In a digital landscape where credibility is constantly questioned and regulation keeps tightening its grip on influencer-led endorsements, especially in finance, brands are being pushed to rethink not just how they market, but who does the marketing.
For Equentis, a firm navigating the heavily regulated world of equity wealth advisory, this inflection point became the birthplace of a bold internal movement, one that turns its own people into its most powerful advocates.
Equentis recently launched #IAmEquentis– a first-of-its-kind employee-driven campaign aimed at reinforcing trust and credibility in financial advisory services.
According to Equentis, it found the silver lining in SEBI regulations restricting the use of unqualified influencers and celebrity endorsements. It has seized this opportunity to redefine building trust by putting its people at the forefront.
In an era where digital influence often overshadows knowledge, SEBI imposed strict guidelines prohibiting celebrity and influencer endorsements in financial advisory. The restrictions, designed to protect investors from misleading promotions, reinforced a fundamental truth: trust cannot be outsourced. While many saw it as a roadblock, Equentis realised it as a catalyst for change.
Equentis recognised that the most authentic and reliable voices were already within the organisation- its employees. In investment decision-making, credibility stems from knowledge and not popularity. Recognising this, Equentis has ensured investor confidence is anchored in proficiency and real-world experience rather than external endorsements.
When asked about the inspiration behind Equentis’ #IAmEquentis campaign and the decision to spotlight employees as brand ambassadors, Alok Arya, Chief Marketing Officer (CMO), Equentis Wealth Advisory Services, shared the thought process that led to its creation, saying that it began as an internal challenge, not something triggered by the outside world, but stemming from SEBI’s stringent regulations on our category.
“As per the clear mandate, we’re prohibited from using any celebrities, stars, sportspersons, or anyone who could broadly influence consumer decisions for lead generation or subscription to our services,” he said.
“A couple of years ago, we were creating ads with actors or models, but we always felt a lack of depth. When an actor speaks about an organisation, it doesn’t quite match the authenticity, passion, or deep understanding of someone who actually lives and breathes the business.
Furthermore, he went on to say that the realisation, coupled with the regulatory challenge, led us to flip the narrative and see it as an opportunity. That is how #IAmEquentis was born.
“Since we couldn’t involve any celebrity, influencer, or sportsperson, we decided to take charge ourselves. We believed the best place to start was with the company’s CXOs, those who are deeply invested in the brand. Gradually, we expanded it to include our employees, who are truly our biggest strength,” Arya said.
“We are a company that strongly believes in the passion and sense of belonging our people have for the business. It all naturally came together from there,” he added.
While highlighting the short-term and long-term objectives of the campaign, Arya said that when they started this campaign, the idea was to find a better way to generate interest in their organisation and establish stronger trust and credibility in the market by putting their CXOs at the forefront as the face of the brand.
As the campaign evolved, they observed a tangible improvement across various points in their consumer lifecycle journeys, wherever there were interventions by employees or management, there was a noticeable spurt in performance.
“Our CTRs improved significantly, our cost per acquisition dropped drastically, and we saw a sharp rise in positive customer reviews on Google. These measurable benefits made it clear that this wasn’t just a quick fix or a patch-up approach, it was something worth integrating into our core marketing strategy. That’s how #IAmEquentis became a solid, concrete part of our brand identity, and we plan to continue using it as a key differentiator in our category,” Arya mentioned.
When asked about the strategic rationale behind prioritising video storytelling and adopting a LinkedIn-first content approach for the #IAmEquentis campaign, Arya explained, “While we didn’t originally plan for this to be a LinkedIn-first campaign, the idea evolved based on the response we received. Initially, we saw a very motivating response on Facebook and Instagram, platforms that are typically video creative heavy, and where video content performs better than, say, Google, excluding YouTube. However, once the content was out and we began receiving feedback from our customers, we identified an opportunity, LinkedIn appeared to be a more appropriate, or even slightly better, platform, especially if we were to scale this into a larger employer branding initiative.”
This began as an experiment, but in today’s digital space, campaign matrices are measurable in real-time, and LinkedIn’s performance was very positive. Given that LinkedIn is more focused on people and reflects how an organisation adopts a people-first approach across businesses and categories, they decided to ensure this campaign received strong visibility on LinkedIn as well, he stated.
He also spoke about the comparison between external endorsers and internal advocates, outlining the key challenges and opportunities he has identified.
“I’ve worked in the FMCG space, which heavily relies on external brand endorsers. Take, for example, Kareena Kapoor endorsing Littles, a Piramal product. In this case, baby diapers or baby wipes are already well-established categories. Similarly, when Rohit Sharma endorsed IIFL, it made sense, because loans, and more specifically, gold loans, are mature categories. In such instances, celebrities can serve as strong brand protagonists,” Arya said.
Furthermore, he went on to say that people already recognise what the brand stands for, like IIFL and loans, and when someone like Rohit, who is viewed as dependable in the Indian cricket team, becomes the face, there’s a natural alignment between the brand’s proposition and the celebrity’s persona.
Arya emphasised, “However, in our case, the category itself doesn’t exist yet. In India, people don’t inherently feel the need for an investment advisor, especially in the equity markets. When the category of ‘equity advisor’ isn’t even known, no celebrity or influencer, apart from so-called financial influencers, can truly drive value. And even those financial influencers have recently come under SEBI’s scrutiny, facing significant penalties for misleading audiences.”
There’s definitely merit in having someone established and known endorse a brand, especially when they resonate with the brand’s value proposition. But when the category is nascent or non-existent, the focus should first be on building trust and credibility. That must come from within, through the organisation’s service levels, word of mouth, and most importantly, through the employees, core management, or even the founder.
“So, there’s no right or wrong here. It really depends on the stage your organisation is at, and the maturity of the category you operate in. If it’s a mature category, by all means, bring in a brand endorser who shares your value system. If not, start by building your customer base through trust, service excellence, and credibility from the inside out,” Arya added.
When asked whether Equentis’ move towards employee-driven marketing is a long-term strategic initiative or a reaction to prevailing regulatory circumstances, Arya clarified that it’s a 100% long-term move.
“There’s no way we’d call it patchwork. Regulatory challenges or boundaries will only become more stringent, and rightly so. In a country of 140 crore people, where India leads in YouTube consumption across the Asian continent, the inability to differentiate between content and information is a serious concern,” Arya said.
“Content often lacks credibility, whereas information or fact may still hold credibility, but people don’t know the source or where it’s coming from. So we’re absolutely not approaching this from a short-term lens. In fact, we’re looking to step up and extend this across all channels, not just digital,” he added.
With SEBI’s guidelines restricting influencer endorsements in financial advisory, Arya shared Equentis’ perspective on the evolving role of ‘finfluencers’ going forward, explaining, “I don’t use the term ‘finfluencers’ and there’s a reason for that. Finance is a very sensitive category in India. I don’t believe people are naive enough to blindly follow someone on the internet and invest their hard-earned money solely based on that.”
What usually happens is people come across someone, say, person A, who claims to be a financial influencer with around 50,000 Instagram followers, sharing random research predicting that a certain stock will go up. A few might test the waters with small investments, but given the unregulated nature of this space, the risk is very high, and returns are usually absent.
Arya emphasised, “This whole cause-and-effect assumption, that someone invested only because person A recommended it, is weakening. People are becoming more aware that, unlike categories like fashion or beauty, finance demands regulation, knowledge, and accountability. SEBI has taken a firm stance, making it clear that you cannot simply claim to be a financial influencer. That’s why I refrain from using the term.”
One isn’t equipped to offer financial advice unless they have the required educational background and SEBI-mandated certifications. Only after qualifying on those fronts can one be considered a registered advisor. At best, such individuals can be key opinion leaders in the space.
“Fortunately, people are reading between the lines and becoming more cautious. SEBI, as well as exchanges like BSE and NSE, are themselves warning investors against unsolicited tips. Even trading platforms like Zerodha or Angel One begin with disclaimers stating that most traders incur losses, and you must acknowledge this before proceeding,” Arya said.
“This category is maturing, and that’s a good thing. It’s important we sensitise others too. The whole ‘finfluencer’ narrative is a sham. Don’t gamble with your hard-earned money. If something promises quick results, there’s usually something fishy behind it. Stick to the fundamentals. Consistency and clarity matter. If you’re investing regularly, regardless of market volatility, compounding will work in your favor, and over a long-term horizon of 10 to 15 years, you will be able to create meaningful wealth,” he added.
He also shared valuable insights into Equentis’ growth trajectory over the past few years, highlighting the key factors driving this progress, along with the company’s projections for the current year.
“From a customer perspective, we’ve witnessed nearly 3x growth over the past 24 months, and double-digit growth is definitely on the cards this year. Today, we serve over 60,000 customers across India and several international markets with a strong Indian diaspora presence, regions like the Middle East, parts of Asia including Singapore and Australia, as well as the US and UK,” Arya said.
He highlighted, “We’re aiming to double our size over the next 24 months, continuing at the same pace, and are optimistic about crossing 1,00,000 customers in the next 18 to 24 months. Achieving Unicorn status is also firmly on the horizon, we’ve been close for a while, but have consciously pushed our teams to go all in, whether that’s enhancing UI/UX, improving customer service, or positioning ourselves as a brand of choice.”
In conclusion, he said that the next two years look incredibly exciting. They are not just focused on growth but are also committed to becoming thought leaders and category creators.
