Law & Kenneth walks away with ING Life

As per industry estimates, the media spend on this account is in the range of Rs 18-20 crore.

The financial services company ING has brought on board Law & Kenneth as the creative agency for its life insurance arm, ING Life.

Although this is a win for the agency's Bengaluru office, the Mumbai team will handle the account.

As per industry estimates, the total media spend on the account is in the range of Rs 18-20 crore. However, this doesn't include spends on events and promotions.

The win is the result of a closely-fought multi-agency pitch process held in Bengaluru. The objective of the pitch was to find a strategic partner, which could provide valuable planning prowess and consumer insights.

Rediffusion-Y&R was the incumbent on the business. The agency recently bagged another financial services account, SBI Mutual Fund.

Mohit Goel, executive vice-president, marketing, ING Life India, says, "We have been through an 'exciting and intensive' evaluation process, during the course of which we tested multiple advertising agencies on their strategic thinking and planning capabilities. The process followed by us was quite different from a typical evaluation of an agency, which is largely based on creative output and capability. We felt that Law & Kenneth's expertise in planning and strategy will add a lot of value to our business. We look forward to a fruitful and long-term relationship."

Anil Nair, chief executive officer and managing partner, Law & Kenneth, says, "Being chosen as the creative AoR (agency of record) by ING Life Insurance India is a matter of great honour and pride for us at the agency. ING Life India has big plans to achieve a leadership position in the life insurance business in India, and we are excited to partner it to fulfil that goal."

The brand essence of ING Life is 'Experience the joy of fulfilling your responsibility'. This essence was captured through the brand's 'Mera Farz' statement, developed in 2007. The statement positioned the brand as one that helps its customers fulfil the responsibility of being 'the provider' for their families. This was conveyed through Rediffusion's ad campaign in 2008, which portrayed how some key milestones in life, such as marriage, birth of a child, and children's higher education and retirement bring happiness, along with unexpected financial worries.

The communication stressed that ING Life Insurance can help consumers overcome these burdens and fulfil their responsibilities towards their families.

JWT Bengaluru has handled the creative mandate for this account in the recent past; the agency won the account in April 2008. It may be recalled that in November 2008, the agency created a commercial for ING Bank that marked the brand's very first official campaign in India. The communication was based on the insight of friendship, and served to position the bank as a friend who makes life easy for its customers. Prior to 2008, the creative mandate for ING Bank (earlier known as ING Vysya Bank) was with Rediffusion.

Everest Brand Solutions has earlier worked on the creative duties of ING Vysya Mutual Funds (the memorable 'Expect the Unexpected' ad campaign was broken by the agency in February 2005), prior to which, Saatchi & Saatchi Mumbai handled the business.

ING currently operates through three businesses in India, namely, ING Life Insurance, ING Vysya Bank, and ING Investment Management.

Headquartered in Bengaluru, ING Life India is an integral part of the ING Group. ING Life India entered the private life insurance industry in India in September 2001.