“Insurance is a service that customers experience, and not a physical commodity”

Historically, insurance has been promoted by creating a sense of fear in the minds of the consumers, however, HDFC ERGO General Insurance has taken an entertaining approach to educate the customers about asking the right questions while considering an insurance policy.

Conceptualised by Mullen Lintas, the core premise of the campaign – ‘Poochoge, toh aapko milega sahi jawaab’ – is predicated on the aspect of how we are inheritably curious and inquisitive when it comes to buying any product. The current pandemic has made people realise the importance of insurance, but when it comes to buying insurance, consumers usually are not well-versed with the policy. This often leads them to make the mistake of choosing a product that may not be best to secure them and cover them well financially in their hour of need. Most often, a policy is looked at as a tax-saving tool or a mandatory product. Also, while doing so consumers turn to their trusted acquaintances and advisors and buy a product they suggest or use.

The campaign features two TVCs, primarily focusing on health insurance and motor insurance. To make it more relatable and amp up the entertainment quotient, the HDFC ERGO campaign features brand ambassador Nawazuddin Siddiqui in a double role along with the multi-faceted Piyush Mishra.

Health Insurance TVC:

https://youtu.be/71oCO78rVSw

Motor Insurance TVC:

https://youtu.be/Eeh11Qw5iA

The campaign is now live and is being featured on TV, Radio, Outdoor, Digital & Social media and OTT platforms.

Speaking to Adgully, Mehmood Mansoori, President - Shared Services & Online Business, HDFC ERGO General Insurance, explains the whole campaign logic and why it is important to educate and guide the customers of today to ask the right questions before they decide to buy an insurance policy.

What was your brief given to the agency for this new campaign?

The brief was to come up with a campaign, whereby consumers are educated to ask questions while considering an insurance policy and thereby take an informed decision. Also, insurance is a serious category and historically it has been promoted by creating a sense of fear in the minds of the consumers.

However, at HDFC ERGO we believe that our customers should take it easy even in their hour of need and hence, we have taken a very friendly approach to educating the customers in an entertaining way. Accordingly, the agency was also asked to package the campaign in a humorous and quirky way, as we feel that this is the right way to strike a chord and conveys the message without instigating fear in the consumer’s mind to realise the importance of insurance.

How did you go about drawing the consumer insight for this new film, ‘Poochoge toh aapko milega sahi jawaab’? What’s the objective behind the film?

Through our interactions with our customers, we realised that they do not ask relevant questions like the number of hospitals or garages in the insurer’s network, claim settlement ratio, etc., while purchasing an insurance policy. This was a key insight for us, knowing that inheritably as a consumer we are all very curious and inquisitive while buying a pin or a pawn.

Accordingly, the objective of the TVC is to urge consumers to ask all the right questions while opting for an insurance policy and make an informed decision.

Can you tell us more about the creative idea and how did your agency Mullen Lintas come up with this idea? Who does this film target?

The current pandemic has made people aware of the importance of insurance. But, while buying an insurance policy, the consumer usually tends to go for products recommended by their acquaintances. Many ask questions related to the features a policy offers, but seldom do they ask questions regarding the service aspects mentioned earlier. A network of cashless hospitals for health and garages for the motor are important criteria. Besides these, post-sales services related to the policy, claims-paying record, time the company takes to approve or rather pay claims and the digital self-service capabilities of the insurer, too, are important; but are often never enquired about by the consumers. Also, not enough thought is given to the insurance company from which the policy is purchased. These thoughts often lead the consumer to choose an insurance policy that may not be best suited to secure their financial requirements in the hour of need.

Consumers should also focus on knowing the essential services offered by the insurer, like the number of cashless hospitals or garages, claim settlement ratio, etc., to name a few and ask questions that will help them take it easy in unprecedented times. This was a powerful thought to put out a campaign that would educate consumers to ask the right questions and make an informed decision while buying an insurance policy. This campaign is targeted at HDFC ERGO’s existing as well as potential customers.

What are your expectations post the release of the film? How do you plan to measure the effectiveness of the film? Any performance index that you have created to measure the efficacy of the campaign?

We expect to increase the traffic on our website and inquiries at the advisor level/ channel.

For any brand, the effectiveness of a campaign is measured by the increase in the brand score. We, too, constantly track our brand and accordingly, the increase in the score tells us the effectiveness of the campaign.

What is your media strategy for this campaign?

This is a 360 degree, pan-India campaign which will be featured across all genres of TV, radio, OOH and print media. Moreover, the campaign will also reach out to Internet users through a well spread digital plan across OTT platforms, display ads, news portals as well as advertising on YouTube, Twitter and Facebook.

Besides this campaign, how do you plan to differentiate yourselves in the highly competitive insurance market? What’s your strategy to pull customers?

We are a one-stop-shop for all the consumer’s non-life insurance needs and a prominent retail health insurance provider with flagship products like Optima Restore. We invest significantly in product and service innovation and our unique product and digital innovation labs employ the brightest minds who help us stay ahead of the curve. The trust that comes with HDFC as a brand and our AI-led digital service capabilities differentiate us from the others in the marketplace. There is a huge focus on service excellence and we continue to invest in our cashless network, self-help instant service capabilities and; more importantly; empathy in the way we address our customers’ needs. After all, insurance is a service that customers experience and not a physical commodity. Also, keep in mind that we are part of the HDFC brand, which has earned the customers trust with hard work over decades.