle to break the hold of the leading brand. The features were carefully chosen to appeal to the mindset of average Kanpuri. The campaign was designed to make the man and woman in street feel that PhonePe is a superior app. Without saying, we wanted the market to shift from what they were using to PhonePe.
The seven films we created were all set to a specific feature and the narrative is built with wit and charm. The final VO from Jameel Khan adds to the appeal.
The campaign exceeded the brand results on every parameter. The leading brand quickly launched a counter campaign, the battle has been won decisively by PhonePe.

The battle for leadership among the payment apps was hard fought in Kanpur. The rival brand was ahead and PhonePe had to climb to the top.

Awards