Inside Bharat Connect’s first 360-degree campaign to drive visibility across B2B and B2C

As India’s digital payment habits mature, users have grown comfortable paying bills, EMIs, insurance premiums, and fees online, often without knowing what infrastructure powers those transactions. This has prompted the expansion of Bharat BillPay, which was initially designed to unify bill payments nationwide. As the platform evolved to accommodate a wider range of use cases, partners, and services, a rebranding exercise followed. The new identity, Bharat Connect, reflects this broader role within the digital payments ecosystem.

However, it hasn’t been an easy transition.

Building familiarity in a category that functions largely in the background has its own set of challenges. While Bharat Connect enables millions of digital bill payments every day, the brand name remains unfamiliar to many users. 

“Our preliminary research revealed some recurring misconceptions about the brand. A section of users has mistaken the platform for a matrimony site, a job portal, or even a social media app. In truth, most users remain unaware of the robust infrastructure that powers their everyday bill payments,” shares Bharat Khanna, Senior Lead - Marketing and Branding at NBBL.

That insight formed the basis for the brand’s new campaign, #JaanteNahiParMaanteHain. Designed as Bharat Connect’s first major 360-degree push after the rebrand, it highlights real stories from across the country, showcasing how people use Bharat Connect in their daily lives, often unknowingly but consistently.

The objective, Khanna explains, is to build awareness and brand recognition through relatable and memorable storytelling, using a light-hearted approach that resonates with users. The narrative aims to demystify the platform while reinforcing its relevance in everyday financial behaviour. “Are you powered by Bharat Connect?”

The platform aims to initiate a behavioural shift, wherein users start asking their service providers, apps and banks this question, placing Bharat Connect at the centre of everyday digital payments.

Speaking to B2B & B2C audiences

The campaign has been designed with a dual focus, targeting both B2B and B2C audiences — banks, fintech institutions and end users. For Bharat Connect, driving trust and visibility across both segments is critical to long-term adoption and ecosystem growth.

The dual audience approach has had a significant impact on Bharat Connect’s communication strategy. “For consumers, the tone remains emotionally reassuring and accessible while retaining a degree of simplicity. For partners and stakeholders, the messaging remains rooted in trust, reliability, and technical integrity,” Khanna shares.

When it comes to end users, the campaign aims to speak to digitally aware Bharat, including users in and beyond metro cities. Audiences in Tier II and III markets are a critical segment for Bharat Connect, integral to the platform’s broader adoption and acceptance. These are the users who may not recognise the brand name, but increasingly rely on the services it powers.

The campaign follows a creative strategy built on 3 pillars: Emotion, Curiosity and Functionality. It humanises a largely invisible backend process and connects with users on a personal level. In some cases, it also prompts a moment of realisation for the user, where they realise they interact with Bharat Connect-powered apps regularly without being aware of it. At the same time, the messaging explains the platform’s role clearly, without being overly instructional. “The goal was to ensure the brand feels reliable without being rigid, and modern without being overtly promotional,” Khanna states.

360-degree media strategy

Bharat Connect is leveraging YouTube, Meta, OTT platforms and leading news websites to amplify the #JaanteNahiParMaanteHain campaign digitally. Additionally, to drive broader awareness and visibility, the platform is disseminating the message through outdoor, print and television. It’s also tapping into co-branded in-app presence across partner applications. Influencer engagement is also a part of the 360-degree strategy.

As the campaign gains momentum across channels and audiences, the focus now shifts to how this visibility translates into deeper awareness, user recognition and long-term behavioural change. In the immediate term, Bharat Connect will measure the campaign’s success by an increase in brand recall and association. In the long term, the platform aims to make Bharat Connect the default language of digital bill payments in India.

“We are focused on ensuring that users are not only aware of Bharat Connect but also understand its role in their bill payment journey,” Khanna emphasises, adding: “We aim to embed the platform into everyday behaviour, where people not only use the service but also recognise and trust the infrastructure that enables their payments.”

The #JaanteNahiParMaanteHain campaign is about building long-term credibility in a space where trust, consistency and seamlessness matter. Whether through a quick bill payment or an EMI transaction, the end goal is to make Bharat Connect not just the infrastructure behind the process, but a name users recognise, relate to and rely on.

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