AEGON Religare awards social media duties to Windchimes Communications

The life insurance company chose the Mumbai-based Windchimes after a multi-agency pitch.

AEGON Religare Life Insurance has awarded its social media duties to the Mumbai-based Windchimes Communications. AEGON, an international life insurance, pension and investment company, Religare, a global financial services group, and Bennett, Coleman & Company, India's largest media house, together launched AEGON Religare Life Insurance Company (ARLI).

The account was awarded to Windchimes following a multi-agency pitch, conducted in October 2011. Apart from Windchimes, Agency Digi and Pinstorm had also pitched for the account. Pinstorm earlier handled the social media duties for AEGON Religare.

The company, which according to sources spends 5-10 per cent of its ad spends on digital, plans to strengthen its base on the social media space by collaborating with finance portals to consolidate its presence on various social media networks such as Facebook and Twitter.

Commenting on the reason for choosing Windchimes, Mukesh Waje, assistant vice-president, branding and communications, AEGON Religare Life Insurance, says, "As a brand we were looking for continuous engagement on social media platforms, and wanted an agency that not only creates a buzz about the brand, but also helps sustain it on social media platforms."

Speaking about the win, Nimesh Shah, head maven, Windchimes communications, says, "We want to leverage content-based elements such as apps, to establish a strong presence of the brand on social media, establish a connect with the people, and generate brand recall, and at the same time,get fans to interact and educate themselves about the brand and its offerings."

Shah adds that one of the first challenges the agency has is to ensure that a subject like life insurance is simplified, engaging, and free of jargons.

Windchimes Communications, in the past, has developed and executed social media strategies for brands and companies such as Hindustan Unilever, Infosys, General Electric, GMR, ITC Hotels, HCL, Huawei, and Loop Mobile.