HDFC Life’s new ad looks at COVID batch's tough chapters

Vishal Subharwal, head – marketing, digital business and e-commerce, HDFC Life, says that the brand wanted to be a natural fit for the film's story.

COVID has posed many challenges to people's health, both physical and mental, careers, and financial stability. The student community was one of the worst affected groups of the pandemic-induced restrictions.

Social interactions help shape the personality of students. But due to the restrictions, they were forced to stay indoors and get used to the concept of online schooling.

Mumbai-based HDFC Life Insurance Company’s latest campaign focuses on the story of a student, during the pandemic, from the lens of a graduating school girl. Through various anecdotes, the girl narrates that while children like her faced many difficulties, the support from their parents, be it emotional or in terms of financial planning, enabled them to succeed.

Graduating in these uncertain times is a testament to their resilience, which makes the current batch of students stand out from the earlier ones.

Speaking to afaqs! about the campaign, Vishal Subharwal, head – marketing, digital business and e-commerce, HDFC Life, says, “The purpose of life insurance is essentially to enable families and individuals to bounce back from the crisis that they are facing. When the team was brainstorming the ideas, we wanted to come up with something that manifests ‘bounce back’ in a manner that people could relate to.”

Vishal Subharwal, HDFC Life

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An earlier HDFC Life ad showcased the life and struggles of Darpan Inani, a blind chess player who successfully made a big name for himself at various international championships.

However, for this campaign, the brand wanted to do something universal that people at large can identify with. It wanted to make sure that it came across as a natural fit for the story. The brief given to the agency, Leo Burnett, was to be universal and also involve the family (parents).

Subharwal informs us that the brand didn’t necessarily want to show a college or school student, as this is something that students across age groups tend to face.

The core target audience for the campaign also includes parents, who are 45 years old or younger. Subharwal mentions, “The brand could have made it more upmarket by showing the student in fancy clothes, but we wanted to connect with the masses. And, hence, we decided to go with the school girl and other people shown wearing normal clothes.”

The ad features across multimedia platforms like television, digital and DTH.

Another interesting campaign that the brand is currently running, features actor Pratik Gandhi. The ad film, titled #adhuraNahiPuraInsurance, promotes HDFC Life Human Life Value Calculator to know the right payout one should aim for when choosing a term plan. The ad reminds customers to not compromise on their life insurance.

Also Read: Pratik Gandhi nudges consumers to compromise no more in HDFC Life’s latest TVC

In the recent past, many digital players have come up in the insurance space, like Acko General Insurance, Policybazaar.com, etc.

Subharwal points out that these players offer general insurance, but as far as life insurance goes, there aren’t that many players. “The ticket size is different for us, and we are a manufacturer and distributor of insurance. That is what makes us different from digital insurance players.”

Highlighting the upcoming industry trends, Subharwal states, “Since the largest industry player (Life Insurance Corporation or LIC) is coming up with its initial public offer (IPO), it will create a lot of buzz. Additionally, as always, content will be king for advertising and remain the core of storytelling.”