Life Insurance Marketing in India –A The Changing Advertising & Promotion Norms

ADVERTISING INITIATIVES OF THE NEW PLAYERS Contd..

A majority of Indian customers being very conservative and averse to risk, trust was an extremely important factor in the insurance business. Since LIC was a government owned body, there was an element of security embedded in its services and products. This proved to be the biggest hurdle for the new insurance companies as Indian customers were reportedly rather skeptical about them.

Hence, the new companies focused their campaigns primarily on building an image of trustworthiness and reliability for themselves. Secondly, their advertisements focused on insurance as an investment option and not a mere tax saving tool – another first for the Indian market. Most of these advertisements carried messages like the family's happiness, human bonding, etc., with underlying emphasis on the security that insurance could provide. Also, instead of projecting the idea, that an insurance policy actually starts working only after the death of the insured, the new campaigns projected that insurance protects people throughout their lives.

Max New York also resorted to depicting positive emotions such as trust and protection in its print advertisements. The company released two print advertisements. While one of them carried an image of the revered deity Goddess Durga, the other projected three teenagers standing together, with their faces painted green, white and saffron – like the Indian national flag. Reportedly, Max New York wanted to convey the message that ‘insurance is your partner for your life.'Suhel Seth of Equus Advertising the ad agency, which created the advertisements for Max New York – said, “We had to break the clutter, as insurance as a category has largely communicated doom and fear. Therefore, the campaign lent itself better to an emotional route.” Max New York Life also carried out an extensive outdoor media campaign across the country, focusing on ‘India-specific'images such as traditional wrestlers and village people.

In addition to such TV commercials, the private insurance companies were trying to make their presence felt by organizing blood donation camps, contests and sponsoring various events. ING Vysya tied up with leading US-based Columbia Picture's Indian arm to carry out promotional activities using the blockbuster English movie ‘Spiderman.'In the metros, ING Vysya distributed free movie tickets to its customers. A similar exercise was carried out for another English movie ‘Mitr'(Friend). Reportedly, Columbia Pictures and ING Vysya had planned to join hands on a long-term basis. The latter also organized the Green Mumbai Drive and several blood donation camps in association with the Red Cross, besides sponsoring the action replay of the India-West Indies cricket match series in May 2002 and also in November 2002.

^[3] The red vermilion powder used by married Hindu women in India as a symbol of their married status. Considered extremely auspicious, it is an integral part of the country's culture and is associated with concepts such as luck, protection and togetherness.

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