Taking the road less travelled
By Neeta Nair It is a brand that has chosen not to walk the oft-trodden path, by identifying an emerging consumer segment within Life Insurance. As opposed to focusing on the middle-aged population which is largely the target of Life Insurance providers, Bharti AXA Life Invest Once has reached out to the young investor by leveraging an integrated marketing strategy. Jitin Paul, Chief Marketing Officer, Bharti AXA Life Insurance, talks about the insight behind this campaign for their online product: “The product and campaign insights are based on an extensive research that we undertook amongst young investors with Nielsen. The young adult today is a bit confused when it comes to decision-making across his life situations: be it career or relationships, even the food they want to eat or the movies they would watch, and financial planning is no different. Our campaign thought evolved from the ambiguity and confusion that the TG faces when looking at financial planning as a discipline. There are various product categories to choose from, and a plethora of advice from multiple sources. Bharti AXA Life Invest Once is a simple, targeted and compelling solution and puts an end to his confusion around savings and investment.” Bharti AXA Life Insurance is a joint venture between Bharti, one of India’s leading business groups with interests in telecom, agri-business and retail, and AXA, one of the world’s leading companies in financial protection and wealth management. Their earlier campaign ‘Naya Nazariya’ was launched purely on a digital platform, but this time they decided to go ahead with a TVC for their online offering. Talking about the strategy, Paul says, “We want to be where the consumer is. Also, each medium, platform or media enabler has its own unique characteristic. TV still remains the lead medium for marketing as it drives awareness and preference for this key marketing initiative. And it also gives a context and acts as a prelude to start conversations with our customers on digital. This time, we have followed a completely new approach within the category.” The brand has also initiated innovative content ideas on TV, for instance by tying up with Disney for the film Tamasha recently. Paul says, “We have a strong plan on TV that combines reach and impact. Moreover, we have launched a 360-degree campaign that encompasses traditional media, digital media including mobile and an on-ground outreach initiative.” On how the digital marketing strategy has worked for Bharti AXA Life Insurance, Paul says, “Digital capabilities give us the edge within our marketplace. We are today one of the most engaging life insurance brands on Facebook and the No.1 insurance brand on LinkedIn. In fact, AXA has a global partnership with both Facebook and LinkedIn, and we also have an AXA innovation lab in Silicon Valley, with one to be launched in Asia soon. We will further add strength to our digital capabilities in future.” Paul then goes on to elaborate the challenges the brand faces in the market: “Consumer needs are evolving constantly, and brands need to be nimble in their response. As we see disposable incomes within the younger target group growing, the divergence will be more pronounced. Another challenge is that as much as there is divergence in needs, the expectations on the experience front are converging. Consumers today expect the same quality of buying experience irrespective of what they buy. So, companies not only need to focus on customizing their offering, they have to deliver an end-to-end high quality experience to be successful in today’s marketplace.” Talking about how the digital medium is fast changing the way brands communicate with their target audience, Paul says, “Digital is today the most effective means of engaging on a media interface. The Internet, that started initially as an information powerhouse, has captured the imagination of everyone across the globe and brought about a revolution, in the way we communicate, engage and transact. While online sales channels are only 1% of the overall business, we believe this will change. There is a growing preference & shift towards digital. Digital will change the rules of the game and grow into a centre of ‘consumer pull’ for life insurance, than a ‘distribution push’ as the category has been classically known for. Implications for marketing will become only more accentuated.” FACTS Creative agency: Publicis Media agency: GroupM Social and digital media marketing agency: iStrat – Publicis & GroupM PR agency: Genesis Burson-Marsteller
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