How would you react if you found a horse carriage in a car park? Surprised? Confused? That just about sums up how the parking attendant in IFFCO-Tokio's new television commercial looks when he sees a well-dressed executive trotting in on a horse carriage.
And before he can begin to relate with this different mode of transport, the executive gives some sugar cubes to the attendant to feed the horse while he "parks" his vehicle. A wry message appears on the screen: "Still waiting for your car insurance claim?" and the 30-second ad film ends with the parking attendant struggling to take care of the animal.
The new campaign is further proof of the reinvention of IFFCO-Tokio. Started in 2001 as a non-life (general) insurance company with a focus on corporate insurance with products like fire insurance, IT insurance and so on, the company is now looking at expanding its reach by including retail services.
Until recently, the company has concentrated on rural markets, with specific products like weather insurance and farmers' policies.
Now, it is targeting urban consumers with a retail portfolio that includes products like motor insurance, home insurance, travel insurance and so on.
This year, the retail portfolio will grow 10 per cent to account for 55 per cent of total business. The company also aims to exceed last year's 1.5-million policy sales figures by another 40 per cent this year.
A joint venture between leading fertiliser producer IFFCO and Japan's Tokio Marine and Fire Insurance, IFFCO-Tokio is the No. 3 player in the non-life insurance segment after ICICI Lombard and Bajaj Allianz.
Last year, the company marked its decision to become a mass player by bringing on board Denstu Marcom, Delhi, to communicate its general insurance offerings - home insurance, motor insurance and so on. The award-winning print and television campaign, with the theme "whichever way life takes you, we'll be there", helped increase brand recall (from near-zero levels).
This time round, the focus has been tweaked slightly. "Last year's ads spoke about our retail products. Now, we wanted a communication that would highlight our pluses like hassle-free service and timeliness," explains Ajit Narain, CEO and MD, IFFCO-Tokio.
To do that, the company decided to highlight motor insurance, which accounts for 40 per cent of all non-life insurance and is second in popularity only to life insurance.
The choice of policy is also a perfect fit with the company's target customers - men in the 25-45 year age group. Research by the company has shown that more men than women are the decision-makers on non-life insurance policies.
The car insurance theme remains the single point of communication across all media - press, outdoor and online. The ad is being currently aired on mass entertainment channels like Star Plus, SET Max and business channels like Aaj Tak.
The print advertisement, too, which shows an underground car park with a horse carriage parked along side other cars, will appear in general news magazines like India Today, newspapers and auto magazines.
"The idea was to highlight customer services through a single creative that is widely understood by our target audience, as this would increase the brand visibility and recall value," says Nitin Suri, executive creative director, Denstu Marcom, Delhi.
Still, neither client nor agency wanted to take a chance with an ad that's rather different from the usual insurance commercials. So before the mass release, Dentsu conducted dipstick surveys among 300 consumers in Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai.
The respondents were also quizzed on the recall of various non-life insurance products and just how important was the issue of prompt payment of claims.
The results weren't too surprising: consumers aren't really aware of different brands of non-life insurance products, but they do place a premium on timeliness. "The ad underlines the fact that for IFFCO-Tokio, turnaround time is as important as the car insurance policy," says Suri.
The company claims a success rate of over 90 per cent in settling claims within seven working days of submission of the claim. Recent innovations include online tracking of a claim's progress and offering SMS alerts about the status.
"These moves increase credibility and also add a personal touch, which will help increase customer assurance," says Mukesh Pilania, head, brand management, IFFCO-Tokio.
Regional language variants of the TVC have been made, as have shorter edits of 15- and 10-seconds. These will be on air across cable TV channels for the next two to three weeks. But it's not just about advertising. Cross-promotions with auto companies like Toyota, Honda and Suzuki are being planned and on-ground promotions will start next week, retaining the equine theme.
Shoppers in Gurgaon and Mumbai will soon see a carriage parked outside their favourite malls. IFFCO-Tokio stalls have also been set up nearby, where information will be provided on the types of policies, the claim process and so on.
"Such interactive activities will help create a strong foothold for the company and increase brand association," declares Suri. There's even a signature tune for the company now. It's been used in the TVS and will be played on all company phone lines and during corporate events.
Of course, none of that would be really relevant if the company did not have the necessary infrastructure in place.
In the past year, IFFCO-Tokio has established five customer service centres, 100 offices and 500 exclusive distributor points across India. And, the number of distributors has gone up by nearly 150 from 350 over the same period.
"We wanted to ensure that our distribution and services were good enough to provide the best, where policy holders don't have to beg for their own money due to lengthy claim procedures," explains Pilania.
Who Did What
Client: IFFCO-Tokio
Agency: Dentsu Marcom, Delhi
Creative: Nitin Suri and Chraneeta Mann
Client servicing: Chandy Mohapatra
