Case Study: How Bharti AXA owned the 'Fresh Perspective' proposition

Jitin Paul, CMO, Bharti AXA Life Insurance, shares the marketing and communications strategies that have helped the brand surge ahead in the insurance category

Aanchal Kohli | Mumbai | July 27, 2015

Jitin Paul

With the competition intensifying, insurance companies have become very aggressive in their communications strategy as well. Bharti AXA Life Insurance is one such company that has been quite active in their brand communication. The company recently rolled out its 'Fresh Perspectives' campaign, which comprised a series of four inspiring videos on their Facebook page and YouTube channel.

Each video is based on the value of protection – health, environment, safety and family – and shares a 'naya nazariya' or fresh perspective in the narrative of real life people who have looked at protection from different prisms in their lives. Through these videos, Bharti AXA Life is driving their brand value – Jeevan Suraksha ka Naya Nazariya.

BestMediaInfo.com spoke to Jitin Paul, Chief Marketing Officer, Bharti AXA Life Insurance, to get a better understanding of the theme of this campaign, the rationale behind creating these videos, consumer insights and the way forward.

The campaign

The campaign was launched in four parts. The first film – #FreshPerspectives on Health – shows an investment banker, Gurmeet Kochhar, who protects the health of a city. From being an investment banker to a dabbawala, Kochhar has set off to fulfil his dream of making Mumbai a healthier place.

The second film – #FreshPerspectives on Environment – is about Andre Morris, a history professor who is taking initiatives to protect the environment by camping outdoors with kids and making them interact and experience the environment/ nature and its value.

The third film – #FreshPerspectives on Safety – shows Ashwin Mohan, a martial art teacher who protects people from fear through Kalim, looking at self-defense in a fresh perspective by training the mind, fighting fear by controlling the mind.

The fourth film – #FreshPerspectives on Family Time – is about celebrating with one's family and creating memories. It is also about exploring new places and experiences; it is about togetherness, happiness, learning and laughter.

The rationale

According to Paul, the intent of the #FreshPerspectives campaign was to tell stories that the consumer closely identified with and felt inspired by them. He added, “We wanted the stories to leave them with a different and fresh outlook towards the world that we live in. As part of this campaign, we launched a series of three stories that celebrated people across various walks of life who bring 'Fresh Perspective' to protection in a unique and powerful way.”

Adding further, he said, “So at one end we have an investment banker who gives up a well-paid job and decides to protect his city and at the other is a martial artist who provides a fresh perspective to the idea of self-defense by first focusing on the mind before the body. And finally a history teacher, who is protecting our environment by creating treks for school kids, where they interact with nature and learn to love and respect it.”

The #FreshPerspectives campaign on social media had garnered outstanding results and great engagement, Paul claimed. #ColourMeHealthy was the first brand campaign that was launched on the page, it was a contest that educated people about the various benefits of eating foods of different colours. This was followed by a series of campaigns about a 'Naya Nazariya' on protecting what matters.

“At Bharti AXA Life, it's always been our constant endeavour to keep the consumer at the centre of all our communications, including our content creation strategy. Our social media strategy is focused on creating content and stories that communicate our core brand essence in the language that the consumer finds compelling and share-worthy,” Paul stated.

The response

The campaign had a very positive response and was well received across social media platforms. The content on the brand's Facebook page earned an above industry average engagement rate. “We have had thousands of people writing in, sharing their pictures and views on protection and participating in our contests online,” he said. Below is a snapshot of the performance metrics of the campaign:

Value to the table

With a unique messaging and tonality, the brand has been able to make a mark in the customer's mind. As per a study by Rediffusion Y&R on the insurance industry, Bharti AXA Life was placed high on brand strength that evokes curiosity among the customers. Paul remarked, “These results make it evident that our efforts and differentiated proposition of #FreshPerspectives has improved the perception of the brand and made the customers interested in the brand.”

This was further corroborated by a credible and robust research on brand preference tracking for the life insurance market which indicated that Bharti AXA Life stands among the five brands that are the best perceived by life insurance holders or intenders. “We have seen a tremendous improvement in the overall image metrics for the brand. No wonder we have been recognised and felicitated with the coveted title of the 'Most trusted Insurance brand' by TRA's (Trust Research Advisory) study, 'The Brand Trust Report'. This has highlighted the fact that all our brand building efforts and strategies are creating an impact in the customer's mind. Hence, emphasising the overall impact of our customer centric approach,” he added.

When asked whether the campaign had led to good sales revenue as well or did it just help in creating brand awareness, Paul replied, “The objective of the campaign was to build a unique positioning for the brand and it has been successful in achieving that. It goes without saying that an improved brand image does impact the top line and it surely has a tangible as well as an intangible influence on it. This is substantiated by the fact that the new premium collected for FY14-15 has seen a growth rate higher than the average industry growth rate. So, it can be concluded that we are observing good business results supported by our marketing efforts.”

Marketing strategies and objectives

“Our signature line for brand Bharti AXA Life is 'Jeevan Suraksha Ka Naya Nazariya', a brand that provides 'Fresh Perspectives' in the category of life insurance. With this robust strategy, focused on providing protection to our customers through path-breaking and industry first propositions, we want to change the very perspective through which the category is perceived. To support this brand strategy, we have over the last five years built a brand through a series of customer-centric campaigns on traditional media, especially TV,” Paul said.

He further said that taking a step further and being cognizant of the fact that digital today is the most effective platform of engaging, the brand had revolutionised the way it communicated, engaged and transacted with the ever-evolving consumer. “Being adaptable has helped us go a long way and create an ever lasting impact on our consumers,” he concluded.

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