HDFC Life is driving deeper connect in lower tiers with regional ads: Vishal Subharwal

HDFC Life, one of the pioneering life insurers in India, has always intended to bolster its relationship with its consumers through insightful and relevant communication. Recently, the brand launched a new campaign seeking to expand its brand presence as well as its reach within the southern states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Tamil Nadu.

With the evolving consumer base, regional and localized strategies of marketing play a pivotal role in steering stronger connections and loyalty among audiences. The campaign has been devised to encapsulate the regional preferences and cultural nuances that resonate with the local consumers. In alignment with the organizational strategy for expanding its presence, the campaign aims to engage with audiences in Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets via regional language communication, encouraging affinity in these markets.

Preparing and saving for children’s education as well as the future is one of the major catalysts driving the purchase of life insurance products and services. The campaign surrounds the beautiful relationship between a father and daughter where the father imparts a valuable lesson to his daughter, teaching her about the importance of discipline and preparation in life to achieve one’s goals, emphasizing how if one puts 100% effort, then they will undoubtedly get the desired results. The ad film shows a girl preparing for her maths exam the next day and being tensed about her exam, which leads her mother to express her worry regarding the same that going forward in the future, what will their daughter do. The ad film then portrays the father communicating to the mother that they have planned for their daughter’s future and thus, there is no need to worry. He then goes to his daughter and asks her if she has worked hard day and night for her exam and whether she has revised her studies, to which she says “Yes”. The ad then follows the father saying that if she has put in 100% effort, then that is her 100, therefore there is no need to worry. The ad concludes by saying when one’s children are preparing for a centum, then they can prepare for their future with an HDFC Life Savings Plan.

Watch the ad film:

https://youtu.be/4cfv17ZBLuQ?si=mDnq9IThWY6ClWNj

In an exclusive interview with Adgully, Vishal Subharwal, Chief Marketing Officer and Group Head Strategy, HDFC Life, delves into the concept and idea behind the new campaign launched by HDFC Life, how it is expanding its brand presence within the Southern states, the marketing and media mix strategy. Subharwal also sheds light on the expectations from the new campaign, how HDFC Life is helping parents to secure their children’s future, the insurance products offered by HDFC Life, how HDFC Life is leveraging Gen AI to augment its marketing efforts and strategies, and more.

What is the concept and idea behind the new campaign launched by HDFC Life and how is it seeking to expand its brand presence and reach deeper into the southern states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana?

For us at HDFC Life, it has been a constant endeavour to reach out to audiences in a relevant manner. Our campaign messaging approach has always been insight-based. This campaign is unique – it is our first-ever, region-focused attempt. India is a land of diversity. Every region has different languages, customs, cultures, and beliefs. Regional or segmented campaign efforts allow us to dig deeper and focus on cultural nuances and references, which would make the marketing effort more targeted toward our TG. Through our latest campaign, we aim to deliver the message that if our efforts are centum/100%, then results are likely to follow.

Could you tell us about the marketing plan of HDFC Life, including the marketing budget that has been allocated this year and the objectives behind regional campaigns for financial preparedness?

As India continues to develop, the Tier 2 and Tier 3 locations are emerging as significant hubs of economic growth across sectors. Aligning with this shift, we too, are aiming to drive deeper connections with audiences across lower tiers with our regional-focused campaigns. Our budgets depend essentially on our objectives and the TG of each campaign. Based on our business needs for the year we arrive at our planned spending and over the years we have believed in being consistent in terms of media presence.

What are the expectations from the new campaign? Which creative agency has conceptualized it? What was the brief given to them?

One of our key challenges, as a category, is low engagement. So, our aim has always been to build a high-affinity brand by connecting with the audiences in a manner that is relevant. We hope that our consistent efforts will help drive relatable conversations in our consumer’s life and focus their attention on the need for financial planning/ preparedness.

The campaign has been conceptualized along with our creative agency, Leo Burnett.

What is the marketing/ media mix strategy for the new campaign, and what are the other marketing campaigns launched by HDFC Life in 2024?

The marketing mix for this campaign primarily consists of TV, digital, and OTT region-affined content. Earlier in the year, we launched our brand campaign at the end of January.

How is HDFC Life helping parents secure their children’s future?

Over the years, the brand has showcased various stories based on how parents play a pivotal role in ensuring their children’s success. As the career choices available to children rise, so does the cost of education. Our products help parents plan systematically towards defined objectives like child education and product benefits like waiver of premiums, ensuring key goals like child education would be covered even in case of uncertainty. Our campaigns also highlight that parents need to plan for their children. Be it our ‘My Child My Pride’ campaign, or our latest Centum/ 100% preparation campaign, we have relied on honest and relatable stories about families, encouraging them to be financially prepared.

What forms the core of the creative communication process at HDFC Life and how do the company’s campaigns intend to reach their core messaging to the audience?

Consumer understanding and simplicity/ authenticity are key to our marketing efforts, owing to the complex nature of our category. From a communication standpoint, ‘Sar utha ke jiyo’ – has always been at the very core of what we stand for, and is our promise to customers. Across our communication efforts, our attempt has always been to stay true to this promise while, also staying relevant to the evolving customers and their needs.

Could you demonstrate in brief the new insurance products introduced by HDFC Life for the consumers?

FY2023-24 witnessed numerous product launches fuelled by continuous product innovation. During the year, we launched new products like Click 2 Achieve, Smart Protect, Sanchay Legacy, and others, keeping in mind the changing consumer needs, as we are committed to delivering products that are relevant and tailored to meet our customers’ evolving requirements.

How is HDFC Life leveraging Gen AI to enhance its marketing efforts and strategies? How is Gen AI helping to create targeted and personalized ads for HDFC Life?

Currently, this is still in a nascent stage, and like other marketers, we are also exploring relevant opportunities to leverage the same.

How has HDFC Life’s performance been in FY2024? What are the growth targets and focus areas for FY2025?

We closed the financial year 2023-24 on a strong note. We continue to be ranked amongst the top 3 life insurers across individual and group businesses. Growth from Tier 2 and 3 markets remain strong, witnessing growth of 13%, faster than the private insurance industry growth of 8%. Hence, our focus for the current continues to revolve around strengthening across metros as well as lower tiers.