ABOUT: THE INDUSTRY

ABOUT: INDUSTRY PROFILE

The business of life insurance in India in its existing from started
inIndia in the year 1818 with the establishment of the Oriental Life
Insurance company in Calcutta. Some of the important milestones in
the life insurance business in India are:
1912: The Indian Life Assurance Companies Act enacted as the first
statute to regulate the life insurance business.
1912: The Indian Life Assurance Companies Act enacted to enable
the government to collect statistical information about both life and
non-life insurance business.
1938: Earlier legislation consolidated and amended to by the
Insurance Act with the objective of protecting the interests of the
insuring public.
1956: Take over of 245 Indian and foreign insurers and provident
societies by the central government and nationalized. LIC formed
byan Act of parliament, viz. LIC Act, 1956, with a capital
contribution ofRs. 5 crore from the Government of India.
The general insurance business in India, on the other hand, can
traceits roots to the Triton Insurance Company Ltd., the first
generalinsurance company established in the year 1850 in Calcutta by
theBritish. Some of the important milestones in the general
insurancebusiness in India are:
1907: Set up of The Indian Mercantile Insurance Ltd., the first
company to transact all classes of general insurance business.
1957: General Insurance Council, a wing of the Insurance Association
of India, frames a code of conduct for ensuring fair conduct and sound
business practices.
1968: The Insurance Act amended to regulate investments and set
minimum solvency margins and the tariff Advisory Committee set up.
1972: The General Insurance Business (Nationalization) Act, 1972
nationalized the general insurance business in India with effect from
1st January 1973.
107 insurers amalgamated and grouped into four companies viz. the
National Insurance Company Ltd., the New India assurance
CompanyLtd., the Oriental Insurance Company Ltd. And the United
IndiaInsurance Company Ltd. GIC incorporated as a company.
Insurance sector reforms in 1993, Malhotra Committee, headed by
former Finance secretary and RBI Governor R.N. Malhotra,
wereformed to evaluate the Indian insurance industry and recommend
itsfuture direction. The Malhotra Committee was set up with
theobjective of completing the reforms initiated in the financial
[Link] reforms were aimed at “ creating a more efficient and
competitivefinancial system suitable for the requirements of the
economy keepingin mind the structural changes currently underway
and recognizingthat insurance is an important part of the overall
financial systemwhere it was necessary to address the need for similar
reforms…” In1994, the committee submitted the report and some of
the keyrecommendations include:
1. Structure
Government stake in insurance companies to be brought down to50%.
Government should take over the holdings of GIC and itssubsidiaries
so that these subsidiaries can act as independentcorporations. All the
insurance companies should be given greaterfreedom to operate.
[Link]
Private Companies with a minimum paid up capital of Rs. 1bn
shouldbe allowed to enter the industry. No Company should deal in
both Lifeand General Insurance through a single entity. Foreign
companiesmay be allowed to enter the industry in collaboration with
thedomestic companies. Postal Life Insurance should be allowed
tooperate in the rural market.
Only one state Level Life Insurance Company should be allowed to
operate in each state. Regulatory body The Insurance Act should be
changed. An Insurance Regulatory body should be set up. Controller
of Insurance (Currently a part from the Finance Ministry) should
bemade independent.
[Link]
Mandatory Investments of LIC Life Fund in government securities
tobe reduced from 75% to 50%. GIC and its subsidiaries are not to
holdmore than 5% in any company (There current holdings to be
broughtdown to this level over a period of time). Customer Service
LIC shouldpay interest on delays in payments beyond 30 days.
Insurancecompanies must be encouraged to set up unit linked pension
[Link] of operations and updating of technology to be
carriedout in the insurance industry.
The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority Reforms in
theInsurance sector were initiated with the passage of the IRDA Bill
inParliament in December 1999. The IRDA since its incorporation as
astatutory body in April 2000 has fastidiously stuck to its schedule
offraming regulations and registering the private sector
insurancecompanies.
Attracted by the huge untapped potential, many private playersentered
the market after the Insurance bill was passed in late 2000. Amajority
of these were collaborations between an Indian company anda leading
MNC insurance/financial services [Link] Insurance Regulatory
body should be set up. Controllerof Insurance (Currently a part from
the Finance Ministry) should bemade independent.
[Link]
Mandatory Investments of LIC Life Fund in government securities
tobe reduced from 75% to 50%. GIC and its subsidiaries are not to
holdmore than 5% in any company (There current holdings to be
broughtdown to this level over a period of time). Customer Service
LIC shouldpay interest on delays in payments beyond 30 days.
Insurancecompanies must be encouraged to set up unit linked pension
[Link] of operations and updating of technology to be
carriedout in the insurance industry.
The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority Reforms in
theInsurance sector were initiated with the passage of the IRDA Bill
inParliament in December 1999. The IRDA since its incorporation as
astatutory body in April 2000 has fastidiously stuck to its schedule
offraming regulations and registering the private sector
insurancecompanies.
Attracted by the huge untapped potential, many private playersentered
the market after the Insurance bill was passed in late 2000. Amajority
of these were collaborations between an Indian company anda leading
MNC insurance/financial services company.
 ABOUT:ICICI PRUDENTIAL

PROMOTERS:

ICICI Bank
About ICICI Bank: ICICI Bank Ltd is India's largest private sector
bank and the second largest bank in the country with consolidated
total assets of about US$ 102 billion as of June 30, 2009. ICICI
Bank’s subsidiaries include India’s leading private sector insurance
companies and among its largest securities brokerage firms, mutual
funds and private equity firms. ICICI Bank’s presence currently
spans 19 countries, including India.
Prudential Plc
Established in London in 1848, Prudential plc, through its businesses
in the UK, Europe, US, Asia and the Middle East, provides retail
financial services products and services to more than21 million
customers, policyholder and unit holders and managesover£249
billion of funds worldwide (as of March, 2009). In Asia, Prudential is
the leading Europe-based life insurer with life operations in China,
Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, the
Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. Prudential is
one of the largest asset management companies in terms of overall
assets sourced in Asia ex-japan, with £36.8 billion funds under
management (as of March, 2009) and operations in tenmarkets
including China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia,
Singapore, Taiwan, Vietnam and United Arab Emirates.
 ICICI PRUDENTIAL GROWTH HISTORY:
ICICI PRUDENTIAL GROWTH HISTORY:
ICICI Prudential a joint venture between ICICI Bank and
Prudential UK, has been around ever since the private sector was
allowed to selllife insurance policies. ICICI Prudential began their
operations in12th December 2000 after receiving approval from
InsuranceRegulatory Development Authority (IRDA).Since then the
tribe of life insurers has grown from 12 to 16, but ICICIstill leads the
private sector pack. With a portfolio of over 6.5 millionpolicies,
India's biggest private sector life insurer has not merely heldon to its
share but grown it; at the end of January 2008, the firmcommanded 29
per cent of the share owned by private sector [Link] some way
below was Bajaj Allianz with 21 per cent, while StateBank of India
came in third with 10 per [Link] Prudential's premium income
grew at about 100 per centbetween March 2003 and March 2007.
Interestingly enough, theinsurer started out with the traditional
endowment products and wasnot the first to introduce the more
popular Unit Linked InsurancePolicy (Ulip): the credit for that goes to
Birla Sunlife. However, in the first full year of operations itself, it
started offeringUlip policies and was selling more policies than
anyone else. Today,Birla Sunlife doesn't find a place in the top five
and players such asHDFC Standard Life, which were late to cotton on
to Ulips, may beregretting [Link] wasn't just that ICICI Prudential rolled
out Ulips quickly; thecompany also made sure the products were
priced [Link] with the competition, ICICI's upfront
charges have alwaysbeen [Link] charges across the industry now
converging at around 20 percent of first year premiums, ICICI has
come up with a zero-loadproduct. Another scheme that has been
introduced automaticallybalances the debt and equity components of
the portfolio everyquarter. Apart from this, ICICI Prudential has been
quick off the blockwith retirement solutions and the first to come up
with health products.
If ICICI Prudential has managed to sign on 6.5 million policy holders,
it is because the company has built up a strong agent network, which
brings in 60 per cent of the total premium. Today the insurer has an
early 250,000 agents working for it, even though it doesn't hand out
the best commissions in the industry. Bajaj Allianz's network is about
275,000- strong, while the public sector Life Insurance Corporation
boasts over a million agents. ICICI Prudential does not care about
their commission at the lower end compared with peers they
compensate them by ensuring that customer do better volumes.
The insurer is also rolling out offices at a furious pace. ICICI
Prudential Life has one of the largest distribution networks amongst
private life insurers in India. It has a strong presence across India with
2074 branches (including 1,116 micro-offices) and an advisor base of
over 225,000 (as on June 30, 2009).
The company has 7 banc assurance partners having tie-ups with ICICI
Bank, Jalgaon Peoples Co-op Bank, Ratanagiri District Central Co-op
Bank, Ballia Kshetriya Co-operative Bank, Renuka Nagrik Sahakari
Bank, Arvind Sahakari Bank, Bhandara Urban Co-operative Bank.
ICICI Prudential targeting of 3,500 branches in five years.
The industry believes ICICI Prudential has a big advantage in that it
can leverage the customer base of its parent ICICI Bank. Bajaj
Allianz, for instance, didn't have that advantage. Banc-assurance
today fetches about 27 per cent of ICICI's premium; apart from ICICI
Bank, the insurer sells through Bank of India, Federal Bank, South
Indian Bank and some co-operative and rural banks.
While ICICI Prudential has done well to stay at the top, the next
seven years will certainly be more difficult than the last seven.
Competition is getting keener - in the past couple of years, Bajaj
Allianz is believed to have written more policies than Prudential. SBI
Life has a stronger distribution now that it has signed on many more
agents and newcomers like Reliance (which took over AMP Sanmar)
are growing at a fast pace. But the strong growth in the industry has
surprised everyone. ICICI Prudential Life's capital stands at Rs. 4,780
crores (as of June 30, 2009) with ICICI Bank and Prudential plc
holding 74% and 26% stake respectively. For the period April 1, 2009
to June 30, 2009, thecompany has garnered total received
premium of Rs 807 crores andhas underwritten over 9 million policies
since inception. The companyhas assets held over Rs. 43,000 crores
as on June 30, 2009.
ICICI Prudential Life is also the only private life insurer in India
toreceive a National Insurer Financial Strength rating of AAA (Ind)
fromFitch ratings. The AAA (Ind) rating is the highest rating, and is a
clearassurance of ICICI Prudential's ability to meet its obligations
tocustomers at the time of maturity or claims.
For the past eight years, ICICI Prudential Life has retained
itsleadership position in the life insurance industry with a wide range
offlexible products that meet the needs of the Indian customer at
everystep in life.
VISION
To be the dominant Life, Health and Pensions player built on trust by
world-class people and service.
This they hope to achieve by:
•Understanding the needs of customers and offering them
superior products and service.
•Leveraging technology to service customers quickly, efficiently
and conveniently.
•Developing and implementing superior risk management
andinvestment strategies to offer sustainable and stable returns toour
policyholder.
•Providing an enabling environment to foster growth and learning
for our employees.
•And above all, building transparency in all our dealings Each of the
values describes what the company stands for, the qualities of our
people and the way we work. We do believe that we are on the
threshold of an exciting new opportunity, where they can play a
significant role in redefining and reshaping the sector. Given the
quality of our parentage and the commitment of our team, there are no
limits to our growth.
VALUES
The success of the company is to be achieved in its unflinching
commitment to 5 core values.
1. Integrity.
2. Customer first.
[Link] less.
4. Ownership.
5. Passion.
Each of the above values described what the company stands for, the
qualities of our people and the way we work. ICICI Prudential aim at
unlimited growth coupled with higher quality of customer satisfaction
by providing the quality products and services.
 PRODUCT LINE

ICICI Prudential is currently having a wide range of products

whichcould meet the existing demand of the customer this products
are thevarious plans which are flexible in nature which can be
enhanced withup to 6 riders to provide a customized to each policy
holder.

SAVING &WEALTH CREATION SOLUTIONS

ICICI Pru Save 'n' Protect is an ideal plan for those who want
to accumulate funds on a regular basis while enjoying
insurance protection.
•ICICI Pru Cash Back is a single policy that combines the triple
benefit of protection, savings & periodic liquidity.
•ICICI Pru Life Time Gold is a unit-linked plan which offers
potentially higher returns over the long term with flexible investment
options to help you achieve your goals. It offers 8fund options -
Preserver, Protector, Return Guarantee Fund, Balancer, Flexi
Balanced, Multiplier, R.I.C.H and Flexi Growth.
•ICICI Pru Life Stage RP is unit linked plan that provides you
with an option of lifecycle-based portfolio strategy that continuously
re-distributes your money across various asset classes based on your
profile, helping you achieve your desired financial goals.
•ICICI Pru Life Link Super is a single premium unit linked
insurance which offers attractive premium allocation along with the
opportunity to enjoy potentially high returns over the long term,
without compromising on the protection of your family.
•ICICI Pru Invest Shield Life New is a unit linked plan that
allows the customer to enjoy the benefits of potentially higher
returns while guaranteeing him that he will get back at least all
the premiums paid by him, while providing protection to his
family with a life insurance cover.
•ICICI Pru Invest Shield Cash back is a unit linked plan that
provides premium guarantee while maintaing a balance between
return, safety & liquidity.
•ICICI Pru Wealth Advantage is a unique whole life single
premium unit linked plan that provides long term coverage uptothe
age of 70 years and provides you the option tosystematically
withdraw your money.
•ICICI Pru Life Stage Assure a unit linked insurance plan that
provides Guaranteed Maturity Addition of 100%- 450% of firstyear
premium based on the term and number of premiumspaid, with the
additional advantage of a lifecycle based portfoliostrategy that
allocates the investor’s money across various assetclasses based on
his age and risk appetite.
•ICICI Pru Secure Save is a unique unit linked insurance plan
which aims to grow your money over time with an assurance ofa
minimum guaranteed amount at maturity to protect you fromany
market downside.
•ICICI Pru Assure Life is a unit linked insurance plan that
provides a Guaranteed Maturity Addition ranging from 140% to450%
of the first year premium while giving you the flexibility tochoose
your portfolio strategy from the second year.

PROTECTION SOLUTIONS

ICICI Pru Pure Protect is a flexible and affordable term

product, with which you can ensure your life and provide total
security for your family in case of an unfortunate event.
•ICICI Pru Life Guard is a protection plan, which offers life cover
at low cost. It is available in 2 options –level term assurance
with return of premium & single premium.
•ICICI Pru Home Assure is a mortgage reducing term assurance
plan designed specifically to help customers cover their home
loans in a simple and cost-effective manner.
 CHILD PLANS
ICICI Pru Smart Kid New ULRP is a policy that is designed to
provide money at key educational milestones in the child's life.
SmartKid plans are also available in traditional form.

RETIREMENT SOLUTION
ICICI Pru Forever Life is a traditional retirement product that
offers guaranteed returns for the first 4 years.
•ICICI Pru Life Time Super Pension is a regular premium unit
linked pension plan that helps one accumulate over the longterm and
offers 5 annuity options (life annuity, life annuity withreturn of
purchase price, joint life last survivor annuity withreturn of purchase
price, life annuity guaranteed for 5,10 and15 years & for life
thereafter, joint life, last survivor annuitywithout return of purchase
price) at the time of retirement.
•ICICI Pru Life Stage Pension is a regular premium unit linked
pension plan that provides you with a unique lifecycle-basedstrategy
that continuously re-distributes your money acrossvarious asset
classes based on your age and risk profile
•ICICI Pru Life Link Super Pension is a single premium unit
linked pension plan.
•ICICI Pru Immediate Annuity is a single premium annuity
product that guarantees income for life at the time of
retirement. It offers the benefit of 5 payout options.
•ICICI Pru Life Stage Assure Pension is a unique pension plan
that assures guaranteed additions of up to 200% of the first year
premium, giving investors an unmatched start towards accumulating
for their retirement kitty.
•ICICI Pru Elite Pension is a unit linked pension plan that
provides flexibility to the customer to pay for a limited term andlets
him build a kitty for his retirement to provide an annuity for life.
HEALTH SOLUTION

•ICICI Pru Hospital Care is a fixed benefit inpatient

hospitalisation plan, covering various stages of treatment with adaily
allowance, ICU, procedures & recuperating allowance. Itcovers a
range of medical conditions (900 surgeries) and has along term
guaranteed coverage upto 20 years.
•ICICI Pru Crisis Coveris a 360-degree product that will provide
long-term coverage against 35 critical illnesses, total and
permanent disability, and death.
•ICICI Pru Diabetes Care Active is a long term insurance policy
created for individuals with Type II diabetes and pre-diabetes. Itoffers
long term (upto 20 years) control over diabetes through aspecially
designed Wellness Programme including regular healthcheckups and
a Diabetes Coach to facilitate diabetesmanagement. It also provides
you coverage against seven majorcritical illnesses.
•ICICI Pru Cancer Care is a specialty health plan for most types
of cancers. The plan gives a lump sum payout on diagnosis aswell as
at different stages in the treatment of various cancerconditions.
•ICICI Pru MediAssure is a reimbursement inpatient
hospitalization health insurance policy that provides guaranteed
insurability till age 75 years.
•ICICI Pru Health Saver is a comprehensive health plan which
provides are imbursement inpatient hospitalization cover along with
building a health savings fund to cover any other day-to-day medical
expenses.

GROUP INSURANCE SOLUTIONS

Group Gratuity Plan: ICICI Prudential Life's group gratuity

plan helps employers fund their statutory gratuity obligation in a
scientific manner and also avail of tax benefits as applicable to
approved gratuity funds.
•Group Leave encashment Plan: ICICI Prudential Life’s Group
offers a market linked and traditional leave encashment plandesigned
to aid the employer to build a fund to meet their futureleave
encashment liability. The contributions made will beinvested as per
the chosen investment plans and will beavailable for payment of the
benefit when it falls [Link], the product also provides for
term cover for all theemployees covered under the policy.
•Group Superannuation Plan: ICICI Prudential Life offers a
flexible market linked and traditional schemes that providesubstantial
benefits to both employers and employees. Bothdefined contribution
(DC) and defined benefit (DB) schemes areoffered to optimise returns
for members of the trust andrationalise cost. Members have the option
of choosing fromvarious annuity options or opting for a partial
commutation ofthe annuity at the time of retirement.
•Group Immediate Annuities: ICICI Prudential Life realises the
importance of prudent retirement planning. With this in mind, ithas
developed a suite of life and joint life annuities whichguarantee
periodic payment to annuitants upto death. Furtherthere are options
which return the purchase price on death ofannuitants. These annuity
options are offered to our existingsuperannuation customers, and also
to superannuation fundsnot managed by us.
•Group Term Plan: ICICI Prudential Life's flexible group term
solution helps provide an affordable cover to members of agroup. The
cover could be uniform or based ondesignation/rank or a multiple of
salary. The benefit under thepolicy is paid to the beneficiary
nominated by the member onhis/her death.

FLEXIBLE RIDER OPTIONS

16
annuitants. These annuity options are offered to our
existingsuperannuation customers, and also to superannuation
fundsnot managed by us.
•
Group Term Plan: ICICI Prudential Life's flexible group term
solution helps provide an affordable cover to members of a group.
The cover could be uniform or based on designation/rank or a
multiple of salary. The benefit under the policy is paid to the
beneficiary nominated by the member on his/her death.
FLEXIBLE RIDER OPTIONS
ICICI Prudential Life offers flexible riders, which can be added to the
basic policy at a marginal cost, depending on the specific needs of the
customer.
[Link] & disability benefit:: If death occurs as the result of an
accident during the term of the policy, the beneficiary receives an
additional amount equal to the rider sum assured under the policy. If
an accident results in total and permanent disability, 10% of rider sum
assured will be paid each year, from the end of the 1st year after the
disability date for the remainder of the base policy term or 10 years,
whichever is lesser.
2. Critical illness benefit: Critical Illness Benefit Rider provides
protection against 9 critical illnesses to the policyholder when
attached to the basic plan
ICICI PRUDENTIAL EDGE

The ICICI Prudential edge comes from commitment to their

customers, in all that they do - be it product development,
distribution, the sales process or servicing. Here's a peek into what
makes them leaders.
1. ICICI Prudential products have been developed after a clear and
thorough understanding of customers' needs. It is this research that
helps us develop Education plans that offer the ideal way to truly
guarantee your child's education, Retirement solutions that are a
hedge against inflation and yet promise a fixed income after you
retire, or Health insurance that arms you with the funds you might
need to recover from a dreaded disease.
2. Having the right products is the first step, but it's equally important
to ensure that customers can access them easily and quickly. To
thisend, ICICI Prudential has an advisor base across the length and
breadth of the country, and also partners with leading banks,
corporate agents and brokers to distribute our products.
3. Robust risk management and underwriting practices form the core
of ICICI Prudential business. With clear guidelines in place, we
ensure equitable costing of risks, and thereby ensure a smooth and
hassle-free claims process.
4. Entrusted with helping customers meet long-term goals, they adopt
an investment philosophy that aims to achieve risk adjusted returns
over the long-term.
5. Last but definitely not the least, ICICI Prudential team is given the
opportunity to learn and grow, every day in a multitude of ways. They
believe this keeps them engaged and enthusiastic, so that team can
deliver on our promise to cover you, at every step in life.
INSURANCE ADVERTISEMENT TREND

LIC Vs Private Players

The difference in the level of awareness of these new players as
compared to the hitherto monopoly of LIC was decreasing fast
because of the aggressive advertising measures adopted by private
insurers.
The new companies focused their campaigns primarily on building an
image of trustworthiness and reliability for themselves. Secondly,
their advertisements focused on insurance as an investment option and
nota mere tax saving tool – another first for the Indian market. Most
of these advertisements carried messages like the family’s happiness,
human bonding, etc., with underlying emphasis on the security that
insurance could provide. Also, instead of projecting the idea, that an
insurance policy actually starts working only after the death of the
insured, the new campaigns projected that insurance protects people
throughout their lives.

Various Insurance Ads

In one of its TV commercials, ICICI Prudential showed a series

ofscenes depicting the childhood, marriage and old age of an
[Link] purpose of using these visuals was to translate the
company’smessage ‘I will protect’ into real-life incidents. In order to
project itscommitment towards consumers to ‘protect at every stage of
life,’ thecompany brought in the concept of sindoor, which
symbolizesprotection. Sindoor was shown throughout the commercial
as a markof auspiciousness and protection, and at the end, it became
the redline below the ICICI Prudential logo.
Max New York also resorted to depicting positive emotions such as
trust and protection in its print advertisements. The companyreleased
two print advertisements. While one of them carried an imageof the
revered deity Goddess Durga, the other projected threeteenagers
standing together, with their faces painted green, white andsaffron –
like the Indian national flag. Reportedly, Max New Yorkwanted to
convey the message that ‘insurance is your partner for yourlife.’
In addition to such TV commercials, the private insurance
companieswere trying to make their presence felt by organizing blood
donationcamps, contests and sponsoring various events social events
throughtheir agents.
ING Vysya tied up with leading US-based Columbia Picture’s
Indianarm to carry out promotional activities using the blockbuster
Englishmovie ‘Spiderman.’ In the metros, ING Vysya distributed free
movietickets to its customers. The latter also organized the Green
MumbaiDrive and several blood donation camps in association with
the RedCross, besides sponsoring the action replay of the India-West
Indiescricket match series in May 2002 and also in November 2002.
Om Kotak and Birla Sun Life took to sponsoring events in a
majorway, to attract prospective customers. Om Kotak initially
highlightedin its advertisements the credibility and trustworthiness of
individualpartners (Old Mutual & Kotak Mahindra) through its
genericcampaigns. The TV commercials featured men and women
‘meeting’themselves in the future – happy, healthy and secure, thanks
toinsurance.
Bajaj Allianz went a step ahead. Apart from bringing out
TVcommercials and putting up hoarding and billboards, it entered
into atwo-month long contract with Shoppers Stop. According to the
asserting; ‘Now I can continue enjoying a comfortable lifestyle
evenafter I retire.’ Om Kotak highlighted its campaigns with ‘Jeene
kiazaadi’ (Freedom to live)’ and Bajaj Allianz stated, Life insured
bycare.’ LIC came out with a corporate advertisement on TV with
thepunch line, ‘Zindagi Tumhari Roshan Rahe’ (May your life be
glorious).
LIC Vs ICICI Prudential
With private players paying much attention to advertising and
promotional activities, LIC, too, was forced to make efforts to
increase its visibility and enhance its brand image. The company
commenced intense, systematic and well-focused public relations and
publicity activities both at the corporate and operational levels.
LIC upped its ad spend to tackle competition and succeeded in
forgingway ahead. LIC has advertised in satellite channels as well as
terrestrial channels. LIC has to reach out to non resident India
policyholders as well as its other corporate customers who are
basedabroad. ICICI Prudential has advertised on several channels
from theStar TV bouquet, Zee Network and Sony. The companies
have spentabout Rs 50 million on TV advertising last year.
With the geographical expansion, TV became a viable medium and
thecorporate campaign for ICICI Pru Life was run on TV, because
themedium lends itself well to an emotional type of films that strike
achord with the audience. Product advertising, which needs to
impartinformation, was largely done through print and outdoor
channels, asthese are appropriate for rational type of messages. ICICI
PrudentialLife Insurance campaign was short-listed as one of the 12
mosteffective campaigns for the year 2001 in the EFFIE awards.
Accordingto an ORG MARG study, the ICICI Prudential brand name
and advertising had the highest recall amongst all private players, and
was only marginally behind LIC. ICICI Prudential Life was awarded
the INDY’s Award for Excellence inMass Communication in the
category of Most Creative Advertisement-Television.
It’s all about Money
In recent times, the consumer has been bombarded with an
unprecedented barrage of brand advertisement campaigns from
insurance companies. Turn on the radio, TV, or open a newspaper or
internet portal – the glut of insurance advertisements is there to see.
The insurance industry is estimated to have spent over Rs 900 crore in
2007, up from Rs 200 crore in 2002 on brand building. Of the media
investments absorbed in 2007, around 53 per cent went to TV, and the
remaining to the print media. Life insurers alone accounted for over
70 per cent.
 MEDIA STRATEGY OF ICICI PRUDENTIAL
LIFE INSURANCE

It was time when the marketing team was thinking about

anadvertising campaign, almost everyone, including the
company'sboard, pooh-poohed the idea. At that time people thought
Company iswasting money. But ICICI discarded this “fear" typically
used forhawking insurance, choosing instead a "happy" platform to
convey amore positive message.
Even today after it has rolled out so many campaigns, ICICI
remainsamong the top advertisers: ad spends, as a percentage of
newbusiness premium, range between 0.5 per cent and 0.75 per
[Link] (Lintas) has been the creative advertising agency for
ICICIPrudential Life since the beginning.
Creative Strategy:
The essence of the creative strategy: To get the consumer to re look
atInsurance as a means to lead a worry free life and not as a
necessaryevil. When ICICI Prudential Life Insurance first began
operations, thetask was to present the visiting card of the company
to the public at large and build credibility and stature and to give
theconsumer the confidence that 'here was a company that could
betrusted to invest funds with'. This required a corporate
campaign,which started with advertising to establish the brand, build
awarenessand give the brand a larger than life image. To this effect
the corebrand insight highlighted was "As head of the family it's
myresponsibility to take care of my loved ones and protect them from
theuncertainties of life", summed up in the advertising idea:
We cover you at every step in life (Suraksha… Zindagi ke har kadam
par). ICICI Pru was positioned as an enabler of protection relevant to
the needs of the life stage that you are in. Over the last few
months,ICICI Prudential has been advertising in outdoor, TV and
press. Thecompany launched a corporate television campaign – Saat
Phere–which took the emotions and thoughts of initialSin
door corporatefilm a few steps further. The film highlights the
strength of promisesthat a husband makes to his wife, through the
depiction of everydaysituations, and then goes on to emphasize that
ICICI Prudential willstand by the husband to help him fulfill all these
promises. The TVcampaign has also been extended to outdoor. The
company has alsoundertaken press and internet campaigns to inform
customers aboutbenefits of some of its products, particularly
retirement solutions,through the Chintamani campaign.
Once the corporate image and brand identity were established, and
asthe company expanded and its product range grew, the next phase
ofcommunication was to give the consumer a rational and
tangiblereason to buy - first of all insurance and secondly from
ICICIPrudential Life. This was tackled through product-specific
advertising,such as for ICICI Pru Smart Kid, retirement solutions or
Lifetime.
The Creative execution:
Building image and creating a differential in the most creative
andcompelling manner. The creative execution heightened the
emotionalconnect with the ICICI Pru brand - Indian; satisfaction of
knowingthat one’s loved ones are protected. Symbolic representation
of theprotector of the family through situations showcasing various
lifestages and creating endearing imagery of protection and
familialbonding.
Press gave the consumer a rational and tangible reason to buy
insurance first and secondly from ICICI Prudential. The
productspecific advertising focused on changing the prevalent
perceptionabout insurance and breaking a few myths: non-
affordability,insurance not being good investment option and the
myth thatinsurance was good only for tax saving.
After the hugely successfulCh in tamani (retirement) and Saat
Phere(corporate) campaigns, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance also
introducedsome innovations in the category, such as: having a tax
planner bythe name of Chintamani on radio, who would answer
consumer’squeries about the role of insurance in financial planning.
Other programs included direct mail, PR of communications
campaignin press & TV, website marketing; and database generation
throughBancassurance channels.
Other initiatives included tie-up with the Dabbawalla Organisation
inMumbai for a direct marketing exercise, to talk to the
customerthrough a non-cluttered route, and thereby have a higher
impact. Thedirect mailer was about ICICI Prudential’s retirement
solutions andthe tax benefits that one can avail of buy investing in any
of [Link] 100,000 direct mailers were attached to the ‘dabbas’,
in areassuch as Churchgate, Bandra and Andheri where there are
mostlyoffice-goers. ICICI Prudential Life Insurance has also
announced astrategic distribution tie-up with Hariyali Kisaan Bazaar,
the ruralbusiness arm of DCM Shriram Consolidated Ltd (DSCL). As
a partner,Hariyali Kisaan Bazaar can now distribute ICICI
Prudential'sprotection, wealth creation, retirement solutions and
health insuranceproducts to customers across the its growing number
of ruralbusiness hubs in the country.

TELEVISION AS A MEDIUM
CHINTAMANI, the mascot of the middle class, has become a
household name. Even kids are demanding toys modelled around
hisscraggly old figure. Thanks to him, ICICI Prudential now enjoys
abrand recall of 92 per cent next to LIC's 97 per cent, according to
ACNielsen's Brandtrack 7 study out last year. Insurance brand
buildinghas certainly come a long way. Financial services advertising
hastraditionally been tactical. It usually just imparts information,
giventhe complexity of the products.
With the liberalisation of the insurance market in 2000, building
aseparate insurance brand with a towering public sector unit like
LICthat held 100 per cent of the market share proved to be an urgent
aswell as a daunting task. Awareness of the brand was the first goal
thathad to be met. Rohit Mull, Vice-President (Marketing), Tata AIG,
says,"Insurance buying involves a high degree of involvement. At
theoutset, people were not aware that Tata had forayed into
theinsurance business. Awareness had to be driven to a level where
itculminates in a transaction. It is unlike some FMCG companies
likeCoke and Pepsi where marketing has to be driven only to the
extent ofpreference."
Insurance agents demanded that the companies support them
byadvertising. People they are selling to should at the very least
knowthat the brand they are selling really exists. Initially, all
advertising byprivate insurers ended up reinforcing the LIC brand
image as the PSUwas still synonymous with life insurance.
Historically, print was the traditional choice for the medium
ofadvertising. The break with tradition came when ICICI
Prudentialarguably became the first private insurance company to
recognise andharness the power of TV advertising, with its `Sindoor'
campaign in2001. Then came its retirement solutions campaign with
the tagline`Retire from work, not life.'
The second campaign saw ICICI Prudential getting into product-
specific advertising. With Chintamani, insurance advertising got a
newtreatment. Sujit Ganguli, Head (Marketing), ICICI Prudential,
says,"Chintamani is a very interesting character. The claymation (clay
animation), particularly, breaks from the clutter. To add to it, the
jingle is also very catchy.
Now, most private players have 50-70 per cent of their ad
spendskewed in favour of television. Marketing budgets have been
soaringfor the past three years. Reportedly, on a budget of Rs 5.8
crore forFebruary 2005 alone, ICICI Prudential's `Retirement
solutionscampaign' was the highest spending brand, pipping several
HLLbrands to the post. The fact that insurance selling activity reaches
apeak around March also needs to be taken into account.
The advertising has been spread across mass as well as niche
TVchannels. [Link], Chief Marketing Officer, SBI Life,
says, "Wehave advertised in 10 languages. We chose TV because its
footprint isquite large. The visual is always more effective and more
[Link] advertising is a two-level abstraction, in terms of
language andin terms of the thought."
The campaigns have also tapped several ideas associated
withinsurance; an alternative to LIC's `Mr Sharma', which harped on
theidea of protecting your family against the wage earner's death.
Thecurrent campaigns are less dark and foreboding. Some even
usehumour while others spark sentimentality.
HDFC Standard Life, for instance, uses the idea of `self respect' as
itsplatform. M. Suresh, General Manager (Sales), says, "While
sellinginsurance, it does not work if you remind people of their
imminentdeath. Instead of selling insurance by offering protection and
safety,we use the platform of self-respect." The TV ad features
multiplerelationships — those between husband and wife, father and
son,grandfather and grandson. The family members refuse help from
eachother because they have their `self-respect.' The print ads use
thecharacters from the television ad to extend the idea of the
[Link] press ad is, however, packed with more information
about theproducts.
Tata AIG's `boy planting a sapling that grows into a tree' works on
theidea of planning ahead. The company also uses brand
[Link] Mull, "We have two ambassadors - Naseeruddin
Shah forNirvana Pension and Harsha Bhogle for Maha Life. Both
ambassadors connote credibility and respect. Harsha, for instance,
signifies being an IIM Ahmedabad product, a `numbers' guy and so
on." Kotak Mahindra's Old Mutual Life campaign saw the focus shift
to print and outdoor once its TV campaign fell flat. "We decided on
amore outdoor-and print-heavy marketing strategy. It was felt
thatpeople needed to be provided with information rather than be hit
withvisuals. Press ads and outdoor ads serve that purpose," says
RahulSinha, Vice-President (Marketing), Kotak Mahindra Old Mutual
Life. Kotak uses catch phrases with a twist in all its hoardings. Lines
like"Eat your cake and have it too" or "Bulls you win, bears you win"
havebeen used in its outdoor campaigns to explain its equity-
linked products. Kotak and SBI Life use the same brand colours and
logo as themother brand. As much as 20 per cent of Kotak's business
comesfrom bancassurance. "We call it the "6=1" approach. The line
"ThinkInvestment, think Kotak" applies to the bank, the insurance
wing aswell as the mutual fund. We are trying to project a traditional
Indianbrand with the same core values," says Sinha.
SBI Life has 63 per cent business coming from bancassurance. So,
itsadvertisements are directed towards telling people that they can
buyinsurance from the bank. "Advertising, therefore, consists of
branchmerchandising. Its more about point-of-purchase sort of
advertising,"says Muralidharan. "SBI Life's TV campaigns have been
more for thenon-bank customers. The tone of our ad was more
corporate and lessabout products," he adds.
Throughout this barrage of ad campaigns, LIC has not been
keepingquiet. According to analysts, pension products and ULIPs are
therelatively unsuccessful products in LIC's business portfolio. This
hasbeen attributed to low commissions for agents because of the low
riskcontent of the products. In the case of ULIPs, the agents are
stillgrappling with understanding the complexity of its equity-
linkedfeatures. They say private players have cashed in on this and
usuallyadvertise for pension products or ULIPs31 Many private
players have trained their sights on SEC A and B. LalitKumar Dash,
Executive Director (Marketing), LIC, says, "Most privateplayers aim
at segments of high net worth. They give emphasis to thepremium
income. On the other hand, LIC has to fulfil a socialresponsibility.
Our spread is across the country and we have to caterto the high,
middle and lower income segments."
Last year, LIC's Rs 125-crore budget was divided with 20 per
centgoing to TV, 25-30 per cent for print and 35 per cent for
[Link] March, LIC had ads across all products being
beamed on [Link] insurance major also undertook scientific studies
to look at itstarget audience. The company says that the Rs 2 crore it
spent on theInternet has been successful in reaching the urban middle
and upperclass.
With the private players flexing their muscles, the LIC pie has hit
adown curve - down from 83 per cent last year to 78 per cent this
[Link] private companies say that there will be a 30-40 per
centincrease in their marketing expenditure by next year, with
seniorexecutives handling FMCG brands such as ITC, Coke and
Cadburygetting roped into marketing insurance wares. The emphasis
will beon creatives and the accent on awareness. And it is TV that is
provingto be new vehicle to carry the insurance business.