Asia-Pacific Power List 2023: Ravi Santhanam, HDFC Bank

Ravi Santhanam

CMO, head of corporate communications, director of liability products and managed programs
HDFC Bank
India
Member since 2021

Ravi Santhanam is a confessed sports enthusiast with a soft corner for football. Like some of the most excellent football managers, people close to him find his leadership style – relationship building, adapting to change, innovation, etc. As HDFC’s chief marketing officer, he leads a crew of subject matter experts in a manner that allows them space to thrive individually while collectively being a fabulous team.

An astute marketer with a keen sense of media and finance, Santhanam has ensured that the brand is in sync with the purpose statement of HDFC Bank, which is to ‘enable every Indian to make better choices today and tomorrow.’ Under his aegis, the marketing team has given more wings to this over the last year.

Emerging out of the pandemic, the campaign for “Festive Treats 4.0”, themed ‘Tyohar ko bada banaye’, encouraged consumers to celebrate the festive season with the same enthusiasm and verve as before the pandemic. For a limited period, HDFC Bank consumers, retail and business could get 1000+ online and in-store offers on cards. ‘Festive Treats’, one of its kind campaign in the financial industry, continued to be a massive success for the fourth year and garnered a 125% growth YoY.

Perhaps happiest when he’s working towards the greater good of the community, Santhanam has been working tirelessly towards creating national-level campaigns to create public awareness about safe banking practices and fraud awareness. For example, through its ‘Vigil Aunty’ drive, HDFC Bank shared messages to create awareness on secure banking do’s and don’ts.

Santhnam, who finds himself on Campaign’s Power List for the third consecutive year, led the Bank's first-ever CSR campaign on TV, YouTube, & social media in 2022. Comprising four films highlighting the crucial pillars of the Bank’s CSR programme – healthcare and hygiene, holistic rural development, environment and skill training, and livelihood enhancement, the campaign brought to life the message - How the future can be better for us all if we act more responsibly now. During the campaign period, the spontaneous awareness of the brand increased from 73% to 77% in the mass segment and from 72% to 77% in the affluent segment.