Strong Growth Predicted for General Insurance in 2024: Rathin Lahiri

It’s time to review the most significant industry developments as the year 2023 draws to a close. Adgully is reviewing the year 2023 for M&E, Advertising, Digital, Marketing, PR, and communications, along with leading names in the industry as part of its annual Rewind series.

Recapping the year 2023, Rathin Lahiri, Head – Marketing & CSR, SBI General Insurance, speaks at length about the year gone by, trends that will dominate in 2024, new technological developments, and much more…

Key marketing trends in 2023

From a marketing perspective, the general insurance sector has witnessed several noteworthy trends:

1. Post Covid, the consumer mindset has shifted in favour of health insurance and that provides massive tailwinds to the category.
2. The rise of customization in products and data-driven marketing strategies has been a game-changer, allowing us to tailor our products better to customer requirements and allow the customer to optimise the product even post purchase.
3. Social media will continue to play an important role, not only as a communication channel but also as a platform for community engagement and brand building.
4. Exceeding customer expectations is always a moving target and improving the customer experience is a key to success.

Embracing these trends, our marketing strategies are evolving to be even more customer-centric, agile, data and tech oriented so that we can provide a seamless customer experience and stay ahead in this rapidly changing marketing landscape.

SBI General Insurance’s performance in 2023

Overall, for India Inc 2023 has been a year of a strong rebound back to normal. 

At SBI General Insurance, we crossed a milestone number of Rs 10,000 crore in March 2023 and we have been showing strong growth in 2023.

We are a multi-distribution company with a vision to be the trusted risk manager to the nation and Indians of all segments.

Our efforts in introducing innovative insurance products have not only captured the attention of our target audience but also significantly contributed to the overall success of our marketing initiatives in 2023. We launched two innovative health products, Super Health, and Health Edge, to our portfolio. Super Health, a first-of-its-kind product that offers an all-inclusive insurance cover to cater to your health & fitness needs and Health Edge, a fully customizable, digital only health insurance product.

We also unveiled a series of three brand films reiterating the core values of ‘Suraksha’ (safety) aur ‘Bharosa’" (trust) Dono. The film aims to substantially boost awareness about insurance by portraying relatable real-life situations. By doing so, the brand seeks to establish a deeper and a more meaningful connection with our audience, making the concept of insurance more accessible and relatable to people's everyday lives. The brand film features a series of scenarios spanning various non-life insurance product categories that is, Motor, Health, and SME. The tonality of the brand films is centred around real-life situations with a touch of humour.

Plans and outlook for 2024

The General Insurance industry is poised for strong growth in 2024 on the back of strong economic growth and increased consumer interest in health.

At SBI General Insurance, our ambition is to be a thought leader, and be a trusted brand which will help the consumer manage risk. Our tagline of providing the customer with “Suraksha aur Bharosa Dono” is based on the insight of owning the category benefits of protection and trust in a complex category.

In 2024, our work will not only be about communicating these benefits from a marketing standpoint but looking at all customer touchpoints so that we can provide a seamless customer experience.

How is AI changing the dynamics of Advertising and Marketing strategies for brands?

AI is revolutionising the advertising and marketing industry across the globe. It enables personalization, speed, and accuracy for brands. Through advanced algorithms, AI is helping brands target marketing campaigns by analysing mass data, identifying personal preferences, and customising content to specific audience segments. Predictive analytics is helping strategic planning by predicting future trends, behaviour and improving decision-making. Ad campaigns and CRMs are now powered by AI algorithms that analyses user behaviour, targets customised responses leading to increase in conversion rates. AI is just getting started and will play a huge role in the next 2 to 3 years.