Putting a premium on marketing differentiation

Lalitha Srinivasan in Mumbai

Competition is hotting up in the life insurance sector to woo new customers. After creating an initial awareness for their products, the new players in the Indian life-insurance sector are now clearly charting out new marketing plans with differentiations to promote their respective products in the overcrowded category.

For starters, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company has recently launched ‘TruLife Club’ for its high-value policy holders, as part of its marketing strategy. According to Mr Saugata Gupta, chief marketing officer, ICICIPru, TruLife Club is essentially a programme which offers a wide range of health-related products and facilities such as health and fitness equipment and membership to gyms, health resorts and clinics in India.

Explains Mr Gupta: “This is perhaps for the first time that a life insurance company has adopted a marketing route to bring
value-addition to its customers. Policy holders with sum assured of Rs 5 lakh or more are admitted into this club. The membership also
brings hefty discounts.”

Mr Gupta informs that Anjali Mukerjee’s Health Total offers 10 per cent discount for TruLife members. “In addition, gyms like Bodyrythm and Club Talwalkers Health Total also offer discounts to our club members,” adds Mr Gupta.

As regards the rationale behind the launch of TruLife Club, Mr Gupta says that as a premier insurance company, the company wanted to be a part of the efforts to enhance healthy living amongst its customers. ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, a joint venture between ICICI Ltd and Prudential Plc of the United Kingdom launched its operations in December 2000.

Yet another new player in this niche segment, Allianz Bajaj Life Insurance Company Ltd, a joint venture between Allianz Worldwide and Bajaj Auto Ltd, has launched an aggressive print campaign to promote its brand in Pune to start with.

Says Dr PS Pritam, advisor, Allianz Bajaj: “After Pune, we are now launching our product in Mumbai, New Delhi and Calcutta. We will be rolling out our product in Chennai very soon. We will be launching an integrated marketing communication solution package to promote our product.”

Allianz Bajaj’s total communication package includes, print advertisements, outdoor media campaign, direct marketing methods and below-the-line activities, adds Dr Pritam.

“We have roped in Contract Advertising to handle our Rs 20-crore ad account. As part of our marketing strategy, we have tied up with Standard Chartered Bank recently,” adds Mr Pritam.

Following in the footsteps of ICICIPru, Allianz Bajaj also has plans to launch an exclusive club for its members, informs Dr Pritam. “We will be launching a high-voltage television campaign in January this year. Allianz Worldwide’s commercials are already on the air across the globe,” he adds.

Created by Contract Advertising, the print campaign highlights the benefits of Allianz Bajaj Life Insurance in its communications.

Says Mr Rajiv Sabnis, senior vice-president, Contract Advertising: “The campaign revolves around the concept ‘care’ hence the ad line is — Allianz Bajaj, Life insured by care. To stress this point, we have used the visual of human hands in our print ads.”

In tune with the current marketing trends in life insurance sector, SBI Life Insurance is also working on some packaged products where the customers will get a number of benefits rolled into one, says Mr S Muralidharan, chief of marketing & sales, SBI Life.

Adds Mr Muralidharan: “We are slowly and steadily building our brand. Very soon we will be launching print ads in regional languages too. As for launching a club for the premium segment, it’s certainly a possibility which we are now evaluating.”

As for its Internet advertising strategy, Mr Muralidharan says that in a bid to reach out to its target audience, the company will use any suitable medium in the future. “Internet is a very significant medium to connect with our target audience. To create an image of exclusivity for our premium segment audience, we may launch a club in the near future,” says Mr Muralidharan.