Insurers up ante in ad world, spend Rs 900 crore in 2007

In recent times, the consumer has been bombarded with an unprecedented barrage of brand advertisement campaigns from insurance companies. Turn on the radio, TV, or open a newspaper or internet portal "� the glut of insurance advertisements is there to see.

The insurance industry is estimated to have spent over Rs 900 crore in 2007, up from Rs 200 crore in 2002 on brand building. Of the media investments absorbed in 2007, around 53 per cent went to TV, and the remaining to the print media. Life insurers alone accounted for over 70 per cent.

Public sector company Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) is at the vanguard of the campaign. According to LIC sources, the insurer has set aside around Rs 100 crore towards marketing and brand building during the current and coming financial years.

Industry sources said that LIC's advertisement medium has undergone significant shifts, particularly after private insurers entered the market. For instance, LIC has traditionally targeted either the middle-aged or elderly. But private insurers have focused on individuals belonging to all age groups, including women.

"LIC was forced to modify its advertisement campaigns and communication in order to appeal to all age groups," sources said.

On the other hand, apart from the usual commercial advertisements, private insurance companies are trying to make their presence felt by organising blood donation camps, contests and sponsoring various social events through their agents.

Sujit Ganguli, senior vice-president and head, marketing, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company, said that private sector campaigns initially were aimed at heralding their arrival to customers.

Subsequently, the focus shifted to building customer trust and awareness. The third strategy adopted by the private insurers was to highlight the salient features of their products and the company in the consumer's mind.

"Since consumer needs and aspirations are changing fast, need for innovation remains constant and relevant as ever. This requires the brand to be innovative in terms of reaching out to consumers through new and more impactful routes," said Ganguli.

Speaking about the rural market, Shyamal Saxena, chief, distribution and marketing, Bharti AXA Life, said taking the brand to rural areas is important and challenging from a regulatory as well as business perspective. Building the brand in rural India is perhaps more important to build consumer trust in life insurance, he added.

Brand messages, especially that of life insurers, were aimed at building trust and emotional equity in customers. Both are extremely important to enable customers to decide on the brand they could choose to 'invest' in, he added.