Bharti Axa Life Insurance: Reassuring consumers

In its new campaign, Bharti Axa Life Insurance talks about the consumers' fear of not getting claimed funds on time.

Where insurance is concerned, most consumers dread the traditionally long-drawn process of claiming the insured amount. Bharti Axa Life Insurance, in its new campaign, reassures consumers on this count, and promises to pay the fund insured within 48 hours of making the claim.

Titled 'Memories', the television commercial opens on a widow entering an insurance company. As she waits at one of the counters, the film shows two insurance agents talking to each other. Meanwhile, the lady starts placing a few things one after the other on the table, until one of the agents asks her what she is doing. The widow replies, "These are a few belongings of my late husband that I have. However, his savings that were kept for me are lying with you." As the agent tries to speak, she interrupts him, saying that she does not like coming there everyday to beg for her own money.

A voiceover then states, "Why should your near and dear ones go through trouble to claim their own money?" The voiceover adds that considering such problems, Bharti Axa has introduced a new solution, where the insured amount would be paid within 48 hours. At the same time, the scene changes and the old office is replaced by Bharti Axa's office, where an employee greets the old widow and makes her comfortable, while explaining the entire procedure. The TVC ends with the widow asking the agent when she should come next. The agent replies that she's welcome to come anytime for a cup of tea; while she would get the money within 48 hours anyway.

Saujanya Shrivastava, vice-president - marketing, Bharti Axa Life Insurance tells afaqs!, "In the insurance sector, the biggest fear the consumer has is getting the claimed fund on time. Thus, with our new campaign, we aimed at erasing this fear from the consumer's mind, by saying that at Bharti Axa, the claimed money will be given to the customer within 48 hours. The idea was to secure the customer's interest through the new campaign. That is why we went with the tagline, 'Bharti Axa Life Insurance - Jeevan Suraksha Ka Naya Nazariya'."

The TVC has been conceptualised by Grey. The creative team at the agency includes Amit Akali, Malvika Mehra, Anuradha Roy, Vijay Subramani and Rohit Malkani; while the servicing team includes C Harikrishnan, Vineet Singh, Poulami Dutta, Ajey Shetty and Sagnik Ghosh in planning.

Speaking on the campaign, Rohit Malkani, executive creative director, Grey, says, "As Bharti Axa was looking at creating a difference in the insurance sector, the brief for the campaign was to highlight the 48-hour factor. Keeping that in mind, we looked at the widow situation, which is one of most realistic situations, wherein a widow is harassed for her own money by the insurance company. Thus, through the TVC, the consumer gets a real demonstration of Bharti Axa's promise to return the claimed fund within 48 hours."

Living up to expectations?

According to Adrian Mendoza, creative partner, Dentsu India, the ad is very real, "I like the ad. It exemplifies a situation that all of us find ourselves in, many times. Financial institutions, banks, insurance companies, are all very adept at taking money, but very reluctant when it comes to giving it, even when the money rightfully belongs to you. I also thought the ad was refreshingly shot, using interesting angles that made the whole communication dynamic. Overall, a nice piece of work."

For Lubna Khan, senior planning director, Cheil Worldwide, brands in the insurance category promise a world of benefits to the consumer, but it's very natural for people to be sceptical about how they and their loved ones will be dealt with at the moment of truth -- when it's time to hand over the money.

Khan adds, "The Bharti Axa film taps into this insight through an emotionally resonant film that uses cues of change, empathy, simplicity and reassurance to define its claims process. It's a route that brings to life in a tangible way a fairly diffused and intangible brand promise of 'a new outlook on life insurance'. It also cleverly positions itself as the antithesis of public sector insurers, who as government institutions, suffer from the perception of callousness and inefficiency."