IDBI Federal Life Insurance: Bringing wealth to everyone

In its new campaign, IDBI Federal Life Insurance talks about its promising product, Wealthsurance Milestone Plan, projecting it to be essential and irresistible.

In September 2010, IDBI Federal Life Insurance launched a new ULIP called Wealthsurance Milestone Plan. The product enables customers to save and build wealth under the protection of insurance to meet their financial goals. Two television commercials have been launched to introduce the product. Created by Ogilvy Mumbai, the TVCs aim to create intrigue about the product.

The first TVC, titled 'Alley', shows a man returning home from office. Suddenly, a thief shows a knife to the man and takes him to a dingy and dark alley, asking for his briefcase. Next, the thief allows the man to go, only after asking how he should pay the premium - in cheque or cash. The man replies that he can pay any way he prefers. The TVC ends with a voiceover saying, 'IDBI Federal ka Wealthsurance - Jis ne bhi suna, kharid liya'.

The second film, titled 'Tyagi', begins with the shot of a bungalow, inside which a rich young man is getting his head shaved by a barber. The man, who is becoming a 'sanyaasi', is shown saying goodbye to all his family members, friends and servants. As the man steps out of his home, a representative of IDBI Federal Life Insurance meets him and says that he has an appointment with him.

As the family mourns, the young man returns, calling his secretary to fetch the cheque book so that he can buy the wealth insurance plan. The TVC ends with the same voiceover saying that whoever has heard about the plan has bought it.

Speaking on the product, GV Nageswara Rao, managing director and chief executive officer, IDBI Federal Life Insurance, says, "Wealthsurance has been our flagship product and is power packed with benefits and options. Thus, to try and explain all its benefits in less than a minute doesn't do justice to it. So we decided to create an intrigue about the product. With Ogilvy as our partner, we were sure to get clutter breaking commercials."

Abhijit Avasthi, national creative director, O&M, says, "The product is the best designed offer for the consumer. The idea of the campaign came from the real life experience of sales managers at the company, who have so far never failed to sell the product under any circumstance."

The creative team for the campaign includes Abhijit Avasthi, national creative director; Amitabh Agnihotri, creative director (copy); Samir Sojwal, creative director (art); and Yogesh Pradhan, creative controller. The planning team includes Kanwal Shoor, planning head; and Neeraj Bassi. The servicing team had Hephzibah Pathak, Asha D'Souza, Chitralekha Chetia and Sheetanshu Mishra (account management).

Produced by Soda Films, the commercial has been shot by Rajesh Krishnan.

The wealth effect

The insurance business is not only about creating awareness but also convincing the consumer to believe in the product. So - have the TVCs been successful in gaining the faith of the customer?

Rahul Jauhari, national creative director, Pickle Lintas finds the TVCs pretty interesting. He says, "Both the films are immensely watchable, with good performance, casting and production values. The scripting is tight and right. As a campaign, the films are clutter breaking - something IDBI Federal needed to be noticed in a cluttered market. Between the two, I found the twist in the Alley TVC more interesting as a script. The humour is pitched right and will cut through."

Lubna Khan, senior planning director, Cheil Worldwide says that the campaign creates awareness but not enough relevance. She elaborates, "This is one campaign where a good creative execution has managed to overshadow and underplay the brand. In today's crowded and confusing financial services market, consumers, even as they make extensive comparison of products, make their final decisions based on a combination of hard headed rationality and irrational trust. In my opinion, not enough has been done to define what the brand delivers on both these aspects."