Mumbai: In today’s busy life this campaign aims to capture the unstoppable spirit of mothers in protecting the dreams and aspirations of their children that enable them to live their life #ZindagiUnlimited.
Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance established nationwide operations in July 2011 with an immovable focus on protecting people’s dreams and aspirations. Guided by customer insights, Edelweiss Tokio Life has been offering need-based and innovative life insurance solutions to help customers live their #ZindagiUnlimited. With a customer-centric approach, the company endeavours to build a multi-channel distribution network to effectively serve its customers across the country. As of March 2023, the life insurer has established 109 branches in 88 major cities
Abhishek Gupta is currently the chief marketing officer of Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance. As the chief brand champion, Gupta manages the reputation of the company by promoting its diverse and innovative range of product offerings and services. Leveraging the power of storytelling and creativity, Gupta aspires to deliver inclusive and strategic communications that can make the brand stand out as a new-age life insurer. Helming a team of ambitious and creative minds, Abhishek has been harnessing the company’s product innovations and superior customer experience to set advertising benchmarks in the industry. He also leads the Customer Experience strategies for the company and strives to build a differentiated brand experience that can foster customer trust and advocacy.
Indiantelevision.com in an email interaction with Abhishek Gupta - CMO - Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance. He spoke on the recent Mother’s day campaign, the robust changes in the Insurance sector and much more.
Edited excerpts
On the performance YoY and the challenges faced due to competition in this sector
The Life Insurance industry is witnessing robust growth due to the increase in awareness that was made apparent by the pandemic, an ease in the regulatory environment, and other macroeconomic factors. We are also observing dynamic changes in the guidelines of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI). These reforms enable the chance of new entrants in the life insurance space. Such changes will provide a healthy competition that is in fact needed. At the same time, it will make space for microinsurance that will cater to the minute needs of customers. An increase in the number of life insurance companies will only aid the sector to cover the protection gap that exists in our country. The Economic Survey 2020 demonstrated an insurance penetration of 4.2 per cent of the GDP in 2020, a clear markup from the 2.7 per cent recorded in 2001. These positive transitions will further bolster the efforts of the insurance sector to meet the IRDAI vision of insurance for all by 2047. The company has also achieved a Claim Settlement Ratio of 99.20% which is among the top quartile in the sector.
Given that the current FY is the first year that was not marred. by the pandemic it had proven to be a bright side for the insurance industry while several other sectors were adversely affected by the pandemic. Measures announced by the industry regulator such as the Sandbox models and an ease in limit for corporate tie-ups gave the industry a significant boost to recover from the challenges posed by the pandemic. Since its inception, the company has grown at a CAGR of 44 per cent and has doubled its business in the last five years. In FY 23, Edelweiss Tokio Life reported a 20 per cent YoY in its individual APE. This performance was complimented with a Net Promoter Score, an indicator of customer satisfaction, that has remained around 55 throughout the year.
On the new film/campaign showcasing the resilience of a mother and the brief to the agency
In our Mother’s Day film, we have aimed to capture the unstoppable spirit of mothers in protecting the dreams and aspirations of their children that enable them to live their life #ZindagiUnlimited. At Edelweiss Tokio Life, we have a strong insight-gathering process driven by our advisors and distribution partners that keeps us attuned to the customer’s pain points. The insights derived through this process have been captured in the film that portrays a true story of an Edelweiss Tokio Life customer who was deemed to take charge of the household and business post her husband’s death. While a life insurance claim enabled financial stability, she had to work towards overcoming several day-to-day challenges so that her limitations wouldn’t turn into her child’s limitations. This film is the first among a series of claim stories in which we intend to capture the objective of showcasing the human and real-life impact of life insurance claims.
Our brief to the agency was very simple, through the film we wanted to shift the spotlight onto the people who are behind the claim settlement numbers by sharing their inspiring stories of resilience and how they strive to overcome their limitations after experiencing life-altering events. By emphasising on these real-life experiences, we wanted to make known to all how life insurance plays a crucial role in facilitating financial stability during challenging times. We hope to place before all the true value and significance of life insurance by reminding everyone that is not just a financial tool but a lifeline that provides security and peace of mind in times of adversity.
On the strategy behind a series
As I have mentioned before, the film is the first among a series of claim settlement stories. The idea behind this is to bring to light the real-life impact of life insurance claims. By focusing on the real experiences of our claim settlements, we want to bring about the necessary awareness around the importance of life insurance and how it provides financial stability during challenging times. We also want to encourage people to fulfil their dreams and aspirations despite the loss of a loved one.
We have designed this series to not only put our work into perspective but also to evoke a sense of pride in our employees and our distribution partners who play a significant role in securing people’s lives.
On the misconception that claims take very long to settle as a company and the initiatives you will take to make it stress-free
At Edelweiss Tokio Life, the entire retail buying, and servicing experience has undergone a transformation in the last decade. With the ever-evolving and increasing consumer demand, brands are striving to recognize and keep up with the need of every individual. In order to meet the expectations of the customers, brands must leverage intelligent personalization tactics to keep consumers engaged and returning back for more. Edelweiss Tokio Life has continued its work towards the adaptation of changes to provide optimal solutions to our distributors and consumers.
As an effort towards the same, our claims process is completely digitalized. Especially during the pandemic, special efforts were made to digitally enable our customers to intimate and process claims. Our aim was to prevent customers from visiting branches in the middle of a public health crisis. Due to these efforts, we were able to achieve a claims settlement ratio of 99.20% in FY 23.
On the awakening when it comes to insurance
The Covid-19 pandemic has redefined the manner in which people perceive and address financial risks at individual levels. Though the uncertainties placed before them they were now made aware of the importance of life insurance in financial planning. People are now keen on term insurance as the necessity of a pure protection solution is apparent. We have also noticed more and more people opting for term insurance and guaranteed plans as it brings a sense of stability to a long-term financial plan. While there is an increase in awareness, we still have a huge penetration gap of life insurance in our country. We also face a situation of underinsurance which must be addressed.
The risk landscape has only been evolving with the emergence of natural disasters, health crises, economic uncertainties such as inflation, and so on. Hence, investing in life insurance provides a safety net for your loved ones as it brings about the needed financial security in case of misfortune.
As the insurance sector is evolving into a sunrise sector of the Indian economy. With the recent turn of events, the insurers are looking at not only expanding their presence but also scaling up. This will help in reducing the prevalent penetration gap. It will also become one of the top industries to provide employment opportunities to Indians. Aligning with these targets the insurance industry has taken on a journey of reorienting workplace strategies that will make the insurance sector more lucrative for employment.
