HDFC ERGO launches new campaign with Radio as primary medium in Tier 2 & 3 markets

The Radio campaign was supported by Outdoor and Social Media

HDFC ERGO recently launched its latest campaign to spread awareness around the importance of health insurance across India. In a unique approach the insurer has curated a radio and outdoor campaign entails a series of light-hearted but impactful conversations between individuals driving the message of investing in health insurance to secure one’s future. With a focus on driving the importance of health insurance and informing individuals on the availability of health insurance on EMI, the campaign urges consumers to prioritize securing their future financial stability by investing in health insurance instead of splurging on other items.   

One of the common reasons behind not investing in health insurance is the myth that it’s a one-time expensive cost. To bust this myth, one of the radio spots showcases a mother-daughter duo, where the daughter argues on buying an expensive smartwatch over medical insurance because it's available on EMI. The mother then asks her daughter to buy HDFC ERGO medical insurance which is available on EMI. 

Elaborating on the thought behind this campaign, Shilpa Desai, Executive Vice President and Head of Marketing, HDFC ERGO, said, “If you look at a country like India, the overall penetration of insurance in the country is single digit and a significant portion of that lack of penetration also comes from the fact that there is cross on awareness on the category and we felt that as the leading insurer in this space, there is a very dying need for us to create more category awareness, make people more aware, more sensitive to the fact that anybody and everybody would need health insurance, and only the right thing to do, and every other expense in life can be deferred, can wait it, maybe an indulgence, but if you really care about your health and the health of your family and your loved ones, this is something you ought to do.”

Continuing further, she added, “It's our endeavor to make our products and services available to the length and breadth of the country and tier two and beyond markets are extremely crucial for us from an expansion standpoint. With that in mind we said, how do we ensure that the people who already are customers of us, we had the campaign structured in 2 ways. One is what is the core message and what is the best media vehicle to deliver that core message? Second is how do we build sustenance for this campaign. With that in mind, we chose radio as our primary vehicle. Across the teen cities in the country, we chose top 3 - 4 radio stations within those cities and created vernacular content and made it available across these cities at the same time.”

“Typically, customers who are buying insurance are in the working population age group, so we have chosen morning and evening travel hours as the best time to make our ads available, Monday to Friday. We supported this high decibel radio campaign with extensive outdoor activities,” she said.

“We are a digital first organization. Keeping in mind that people of today would want to go to social media in digital format first, the campaign also finds its manifestation in the social media format. We've created an entire campaign to get our employees infused and be aware about their own insurance. We're starting from internal communication, getting employees more infused to cover themselves, beyond that group insurance allows their families to radio, to outdoor and social, and of course PR. Pretty much everything that one needs to do to be able to make up product and services available for the customers and to the audience that matters with it.”

Sharing about why they selected radio as a medium in the era of digitization, Desai noted, “I have a very different view, and I wouldn't say it's traditional or new age. It's what helps us get our audience better. There are people like me who consume both mediums equally well. There are other people who may choose to go digital first. We have a broad spectrum of our consumers going from 28 on the lower side and going up to 45 on the other side. We want to cater to this larger mass. There are people who prefer driving down to office, and for them radio becomes the component. We ought to be on it. There are younger people who decide to be digital first. We are available in digital format.”

She further added, “If you look at the streaming app, which is such a rage among the younger population, we are also on Spotify and Gaana which allows you in tune of how things are happening. Wherever we expect to find the audience of today and tomorrow, we've chosen media tools and vehicles that allow us to be part of their daily life and our budget allocations are also in line with the medium choice. A significant portion of our outlay is to radio because it allows you mass reach, it's a companion medium. It allows you to not encroach in your personal time, yet be meaningful. Digital allows you a one to one interaction, whether it's social or pure play digital. That's the kind of thinking that’s gone behind choosing our media vehicle.”

Watch the entire interaction below: