Instead of blowing customers’ brains out with a plethora of financial functions, one can do the trick with a sweet emotional one liner. At least Bajaj Allianz has done just that says Gyanendra k. Kashyap
A boy jumping into a river from atop a rock, a woman riding a bike with a carefree attitude, a girl with a fractured leg on a wheelchair and an old man sky-gliding; well, these are the last things that you can probably think of while describing a financial product. But then someone, somewhere has found a reason to use emotional branding even when it comes to financial products. And that someone is Bajaj Allianz life insurance, that has taken a good shot at fame, all with the same idea and has only emphasized more on emotional communications based on real life situations. “Ye kis pyari hifaazat mein ho, befikri ki halat hai…” very subtly portrays the twin concept of Hifaazat (protection) and Jiyo Befikar (live carefree). The deliberate shift from functional communication to emotional communication speaks volume about the insurer’s belief in staying by the consumers’ side at every stage of his/her life. It is no wonder that 15 million customers across age groups, geographies and income classes have placed their trust with them. Banking on that trust the insurer is now set to strengthen its retail business. In an exclusive interaction with 4Ps B&M, Akshay Mehrotra, Head - Marketing, Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance, reveals that the insurer is now eyeing at increasing penetration of life insurance in the country.
4Ps B&M: Ever since its inception Bajaj Allianz has shown impressive performance. Where do you see it a few years down the line?
AM: Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance has significantly improved its performance. In fact if one traverses its journey since its inception in 2001, it has been a roller-coaster ride. For three years since inception, Bajaj Allianz was ranked no.7 among all the private insurers. In 2005 it emerged as no. 2 and was no. 1 for a brief period. We feel that these rankings are purely ego-boosters for our sales force. In the FY 08-09, inspite of the recessionary pressures, Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance was the only private life insurer to generate profits of Rs.45 crore. As a prudent insurer, Bajaj Allianz believes in managing growth with profitability.
4Ps B&M: How do you plan to further strengthen your retail business?
AM: Bajaj Allianz has a vast network of over 1100 offices spread across the country. The field force is over 2.5 lakh agents, bancassurance partners, retail outlets and other channels to strengthen our retail business. Bajaj Allianz is now on a consolidation mode to effectively use these channels and network to increase penetration of life insurance in the country. In the coming months we would further beef-up our distribution network to increase our penetration.
4Ps B&M: Have you given enough importance to the marketing mix?
AM: Bajaj Allianz is a mass insurance brand, our communication strategy and marketing mix needs to be very broad based. We still need to be heavy on TV and radio.
4Ps B&M: How different is insurance selling in rural areas? Does brand play a role while convincing the rural customers?
AM: Insurance is always sold and seldom bought. This is true irrespective of whether it is urban or rural consumer. The challenge in insurance selling in rural areas is the awareness level. When we started our expansion model, we increased our presence in tier 2 and tier 3 towns so that we can have the first mover advantage in that area. This has worked well and almost 40% of our sales comes from these areas. When it comes to an intangible product like life insurance, trust plays an important role in convincing a customer, the brand is secondary. But when the market is crowded with over 20 players, strong and powerful brand does invoke trust and friendliness. But finally it is the convincing power of the field force that makes customers buy insurance products.
For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.
Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).
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A boy jumping into a river from atop a rock, a woman riding a bike with a carefree attitude, a girl with a fractured leg on a wheelchair and an old man sky-gliding; well, these are the last things that you can probably think of while describing a financial product. But then someone, somewhere has found a reason to use emotional branding even when it comes to financial products. And that someone is Bajaj Allianz life insurance, that has taken a good shot at fame, all with the same idea and has only emphasized more on emotional communications based on real life situations. “Ye kis pyari hifaazat mein ho, befikri ki halat hai…” very subtly portrays the twin concept of Hifaazat (protection) and Jiyo Befikar (live carefree). The deliberate shift from functional communication to emotional communication speaks volume about the insurer’s belief in staying by the consumers’ side at every stage of his/her life. It is no wonder that 15 million customers across age groups, geographies and income classes have placed their trust with them. Banking on that trust the insurer is now set to strengthen its retail business. In an exclusive interaction with 4Ps B&M, Akshay Mehrotra, Head - Marketing, Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance, reveals that the insurer is now eyeing at increasing penetration of life insurance in the country.
4Ps B&M: Ever since its inception Bajaj Allianz has shown impressive performance. Where do you see it a few years down the line?
AM: Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance has significantly improved its performance. In fact if one traverses its journey since its inception in 2001, it has been a roller-coaster ride. For three years since inception, Bajaj Allianz was ranked no.7 among all the private insurers. In 2005 it emerged as no. 2 and was no. 1 for a brief period. We feel that these rankings are purely ego-boosters for our sales force. In the FY 08-09, inspite of the recessionary pressures, Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance was the only private life insurer to generate profits of Rs.45 crore. As a prudent insurer, Bajaj Allianz believes in managing growth with profitability.
4Ps B&M: How do you plan to further strengthen your retail business?
AM: Bajaj Allianz has a vast network of over 1100 offices spread across the country. The field force is over 2.5 lakh agents, bancassurance partners, retail outlets and other channels to strengthen our retail business. Bajaj Allianz is now on a consolidation mode to effectively use these channels and network to increase penetration of life insurance in the country. In the coming months we would further beef-up our distribution network to increase our penetration.
4Ps B&M: Have you given enough importance to the marketing mix?
AM: Bajaj Allianz is a mass insurance brand, our communication strategy and marketing mix needs to be very broad based. We still need to be heavy on TV and radio.
4Ps B&M: How different is insurance selling in rural areas? Does brand play a role while convincing the rural customers?
AM: Insurance is always sold and seldom bought. This is true irrespective of whether it is urban or rural consumer. The challenge in insurance selling in rural areas is the awareness level. When we started our expansion model, we increased our presence in tier 2 and tier 3 towns so that we can have the first mover advantage in that area. This has worked well and almost 40% of our sales comes from these areas. When it comes to an intangible product like life insurance, trust plays an important role in convincing a customer, the brand is secondary. But when the market is crowded with over 20 players, strong and powerful brand does invoke trust and friendliness. But finally it is the convincing power of the field force that makes customers buy insurance products.
For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.
Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
IIPM fights meltdown, places 2300 students By Education Mail Bureau
Delhi/ NCR B- Schools get better By Swati Sharma
Event at IIPM
Detail of all IIPM branches
IIPM set to beat economic slowdown
IIPM Admission Detail
IIPM - Admission Procedure
IIPM, GURGAON
