"Customisation is the key to brand differentiation in today’s ultra-distracted world"

Max Life Insurance Company Limited is a joint venture between Max Financial Services Limited and Axis Bank Limited. Max Financial Services Ltd. Is a part of the Max Group, an Indian multi-business corporation.

Max Life offers comprehensive protection and long-term savings life insurance solutions, through its multi-channel distribution including agency and third-party distribution partners. Max Life has built its operations over almost two decades through a need-based sales process, a customer-centric approach to engagement and service delivery and trained human capital.

Customer focus has always been the focal point at Max Life. Today, customers in every category demand personalisation or customisation. With a strong brand purpose and a clear product differentiation strategy, their end goal is to inspire consumers/ customers to increase the value of their lives.

Speaking to Adgully for their marketing column MARKETING MINDS, Rahul Talwar, SVP & Chief Marketing Officer, Max Life Insurance, spoke about their several initiatives, especially on the digital front, where they offer pay out services on their website, contactless servicing through WhatsApp, conversational AI chatbot and buy now, pay at approval services amongst others.

The Life insurance space is crowded and very competitive. How is Max Life bringing that key product differentiation to woo customers?

Today. customers in every category demand personalisation or customisation. The very word CUSTOMER carries the phenomenon of “CUSTOM”, meaning brands need to customise. In essence, customisation is the key to brand differentiation in today’s ultra-distracted world of messaging.

At Max Life, we design our product offerings catering to the new-age choices of our consumers. Our recent launches, including Saral Pension Plan, Smart Secure Plus Plan and Smart Guaranteed Pension Plan address various customer segments – from millennials to homemakers – ensuring long term financial protection and security. Our aim is to combine innovation with personalisation that offers maximum flexibility and coverage to the customer for their financial security. Our brand purpose is core to our product differentiation strategy of inspiring consumers/ customers to increase the value of their lives.

Insurance is a low involvement category as the need is not immediate. What’s been your strategy both on the marketing and the promotion front to push your brand and create the need for a Life insurance policy?

The core of our marketing strategy is defined by #ABCDE, which is ‘Always On Brand for Customers, Distributors, Employees’. This is guided by our belief in the philosophy of “Self Aware, Self-Realize, Self-Act”.

At Max Life, we follow a three-pronged approach. At the top, our purpose is to gauge the financial awareness of the consumer. Our flagship properties – India Protection Quotient and India Retirement Index Study expand on this by mapping the financial quotient of urban India and their attitude towards financial protection.

On the second level, we leverage owned channels, such as our social media, to drive financial literacy through engaging information mailers and videos, covering everything from life insurance terms to tips on purchasing the right insurance policy.

At the third level, we aim to empathetically engage with our customers or future customers, that is, consumers, build trust and connect. Using influencers such as Boman Irani for our ‘India ke bharose ka number’ campaign has helped spearhead such conversations and change the consumer attitude positively towards life insurance. The rise in our brand consideration score from 61 (FY21) to 66 (FY22) is a key set indicator of our continued commitment to the customer and their financial security.

The pandemic has changed behavioral habits. Have you noticed that in the Life insurance sector, are people showing urgency and keenness to get themselves insured?

The pandemic has accelerated existing trends, it reminded life insurers that protecting people against risk will continue to remain at the heart of life insurance offerings. Consumers are now more aware of life insurance and its role in creating financial resilience as a result of Covid-19. As the recent India Protection Quotient 4.0 (IPQ) scores indicated, we witnessed a steady growth in the country’s overall financial protection with the protection quotient moving 3 points to 50.

Traditionally, life insurance has been rooted in the “fare of death” conversation. We pivoted this perception with #YouAreTheDifference to drive a positive and progressive narrative; encouraging the consumer to embrace their real value to be a key factor in determining the financial future of loved ones, that is, family.

Secondly, owing to the increased realisation of protection against infectious diseases, including Covid-19, we witnessed a 48% growth over last year for critical illness riders. This becomes an opportunity for the sector to assist Indians in shifting from a saving to a protection-oriented mindset.

Our target mindset is a breadwinner who believes in ‘mindful living’ for self and for their family.

Customer centricity is very important in your sector. How have you engaged with your customers and addressed their grievances on a continuous basis?

One of our core values is CUSTOMER OBSESSION, where everything has CUSTOMER AT THE CORE. We believe in delivering a seamless user experience and have enabled connect with our customers across multiple platforms – website, email services, customer care, SDPL and social channels – to provide round-the-clock policy servicing.

Across the value chain – prospecting, onboarding, and servicing – we are heavily investing in developing new era digital assets for customers. Currently, 1/3rd of the new policy issuances are completed within 30 minutes. Moreover, the medical check-up, a prerequisite in the issuance process, was moved to a visit-to-home model, creating a frictionless touchpoint for the new customers.

Some of our other digital initiatives include financial payout services on our website, contactless servicing through WhatsApp, conversational AI chatbot and buy now, pay at approval services, amongst others. In addition, we are among the first life insurers to offer a safe and secure e-mandate mechanism for premium payments, as per RBI rules.

The Life Insurance Council is actively spreading awareness about the need for insurance. Is that helping your brand and how are you collaborating with them to heighten the awareness and educate the prospects?

In 2019, the Insurance Awareness Committee launched its first-ever integrated, high-decibel campaign under ‘Sabse Pehle Life Insurance’, the initiative by Life Insurance Council to drive conversations on life insurance as a fundamental requirement. Though Covid-19 disruptions paused the campaign, the Life Insurance Council and the industry are committed to sustaining momentum and driving maximum impact.

The chairmanship of the Insurance Awareness Committee has been led by Prashant Tripathy, Max Life CEO & MD, for the past 4 years and the extended team of all life insurers have played a vital role in enabling industry awareness. Our aim is to continue working collectively under the council leadership and committee members to drive the purpose of ‘Sabse Pehle Life Insurance’.

Being an industry collaborative initiative, this initiative can receive further boost with an endorsement from Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDAI), benefitting all 23 insurance brands.