To represent all breadwinners in the insurance industry, Max Life Insurance has tweaked their marketing strategy. Rahul Talwar of Max Life Insurance takes us through #FrontFootPe campaign, which aligns with IPL, and explains how the insurance sector should be more inclusive.
The insurance penetration of Life Insurance sector in India stood at 3.2% in FY 22. To enhance consumer awareness on a large level, Max Life Insurance has been associating with the Indian Premier League for the last three years. Their #FrontFootPe IPL campaign has been talking about the importance of financial protection that one needs to continue to play on the front foot, even off the field.
Previously, the brand was associated with Royal Challengers Bangalore for three+ years. This year, the brand took the same message forward by tying up with the Mumbai Indians Women's IPL (WIPL) team in its inaugural season.
Max Life Insurance was also the official Life Insurer of Mumbai Indians' Women's and Men's Team, with Rohit Sharma and Ritika Sajdeh as the faces of the brand, the brand aims at evolving into a more inclusive platform in the insurance category.
Detailing the marketing journey of Max Life Insurance, Rahul Talwar, CMO sheds light on how the insurance sector has evolved and embraced the newness of being a gender-neutral industry. He also speaks about the brand's IPL marketing strategy and how their partnership with Rohit Sharma has unfolded, in this brief conversation with Social Samosa.
Edited Excerpts:
Can you tell me about Max Life's overall marketing strategy through the years?
Max life insurance's motto is to embed their strategy of a #ABCDE approach, which stands for Always on Brand for Customers/Consumers, Distributors and Employees. The brand tries to incorporate this in their marketing and communication.
From a category perspective, life insurance has burdened the breadwinner with a frame of responsibility, which Max Life tries to unburden. On a larger theme, although the insurance category traditionally has been very male-dominated, we actively embrace the newness of the brand’s women consumers and more.
Talking about the age group the brand targets, millennials end up being a strong consumer segment because of the sheer relevance of their age. Additionally, the brand has started embracing the newness of Gen Z.
Media deployment for the brand is Omni channel and we move with the consumer as to where he or she is consuming content and we try and stitch a narrative around it.
How does IPL fit into the brand’s marketing plans and what are you doing differently for IPL?
Max Life tries to keep the millennials and Gen-Z at the centre of the conversations while planning the marketing strategy.
The brand stands for ‘you are the difference’ celebrating the breadwinner. The associations that the brand has done in the past and continues to do to date with sports icons and platforms like IPL and WIPL allow them to talk about the philosophy of Max's life insurance in a much more universal way.
Today, brands need to talk about life insurance in a far more positive and progressive way, eliminating the larger-than-life ‘fear’ factor that insurance as a category has been associated with in the past. We have been able to use IPL as a platform even with our earlier associations with RCB where we put out a positive narrative of protection with life insurance #FrontFootPe.
This year the brand has furthered their association with IPL as a platform on 2 counts. Firstly, the brand has been in work with Rohit Sharma as the brand ambassador. Secondly, in addition to having inclusive products, the brand has also been associated with Rohit Sharma’s wife, Ritika Sajdeh, further celebrating the inaugural season of WIPL.
How has IPL association worked for the brand? Any popular campaign that worked best for the brand that stands out?
On a larger fabric of communication, Max Life Insurance has always tried to talk about financial protection as a product category in a very strategic way.
One of the campaigns that have always remained etched in and around associations with IPL is protection #FrontFootPe, and more recently talking about celebrating the breadwinner under the theme.
In the past, the brand was associated with Team RCB for 3 consecutive years, where protection #FrontFootPe was at the centre of the conversation. At present, the brand is taking the same agenda ahead with their partnership with the brand's ambassadors -- Rohit and Ritika and with Mumbai Indians as well.
The future of women in sports in India is changing. How can brands be more inclusive in their communication?
Brands need to understand that whether their product was traditionally consumed by a specific gender, today, all genders can have a role to play in their products. Whether it's women in sports or women in the household, the brand ensures to appreciate the newness of the conversation.
Additionally, brands can't repurpose the same idea that they have been using for a specific audience and change some elements to accommodate the other genders.
What does Max Life's marketing roadmap for 2023 look like?
The brand is furthering their concept of celebrating the breadwinner in a far more holistic way by embracing the target audience – the millennials and the Gen-Z. Additionally, Max Life is also pushing towards being more gender-neutral by offering a larger bouquet of communication and conversations.
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