Market Validation to New App Launch

Kubot (formerly SmartMoney) set out to simplify mutual fund investing for a new generation of digital investors. In a market where awareness and trust in mutual funds were still evolving, the company needed clear market direction, customer insights, and a differentiated go-to-market strategy to position its investment platform effectively.

RightDirect began with extensive marketing research, analysing market dynamics, competitor offerings, investor behaviour, and target demographics. The resulting insights helped Kubot refine its positioning, identify high-potential customer segments, and create a data-driven roadmap for market entry and growth.

Building on these insights, we redesigned Kubot's corporate website and crafted the UX strategy for its flagship mobile application. Through user-centric design, wireframes, and high-fidelity prototypes, we provided clarity to both business and development teams, creating a seamless investment experience designed to attract, engage, and retain investors.

The key highlights of this secondary market research were:

• The prevailing situation and forecast on the investment and mutual fund industry environment and investor sentiments in India
• The target audience, covering demography, investment habits and characteristics, and tapped/untapped potential
• The competition, including market landscape, distributors’ roles (traditional as well as tech-enabled) and key data points
• Observations and inferences
• Recommendations, specifically for strategic and organic growth

Kubot held a few assumptions, such as mutual funds being an investment avenue that would gain popularity among the millennial population as an easier way to generate high returns than conventional investment options. Further, they wanted to confirm where their target audience was located in India so as to help them plan their marketing campaigns. However, on-field market surveys were expensive, and were not an option.

They also wanted clarity on benchmarking other players like ET Money or Fisdom and taking inspiration from their users/customer growth. However, the factors that worked in favour of these companies were unclear. Kubot was targeting B15 markets for greater volume and higher commissions as compared to urban areas, and had to decide on their best approach. However, they were not sure which customer acquisition strategy to follow to formulate an effective go-to-market action plan.

Using existing market data and expert opinions on the subject, RightDirect (formerly UIConnect) was able to consolidate all the key questions and identify the underlying problem as a targeting issue. We presented an alternative case to Kubot, the results of which were initially disruptive, but helped our client gain immense clarity on how to position their product. By helping Kubot pivot their efforts in the right direction and pitch to the right audience, we ensured that they put a successful foot forward into the market.

• Our results were not only spot-on in keeping with timelines but also helped the company gain traction with a structured go-to-market roadmap. The client’s team began to enable effective lead generation through the crystal-clear insights and recommendations we had served.
• Now the company had an integrated approach to the problem which we injected into the mobile app UX development as well.
• As a result of this strategy, the mobile application’s UX was delivered and approved in just two rounds.

• Recommendations from our report were implemented in the client's customer outreach program.
• We received really encouraging client appreciation. To quote: “I went through the link. Looks crisp and nice. Quite different from many…thanks!”
• The website design and layout were approved and given the go-ahead for development in the very first round.