A soldier protects lives while a doctor saves it. Right up in that league, argues LIC in its latest ad campaign, is the role of an insurance agent who protects and saves our future.
Selling the pitch of being an LIC agent isn’t new for the company. In an ad from the early 2000s, India’s largest life insurer featured a father who talks proudly of his son’s job and the various rejections he has to face on a daily basis — from people slamming doors on his face to his phone calls being cut as soon as he introduces himself.
However, the script this time around is tighter, snappier, and more relatable. It makes being an insurance agent more appealing. And LIC is able to do it by owning up to the truth – being an insurance agent isn’t on anybody’s dream job list.
LIC establishes the job of a pesky agent as a heroic one in two films. While the first one features a son of an insurance agent, the second shows an LIC representative working in rural parts of the country.
In the first film, a school student reluctantly reveals his father’s occupation (LIC agent) before his two friends who happen to be proud sons of an Army officer and a doctor, respectively. But just as the friends begin to ridicule his father’s profession, the boy gets an endorsement from the Army officer who says that without an LIC agent’s services, their future would lie in deeper uncertainty.
In the second film, LIC features an agent based in a village who sells insurance to earn secondary income while also earning goodwill among the villagers as a godsend.
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Breaking negative perceptions
In a market where insurance is sold on the premise of fear, LIC takes a relatable and non-threatening approach, making the viewer more receptive to the ad’s message. Through this campaign, the company shoots two birds with one arrow – they put in a good word for themselves as employers while also raising awareness about the importance of getting yourself insured. This endorsement comes from an Army officer for urban audiences, and a sarpanch for rural audiences.
LIC is able to achieve this feat not only through good writing but also by avoiding harping on the ‘fear’ factor that similar industry ads have adopted of late. The campaign also owns up and gently breaks down negative perceptions about the industry LIC dominates.
However, there are no women in their advertisements. This might be counter-productive given that women are the next untapped market in the insurance space. More women are earning, running their households, and on an average are financially less unaware than their male counterparts. A good marketer would read this audience and target them.
Also read: Bolne Se Sab Hoga, the Google campaign that’s cool yet warm
Old LIC ads
Even as a Public Sector Undertaking (PSU), LIC has always invested in its advertising. Their ads weren’t the low production boring infomercials that people didn’t enjoy. The company has regularly taken a fun approach to selling what is perhaps the most boring product that can land into a salesperson’s lap.
Even in their most straight-jacketed ad where a mother talks about how LIC helped her ensure her kids get good education and grand weddings, the insurer evaded itself from the morbidity that is insurance sales.
My favourite is the ‘ice cream Jeevan Anand ad’ in which a father steals ice cream from the freezer late at night, only for his kids to come in later looking for the dessert. Shockingly, they find a perfect sundae in the fridge. The ad metaphorically captured the Jeevan Anand policy’s USP — full claim at maturity even if you’re alive, and family cover without additional premium. ‘Anand hi anand’, says the ad. Who could’ve imagined a life insurance scheme could get such a hip, peppy tone.
New companies offering insurance have something to learn from the big brother. Like this Policy Bazaar ad, which shows one would die a stressful death because they were uninsured. If fear pushed people to make big life decisions, Mukesh would’ve succeeded decades ago in making India a nation free of smokers.
(Edited by Tarannum Khan)