Why Bajaj Allianz General Insurance’s focus on mental health is a momentous step

Bajaj Allianz General Insurance, under their property #CaringlyYours, has launched a series of films on various topics, including mental health, pet insurance and COVID-19. 

During the lockdown, Insurances have become extremely important to have as the pandemic as taken over the world. During these times, even mental health has become of utmost importance as the pandemic and lock down do affect the minds of people. 

Bajaj Allianz launched a series of films not only addressing these issues, but also their offerings.

Pyaar Ki Azaadi

Coronavirus Warriors

#ContactlessCare

Caringly Paws

World First Aid Day

https://youtu.be/2GhgYhAbnxo

The entire series has been conceptualised by WATConsult. In conversation with Adgully, Heeru Dingra, CEO, WATConsult, shares details on the campaign. 

How did you conceptualise the #MentalHealthCareKit idea? What was the brief given to you? Who came up with the idea of Mental Health Care?

Bajaj Allianz General Insurance wanted to create a tool that can empower people to take the first step towards helping those around them, in navigating through a mental health crisis. Therefore, our objective here was to design an action-oriented campaign that answers a simple question that one might consider when talking about Mental Well-being – ‘What can I do, how can I help?’

How did the idea of flashing images and making people slow down the video come about?

‘Platform feature-based’ innovation has always been a very effective tool for storytelling. While brainstorming we realised that the usually overlooked ‘speed control feature’ on YouTube is, indeed, a perfect analogy for a mental health spiral.

Everybody might not have access to digital download links and videos. How do you plan to take the campaign to the larger masses to increase awareness and accessibility?

During the lockdown, the number of people using Internet and the time they spend online has increased quite exponentially. That, combined with the fact that the rates have gotten lower, provides us with a massive audience that has Internet access. Having said that, a WhatsApp strategy is also in place for reaching out to the right people with a non-interactive version of the video. Moreover, the literature (that is, the mental health care kit questions) is being made available on all social media platforms for free download.

Apart from the CTA, how are you extending it and taking it offline? It what other ways are you taking it forward?

As of now, offline is not on the cards and we are solely focusing on multiplying the online effectiveness. The current format and content of the campaign has been developed specifically for online reach and usage. The focus will shift towards offline engagement at a later stage, which will constitute of sessions and workshops, so that the right people can get the necessary training in personal and corporate settings.

With the #CaringlyYours proposition, what was the brief given to you and how did the idea for gender equality and other pegs come about?

‘Caringly Yours’ positioning, in essence, promotes kindness and positive connection in all aspects of life. All our ideas for campaigns are strongly based in this belief and work towards extending it. The brief for gender equality campaign, as for other pegs, was simply to promote a positive change while amplifying the ‘Caringly Yours’ proposition.

How did you conceptualise the campaign communication strategy for this? How are you planning to break through the clutter with this communication?

Most of the mental health campaigns so far have focused solely on raising awareness, which was a necessary step too, but won’t be enough anymore. This campaign attempts to move the needle towards the WHO (World Health Organisation) recommended community action plan, while playing on the care and empathy promoted by the Caringly Yours brand positioning. The mental health care kit, around which the campaign centers, is developed to promote peer support for mental well-being with actionable behavioural change, which is the dire need of the hour.

Going forward, what are the other issues are you planning to highlight? What would be the key peg of your campaign strategy?

Multiple topical campaigns are already lined up for the brand and will be developed under the brand’s proposition of ‘Caringly Yours’. It will be seen through the lens of agency’s proposition of ‘Impact What Matters. Create What Lasts’.

Here, Adgully also spoke to Tapan Singhel, MD and CEO, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance, on the campaign idea and how they plan to extend these initiatives. 

What was the idea behind the #CaringlyYours series? What do you want to convey through this campaign? 

Our brand ethos of caring for our customers in every way possible is encapsulated in our tagline – Caringly Yours. Insurance as an entity is always looked upon as being passive and transactional and hence, with the ‘Caringly Yours’ campaign we wanted to redefine that perception by making our brand more emotionally engaging and by finding solutions for our customers’ worries. Through this series, the idea was to propagate the concept of care beyond our company & our offerings, and spread the thought of looking at care as a way to ensure common good around us and in our communities as well. 

How did you ideate on the #MentalHealthCareKit and what was the brief given to the agency? 

While we have always stressed on physical well-being through our various initiatives (like PHM, Know Your Heart, etc.), the importance of mental health has come out strongly amidst the circumstances surrounding the pandemic. As a brand that has stood for care all this while, we believed that it was important for us to extend that care to the sphere of mental well-being as well. While we often equate physical health to mental health, there is a lot of confusion and complications when it comes to broaching this topic. Considering that access to mental health professionals in India is not all that easy or is considered a taboo in a way, we wanted to create a support system of family, friends & peers. Hence, our brief to the agency was simple – create a tool that will empower people to take the first step towards helping those around them in navigating through a mental health crisis, a first aid kit of sorts for Mental Health. 

How are you extending this initiative (#MentalHealthCareKit) beyond the campaign video? 

We’ve created a mental health kit that is free to download for anyone and is available on our website and on our app. This kit can be used as a starting point for initiating dialogue, as well as action, to prevent the escalation of a mental health episode. We have also conducted live sessions with mental health professionals, sharing tips on how to deal with some basic issues surrounding the same. Our products, too, now offer support for Mental Health Issues. Our Health Care Supreme product, for example, covers it under OPD and other products like Health Guard, Health Infinity and even top-up plans like Extra Care Plus, cover in-patient treatments for issues regarding mental wellness. 

The campaign is a good and noble effort. However, once people are aware of their mental health issue, who do they reach out to? How are you following up this video to help people with mental health issues? What’s the next step that you are taking? 

The campaign actually addresses the exact point that you have mentioned. Awareness is not the only objective of the campaign. We want to create a support system of friends, family and peers, where each one of us can help get through to someone around us suffering with a Mental Health Issue. We want to encourage an open dialogue and also remove the stigma of seeking professional medical help for the same.

We’re quite excited for the second phase of this initiative and will keep you informed of the same. All we can say right now is that it will involve creating a much stronger base for people to connect, converse and take empowered decisions when it comes to Mental Health. 

Tell us about the offerings you have in the current times, keeping COVID-19 in mind. 

Firstly, considering the current circumstances, we offer Coronavirus specific products and coverage in our health insurance policies. We’ve also made our Care Contactless, where we’ve empowered our customers to take all steps related to their insurance (including purchase, renewals, endorsements and claims) through our digital channels. In addition, throughout the pandemic there has been a rise in the usage of digital means for our various purchase needs, for browsing social media and for making online payments as well. This has led to an increase in the cyber threat exposure, especially to the new users, the elderly or the lesser tech savvy. This is where our Cyber Insurance product, which was first launched by Bajaj Allianz General Insurance in 2017, will help safeguard individuals as well as corporates from cyber attacks.