Ageas Federal Life Insurance recently launched the “Cradle to Crease” campaign in collaboration with cricketing great Sachin Tendulkar. The campaign highlights the importance of parents starting financial planning early, with the backdrop of Tendulkar's journey from his childhood to his debut and as a cricketer. To highlight the journey of life, the campaign used technology to showcase Tendulkar's journey. Speaking about the insights of the campaign, Elam Kidwai, Senior Vice President and Head of Marketing, Ageas Federal Life Insurance said, “We at Ageas Federal Life Insurance believe in empowering our customers to live the life and lifestyle of their choice and not be afraid of the future. This is what inspired us to come up with this new concept. Our research focus was to know what millennials look at when they are investing or thinking about an investment decision.”
He continues, “An interesting fact emerged – there was a perception that there was a certain time of the year when you needed to invest for financial planning, tax planning, insurance planning etc. This is totally false because insurance, as an investment vehicle, is for all seasons, all ages and all age groups. We wanted to bust this myth that there is a specific age or time when you need to buy insurance. That's why in the film, we reiterate the fact that when is the right time? There is no right time. The right time is now.” He further adds, “The right time to invest and buy an insurance plan is when you realise that your goals and objectives are approaching in the next 5, 10, 15, 20 years depending on your life needs and start planning for them.”
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The film uses technology, including AI and deepfake technology, to rejuvenate Tendulkar and his voice from his early childhood to when he made his Pakistan debut at age 16. A major challenge in executing the campaign was finding the right collaborating agency that could provide the right technology. Kidwai said it was a “huge task” for Ageas Federal Life Insurance and its creative agency VML to screen multiple agencies and determine whether their deliverables met the standards. Another challenge was choosing children of different age groups who were suitable to represent the young Tendulkar in the ads. “It was a challenge from start to finish, but we are very happy with the results we got. With the insights we gained, we tried to demystify a complex subject like financial planning,” Kidwai said.
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Tendulkar is the founder of Asia Federal Life Insurance Company (formerly known as IDBI Federation Kidwai, CEO, Ageas Federal Life Insurance, said the brand has benefited a lot from his presence, especially when the brand transitioned to its current name in 2020. Furthering its association with sports, Ageas Federal Life Insurance has invested heavily in sports like marathon, Indian para-badminton and cricket academies such as the Dilip Vengerkar Foundation. Kidwai said, “We have always promoted both physical and financial wellness. For us, the two go hand in hand. If you are not physically healthy, you are not happy. And we want a healthier India. A healthier India, a happier India, a satisfied India and a financially secure India has been our stance from day one.”
The rise and penetration of the internet has changed the way brands interact with consumers and has enabled brands to reach out to them more effectively. He says, “As a brand, it gives you an opportunity to reach out to your customers at the lowest cost per customer. Previously, you relied on traditional media like TV, print and outdoor advertising to reach out to your customers, but brands at any level have a limit to how much they can spend on branding and marketing.”
Rising internet penetration has enabled brands to develop content for segments and tailor their communications to target accordingly. “With the ability to track content consumption, it has created a huge responsibility for us as marketers to get the most bang for our buck. Content marketing has become more important but you need to come up with content that is relevant to different categories and segments of customers,” says Kidwai. He adds, “For the last four to five years, we have been initiating our campaigns through digital and dedicating 60-70% of our budget to digital and social media marketing. This is the vehicle to reach out to customers, provide them with the right content, hyper-localize the content as much as possible and not just advertise en masse. And it makes sense to measure the success of the campaigns in terms of utilisation of marketing budget. This has been a major change as far as the media landscape is concerned for Ageas Federal Life Insurance and across India.”
