Sentimental hardsell

CAMPAIGN LOGIC

SBI Life Insurance is banking on romance in the golden years for its lifelong pension plan.

Nothing should stop you from buying jewellery for your wife even at 70, says this new television commercial (TVC) for SBI Life Insurance's pension scheme.

The 50-second Hindi spot begins with an old man interrupting his wife as she pedals at an old-style sewing machine. "Is this what you were checking out secretly?" he asks pointing to an ad in a magazine. "Yes" is her perplexed reply. He hands her the same diamond ring. "Are you out of your mind?" asks the old woman.

"Today is a special day... Valentine's day. Lovers gift each other something on this day," he insists, making her blush. "I can't possibly wear a diamond at this age," she still protests.

"How will the diamond know how old you are?" he laughs and makes her wear the ring. The voiceover concludes: "So that money constraints never become an obstacle in the expression of your love."

This is SBI Life Insurance's first campaign this year "" and the first product-specific promotion. The 2003 campaign equated investing in SBI Life schemes to living with child-like abandon.

The tagline was "Enjoy your second childhood". That was a catch-all campaign, though. This time round, the focus is firmly on SBI Life's pension scheme.

There's a good reason for that. Since its launch in February 2003, SBI Life's lifelong pension plan has generated Rs 27 crore in revenues "" that's 15 per cent of the company's turnover.

By March 2005, the insurance company expects pension sales to cross Rs 150 crore. "Pension schemes are the star product of the company," declares Pradeep Pandey, manager, communications, SBI Life Insurance.

In fact, right now, pension schemes are the flavour of the month across insurance companies. Pension schemes have contributed 22 per cent of the insurance industry's total turnover (Rs 18,710 crore) in FY 2003-04, compared to a little less than 20 per cent of a much smaller base (Rs 13,000 crore) in 2000.

Which means that while total insurance sales have registered a growth of 44 per cent since 2000, pension sales have moved faster at 58 per cent.

There's no denying that extensive advertising by private players such as ICICI Prudential and Aviva Life Insurance helped promote pension schemes. But equally, they made SBI Life's task that much tougher.

The creative challenge now was to break through the clutter and create a separate brand identity. "There's a greater need to educate the consumers about newer and more relevant products," agrees Pandey.

Consider the competition's communication. ICICI Prudential, which launched its pension scheme in 2002, has been targeting a largely urban male audience.

The ads for ICICI's pension plans show a 30-something man thinking out his retirement strategy "" complete with metro-centric activities like trekking and rugby "" with the tagline "retire from work, not life".

Similarly, the advertisements for Aviva life insurance-linked pension schemes also show an elderly, urban couple signing up for activities like rafting, high-thrill rides at amusement parks and so on.

SBI Life, in contrast, opted for a pan-Indian appeal. Its brief to the agency, O&M, revolved around this theme. Accordingly, O&M chose a middle-class setting and the theme of romance at 65, the core message being financial independence in old age.

Incidentally, in a dipstick survey conducted by the agency before it conceptualised the campaign, financial independence came up as one of the two main concerns of middle-aged people regarding their old age. The other was health (which has also been touched upon in the radio ad).

So if the commercial has a high mush factor, it's not completely unjustified. After all, according to the company, a commercial for a pension scheme would need to tug at the heartstrings of its target audience "" the 35-year-old family man.

"Until they're 35 or 40, people usually focus on the needs of their families. After that, they start thinking of saving for the future," explains Pandey.

But the simple, white-hair, green-at-heart romance may not have been enough to break the clutter. Which is why the idea of a gift had to be really strong.

Among the options considered by the agency were gifts such as a Maruti car and his-and-her mobile phones. "But the 'Valentine diamond' was stronger in terms of its universal emotional appeal," says Sagar Mahableshwarkar, creative director, O&M.

Not that the car idea was garaged. A soon-to-be-aired radio ad has an old man who buys a Maruti 800 although he already has an old Fiat. "What if I suddenly have a heart attack? At least you will be able to drive me to the hospital!" he reasons to his wife.

When she doesn't buy that, he offers the clincher: "Then what if I elope with a pretty young thing in our old car? You will need a new car to come after me."

At Rs 3.5 crore, SBI Life's new campaign has worked out about 10 or 15 per cent less expensive than the ads that ran last year. Of course, that may be due to expensive airtime "" the previous campaign was broadcast during the India-Australia cricket series.

This time round, SBI has bought time on niche channels such as the History Channel and Discovery, apart from Zee and all the news channels.

Below-the-line promotions also form an important part of the package. Apart from hoardings and posters, SBI Life is counting on displays at jewellery stores and promotions at malls and multiplexes.

At Fun Republic in Mumbai, for instance, men coming with their wives to watch films are being asked to write short replies to "What will you gift your wife 20 years down the line?" The winning entries are given gift vouchers at the end of the show.

Compelling men to think of gifts to buy their wives after retirement may be a good way of getting them to think of pension schemes. But will the romance lead to a commitment?