bharti axa general insurance is a joint venture between bharti
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MARKETING STRATEGIES ADOPTED BY BHARIT AXA
INSURANCE CO.
INTORDUTION TO THE CONCEPT
OF
MARKETING
Marketing is the process by which companies create customer interest in products or services. It generates the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communication, and business development.[1] It is an integrated process through which companies build strong customer relationships and create value for their customers and for themselves.[1]
Marketing is used to identify the customer, to keep the customer, and to satisfy the customer. With the customer as the focus of its activities, it can be concluded that marketing management is one of the major components of business management. Marketing evolved to meet the stasis in developing new markets caused by mature markets and overcapacities in the last 2-3 centuries.[citation needed] The adoption of marketing strategies requires businesses to shift their focus from production to the perceived needs and wants of their customers as the means of staying profitable.[citation needed]
The term marketing concept holds that achieving organizational goals depends on knowing the needs and wants of target markets and delivering the desired satisfactions.[2] It proposes that in order to satisfy its organizational objectives, an organization should anticipate the needs and wants of consumers and satisfy these more effectively than competitors
DEFINITIONS
Marketing is defined by the American Marketing Association (AMA) as "the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large."[3] The term developed from the original meaning which referred literally to going to a market to buy or sell goods or services. Seen from a systems point of view, sales process engineering views marketing as "a set of processes that are interconnected and interdependent with other functions,[4] whose methods can be improved using a variety of relatively new approaches."
The Chartered Institute of Marketing defines marketing as "the management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably."[5] A different concept is the value-based marketing which states the role of marketing to contribute to increasing shareholder value.[6] In this context, marketing is defined as "the management process that seeks to maximise returns to shareholders by developing relationships with valued customers and creating a competitive advantage."[6]
Marketing practice tended to be seen as a creative industry in the past, which included advertising, distribution and selling. However, because the academic study of marketing makes extensive use of social sciences, psychology, sociology, mathematics, economics, anthropology and neuroscience, the profession is now widely recognized as a science, allowing numerous universities to offer Master-of-Science (MSc) programmes. The overall process starts with marketing research and goes through market segmentation, business planning and execution, ending with pre and post-sales promotional activities. It is also related to many of the creative arts. The marketing literature is also adept at re-inventing itself and its vocabulary according to the times and the culture.
Inbound Marketing Includes Market Research to Find Out:
1. What specific groups of potential customers/clients (markets) might have which specific needs (nonprofits often already have a very clear community need in mind when starting out with a new program -- however, the emerging practice of nonprofit business development, or earned income development, often starts by researching a broad group of clients to identify new opportunities for programs)
2. How those needs might be met for each group (or target market), which suggests how a product might be designed to meet the need (nonprofits might think in terms of outcomes, or changes, to accomplish among the groups of clients in order to meet the needs)
3. How each of the target markets might choose to access the product, etc. (its "packaging")
4. How much the customers/clients might be willing pay and how (pricing analysis)
5. Who the competitors are (competitor analysis)
6. How to design and describe the product such that customers/clients will buy from the organization, rather than from its competitors (its unique value proposition)
7. How the product should be identified -- its personality -- to be most identifiable (its naming and branding)
Outbound Marketing Includes:
1. Advertising and promotions (focused on the product) 2. Sales
3. Public and media relations (focused on the entire organization)
4. Customer service
5. Customer satisfaction
Too often, people jump right to the outbound marketing. As a result, they often end up trying to push products onto people who really don't want the products at all. Effective inbound marketing often results in much more effective -- and less difficult -- outbound marketing and sales.
Bharti AXA General Insurance is a joint venture between Bharti, one of India’s leading
business groups with interests in Telecom, Agri Business and Retail; and AXA, world
leader in Financial Protection and Wealth Management. Bharti Group holds 74% of
equity and AXA holds 26% of the equity.
With a vision to become the leader and preferred company for financial protection in
India, Bharti AXA General Insurance offers its customers – individuals and businesses-
a wide range of products and services that meet their insurance needs. The values
upon which its business practices are based are availability, attentiveness and
reliability. The company leverages the Bharti Group’s large customer pool, and has
developed a strong multi-channel distribution network in both urban and rural markets.
The company was incorporated on 13th July 2007. Headquartered in Bangalore, the
company currently has 40 branches across India.
The Management team at Bharti AXA General Insurance consists of experienced
leaders who are passionate about their company’s vision and goals and are committed
to the development of Bharti AXA General Insurance as the preferred company for
Financial Protection in India.
Bharti AXA presents an array of protective plans to suit clients personal and business
requirements. Bharti AXA system of values are as follows:
a) Reliable – prompt settlements, customer service and professionalism.
b) Attentive – to customer needs as they change with time, and actively
listening to our customers.
c) Available – easy customer access to money and to our company, and plans that
have built-in flexibility and convenience.
Mission:
“To be the preferred company for General Insurance & Life Insurance in India”
Strategy:
Quality Policy – To provide fast, fair and friendly service to customers & partners
To achieve a leadership position in India through a multi-distribution, multi-product
platform
To adapt AXA’s best practice blueprints as a sound platform for profitable
growth
To leverage Bharti’s local knowledge, infrastructure and customer base
To deliver high levels of shareholder return
To build long term value with our business partners by enhancing the proposition to
their customers
To be the employer of choice to attract and retain the best talent in India
Strong distribution network & customer base of Bharti – provides access to customer
base of more than 60 million
Strategic differentiators:
Multi channel execution capability
AXA’s current Asia product range which is a strong match to products sold to the
masses
Global scale of AXA providing cost effective and speedy re-use of systems, products
and business capability.
7 P’s of Marketing of Bharti AXA General Insurance:
1. Products and Services:
A)Retail Insurance:
a. Motor
b. Health
c. Personal Accident
d. Home
e. Shop
B)Commercial:
a. Fire
b. Engineering
c. Marine
d. Property Crime
e. Liability
f. Package
C)Rural:
a. Agricultural Pumpset
b. Cattle Insurance Policy
2. Price:
Pricing factor is decided on the basis of the type of products which the customer buys.
But in true sense, pricing is very competitive as there are lots of competitors all over the
country. Bharti AXA is a strong player in private companies and its price structure is
highly competitive and reliable.
Example of Bharti AXA General Insurance:
Policy of Two Wheeler Insurance:
This policy provides the following covers
1.Accidental damage to the vehicle due to:
Fire, lightning, self-ignition, external explosion, burglary, housebreaking or theft,
malicious act.
Riot and strike; terrorism; earthquake; flood, cyclone and inundation
Whilst in transit by rail, road, air, elevator, lift.
2.Liability cover for:
Third party injury or death
Third party property damage caused to their property.
3. Place:
Bharti AXA General Insurance Co. Ltd.
Plot No. 844/4, Mazzanine Floor, Fun Republic,
Shah Industrial Estate, New Link Road, Andheri(W)
Mumbai:400053
Bharti AXA has selected good location in Mumbai. They are Fort and New Link Road of
Andheri(W).
4. Promotion:
The following are the tools through which Bharti AXA promotes its general insurance
business:
Tele-marketing
Internet
Hoardings
Personal Selling
Advertisement through newspapers, business magazines and FM radio
5. People:
Bharti AXA has a vision to ascend to the “preferred company” status by 2012 – to be
preferred by customers, shareholders and employees. The Company believes that by
being available, attentive and reliable, it will become the preferred company for its
customers. And its people are Human Capital who have a key role in this process, and it
is committed to create an emotional commitment with its employees.
The company also have synergy of the Global best practices of AXA Group, the Country
specific proven best practices of Bharti Group and supplement it with its own set of
initiatives towards creating a culture that can attract best of the talents, nourish and
retain them to achieve the long term Corporate Vision.
6. Process:
From the minute customers claim intimation is received, the Claims Team becomes
active and acts efficiently and swiftly towards its settlement. This is part of their
endeavour to make the Bharti AXA General Insurance customer experience always a
positive one.
Bharti AXA CLAIMS MISSION is “Fast, fair and friendly services, delivered in a
proactive, cost efficient manner through technology platforms.
Alongwith the claim procedure being so smooth, the general insurance customer is very
much satisfied while taking policy. The customer is given every minute details about a
particular policy which he wants.
7. Physical Evidence:
Stationery
Separate departments for smooth functioning of work like Public Relation
Department
Brochures
Internet / Web Pages
Business cards
MARKETING STRATEGYMarketing strategy
The field of marketing strategy encompasses the strategy involved in the management of a given product.
A given firm may hold numerous products in the marketplace, spanning numerous and sometimes wholly unrelated industries. Accordingly, a plan is required in order to manage effectively such products. Evidently, a company needs to weigh up and ascertain how to utilize effectively its finite resources. As an example, a start-up car manufacturing firm would face little success, should it attempt to rival immediately Toyota, Ford, Nissan or any other large global car maker. Moreover, a product may be reaching the end of its life-cycle. Thus, the issue of divest, or a ceasing of production may be made. With regard to the aforesaid questions, each scenario requires a unique marketing strategy to be employed. Below are listed some prominent marketing strategy models, which seek to propose means to answer the preceding questions.
The marketing manager formulates a strategy to achieve the objectives of marketing
plan. This involves setting strategies to effectively and efficiently deal with the Marketing
Mix, Promotions, Advertising. Distribution, Pricing, and Research and Development
activities.
MARKETING MIX FOR INSURANCE INDUSTRY
• PRODUCT:-
There is no transfer of ownership in services marketing, as happens with the marketing
goods. The customer can only experience the service, he cannot own it. To give a
sense of ownership, most insurance companies invite their customer to participate in
the process of designing the services, offering greater customization. The range of
products being offered by various industries.
Before the liberalization of the insurance sector, there were only government players
like LIC and GIC, which had only a few policies targeted at lucrative segments of the
market. There were very few specialized or customized insurance policies to meet
customer needs. However, with the opening up of the insurance sector to private and
foreign players, more specialized services have become available in the market o meet
he specific needs of customer.
o Life insurance
o Accident insurance
o Health insurance
o House insurance
o Liability insurance
o Travel insurance
o Commercial insurance
o Property insurance
o Automobile insurance
o Baggage insurance
o Cattle & Livestock insurance
o Engineering insurance
o Marine-cargo insurance
The basic marketing strategy of marketers in a competitive market has been to identify
the special needs of customers and target them. In his individual segment most
customers see insurance as a means of security, investment or tax savings. If separate
policies are offered to customers to meet their different needs, it may not be difficult to
increase the volumes.
In a market departure from the earlier scenario when most insurance players were
regarded s the same, today’s insurance companies give due importance to brand
building. As the market has become highly competitive and the products have very little
to differentiate one from another, companies have resorted to Brand Building.
• PRICE:-
Price plays a dominant role in marketing insurance products. Policy price, known as
premium, has a good impact on the number of policies sold and the total net revenue
generated as price is taken into consideration by most potential customers, the offerings
has to be competitively priced. Pricing of Life insurance is generally done on the base of
competition, Prevailing rate of interest, etc.
However, it is the quantum of risk involved that ultimately decides the pricing of
insurance products. Higher the risk involved for the marketer, the higher the price.
It is difficult to determine the fixed and variable costs associated with per unit of
production of services. This is more so when various services (Instead of single
services) are offered. Therefore, the pricing of product Based on the cost of Production
and delivery becomes difficult. A result most insurance product, are priced based on
competitors strategy and the risk involved. In addition pricing can also be done taking
advantage of the demand fluctuation in the market.
• PLACE:-
Place in terms of channels for distribution is very important in marketing insurance
products. The fact that the volume of business generated depends on the company
reach is the reason why place is so important. An insurance company needs to offer a
personalized service to customers to lower their perceived risk and for that, it needs the
services offer large number of able agents.
The core products of insurance companies is the best sold through personal selling,
with customized offerings. The distribution channels like the internet, advertising,
telemarketing etc can be used to provide supplementary services to customers.
Nevertheless, some innovative changes have been taking place in the distribution of
services.
Some insurance companies have tied up with NGO’s and cooperative to promote their
products while some have tied up with he employers. Work sits marketing promotions
involved an understanding between the insurance company and the employers. Most
insurance companies use a combination of distribution channel and do not relay on any
single channel to generate more sales. The reason behind this is simple expanding the
reach with little investments.
• PROMTION:-
There ha been an increased emphasis on promotion in the insurance businesses in the
recent times. The basic reason for this is that the supply for insurance services far
exceeds the demands from the market and the marketers need to employ a push
strategy. The importance of personal selling as a promotional strategy has been
discussed in the earlier sections.
The advertising in insurance services stresses the need for insurance and its benefits.
Individualized advertising in the benefits offered by specific companies is not very
common as there is very little to differentiate the services of one company from those of
others. Under sales promotions of insurance products the widely used techniques are
induced premiums, discounts, gift coupon, sign-ups rebates, future price discounts and
special services enhancements. Maintaining good public relations is also an important
promotional; strategy, especially because the insurance business is a “do good
businesses” for the customers.
SALES PROMOTION
“An activity designed to boost the sales of a product or service. It may include an
advertising campaign, increased PR activity, a free-sample campaign, offering free gifts
or trading stamps, arranging demonstrations or exhibitions, setting up competitions with
attractive prizes, temporary price reductions, door-to-door calling, telemarketing, and
personal letters on other methods”.
More than any other element of the promotional mix, sales promotion is about “action”.
It is about stimulating customers to buy a product. It is not designed to be informative –
a role which advertising is much better suited to.
Sales promotion can be directed at:
• The ultimate consumer (a “pull strategy” encouraging purchase)
• The distribution channel (a “push strategy” encouraging the channels to stock the
product). This is usually known as “selling into the trade.”
Methods of sales promotion
There are many consumer sales promotional techniques available, summarized in the
table below.
a) Price promotions
Price promotions are also commonly known as” price discounting”
These offer either (1) a discount to the normal selling price of a product, or (2) more of
the product at the normal price.
Increased sales gained from price promotions are at the expense of a loss in profit – so
these promotions must be used with care.
A producer must also guard against the possible negative effect of discounting on a
brand’s reputation.
b) Coupons
Coupons are another, very versatile, way of offering a discount. Consider the following
examples of the use of coupons:
- On a pack to encourage repeat purchase
- In coupon books sent out in newspapers allowing customers to redeem the coupon at
a retailer
- A cut-out coupon as part of an advert
- On the back of till receipts
The key objective with a coupon promotion is to maximize the redemption rate – this is
the proportion of customers actually using the coupon.
One problem with coupons is that they may simply encourage customers to buy what
they would have bought anyway. Another problem occurs when retailers do not hold
sufficient stocks of the promoted product – causing customer disappointment. Use of
coupon promotions is, therefore, often best for new products or perhaps to encourage
sales of existing products that are slowing down.
c) Gift with purchase
The “gift with purchase” is a very common promotional technique. It is also known as a
“premium promotion” in that the customer gets something in addition to the main
purchase. This type of promotion is widely used for:
- Subscription-based products (e.g. magazines)
- Consumer luxuries (e.g. perfumes)
d) Competitions and prizes
Another popular promotion tool with many variants. Most competition and prize
promotions are subject to legal restrictions.
e) Money refunds
Here, a customer receives a money refund after submitting a proof of purchase to the
manufacturer. These schemes are often viewed with some suspicion by customers –
particularly if the method of obtaining a refund looks unusual or onerous.
f) Frequent user / loyalty incentives
Repeat purchases may be stimulated by frequent user incentives. Perhaps the best
examples of this are the many frequent flyer or user schemes used by airlines, train
companies, car hire companies etc.
g) Point-of-sale displays
Research into customer buying behavior in retail stores suggests that a significant
proportion of purchases results from promotions that customers see in the store.
Attractive, informative and well-positioned point-of-sale displays are, therefore, very
important part of the sales promotional activity in retail outlets.
• PROCESS:-
The process of buying an insurance products and paying the regular premiums has
become a simple process in recent times. In insurance companies, insurance
companies offer convenience and savings on cost and time to customers, to attract
them. Technological changes has also helped simplified he process in the insurance
sectors.
The customer can now gathered more information on the internet. Which helps
customers to choose his services provide and the service that will cater best to his
needs? The customers can even purchased policy online, if he so desire. Insurance
policies can be purchased through the net also. Process have to customer friendly and
time saving.
• PEOPLE:-
Insurance needs to be sold; very few customers would buy it in the absence of selling.
Therefore, the importance of people increase even in the post liberalized insurance
industry. Marketing on the insurance industry is, therefore dominated by agents and
insurance advisor.
The agent’s ability to convince and persuade I the determining factor in the insurance
deal. Therefore agents need to be empowers to offer customized services to suit the
specific of customers. They need to be motivated through commissions and award to
choice higher targets.
Insurances companies have realized their importance of their agents in running and
expanding their business have risen that it is important to hire agents who can win
their’s and confidence of customers Therefore they have started recruiting retired
employees from banks. Who already have a known customer base and ho ca win the
confidence of prospective customers.
• PHYSICAL EVIDEENCE:-
In insurance marketing, providing physical evidence o customers is quite difficult. In
most cases e customer might not ever visit the premises of the
Company as he buys the policy through the agent at this resident or office. Therefore
the office building, infrastructure, equipments etc. Contribute very little to physical
evidence. However a good ambience, well dressed and well-behaved employees
Displayed certificates and achievements of the company, etc., are some of the
techniques used by insurance companies to provide physical evidence. The policy
certificates and the receipts of payments contribute to minimizing the perceive risks of
the customers Therefore, they can be included as an element of physical evidence. The
logo and brand name of the company displayed in advertisements and articles/press
release in newspapers provide physical evidence.
ADVERTISING
"The means of providing the most persuasive possible selling message to the right
prospects at the lowest possible cost".
Kotler and Armstrong provide an alternative definition:
"Advertising is any paid form of non-personal presentation and promotion of ideas,
goods and services through mass media such as newspapers, magazines, television or
radio by an identified sponsor".
There are five main stages in a well-managed advertising campaign:
Set Advertising Objectives
An advertising objective is a specific communication task to be achieved with a specific
target audience during a specified period of time. Advertising objectives fall into three
main categories:
(a) To inform - e.g. tell customers about a new product
(b) To persuade - e.g. encourage customers to switch to a different brand
(c) To remind - e.g. remind buyers where to find a product
Set the Advertising Budget
Marketers should remember that the role of advertising is to create demand for a
product. The amount spent on advertising should be relevant to the potential sales
impact of the campaign. This, in turn will reflect the characteristics of the product being
advertised.
For example, new products tend to need a larger advertising budget to help build
awareness and to encourage consumers to trial the product. A product that is highly
differentiated may also need more advertising to help set it apart from the competition -
emphasizing the points of difference.
Setting the advertising budget is not easy - how can a business predict the right amount
to spend. Which parts of the advertising campaign will work best and which will have
relatively little effect? Often businesses use "rules-of-thumb" (e.g. advertising/sales
ratio) as a guide to set the budget.
Determine the key Advertising Messages
Spending a lot on advertising does not guarantee success (witness the infamous John
Cleese campaign for Sainsbury). Research suggests that the clarity of the advertising
message is often more important than the amount spent. The advertising message must
be carefully targeted to impact the target customer audience. A successful advertising
message should have the following characteristics:
(a) Meaningful - customers should find the message relevant
(b) Distinctive - capture the customer's attention
(c) Believable - a difficult task, since research suggests most consumers doubt the truth
of advertising in general
Decide which Advertising Media to Use
There are a variety of advertising media from which to chose. A campaign may use one
or more of the media alternatives. The key factors in choosing the right media include:
(a) Reach - What proportion of the target customers will be exposed to the advertising?
(b) Frequency - How many times will the target customer be exposed to the advertising
message?
(c) Media Impact - Where, if the target customer sees the message - will it have most
impact? For example does an advert promoting holidays for elderly people have more
impact on Television (if so, when and which channels) or in a national newspaper or
perhaps a magazine focused on this segment of the population?
Another key decision in relation to advertising media relates to the timing of the
campaign. Some products are particularly suited to seasonal campaigns on television
(e.g. Christmas hampers) whereas for other products, a regular advertising campaign
throughout the year in media such as newspapers and specialist magazines (e.g.
cottage holidays in the Lake District) is more appropriate.
Evaluate the results of the Advertising Campaign
The evaluation of an advertising campaign should focus on two key areas:
(1) The Communication Effects - is the intended message being communicated
effectively and to the intended audience?
(2) The Sales Effects - has the campaign generated the intended sales growth. This
second area is much more difficult to measure.
DIRECT MARKETING
Direct marketing is concerned with establishing an individual relationship between the
business offering a product or service and the final customer.
The planned recording, analysis and tracking of customer behavior to develop a
relational marketing strategies
The process of direct marketing covers a wide range of promotional activities you may
be familiar with. These include:
• Direct-response adverts on television and radio
• Mail order catalogues
• E-commerce marketing
• Magazine inserts
• Direct mail
• Telemarketing
Direct mail
Of the above direct marketing techniques, the one in most widespread use is direct
mail.
Direct mail is widely thought of as the most effective medium to achieve a customer
sales response.
Why?
• The advertiser can target a promotional message down to an individual level, and
where possible personalize the message. There are a large number of mailing
databases available that allow businesses to send direct mailing to potential customers
based on household income, interests, occupation and other variables.
• Businesses can first test the responsiveness of direct mailing (by sending out a test
mailing to a small, representative sample) before committing to the more significant cost
of a larger campaign.
• Direct mailing campaigns are less visible to competitors – it is therefore possible to be
more creative, for longer however, direct mail has several weaknesses:
• A piece of direct mail is less “interactive” than a television or radio advert, although
creative packaging can still stimulate customer response
• Lead times to produce direct mailing campaigns can be quite long
• There is increasing customer concern with “junk mail” – the receipt of unsolicited mail
which often suggests that the right to individual privacy has been breached.
The Direct marketing database
Direct mailing is based on the “mailing list” – a critical part in the direct marketing
process. The mailing list is a database which collects together details of past, current
and potential customers. A properly managed mailing database enables a business to:
• Focus on the best prospective customers
• Cross-sell related products
• Launch new products to existing customers
How is the mailing database compiled?
The starting point is the existing information the business keeps on its customers. All
forms of communication between a customer and the business need to be recorded so
that a detailed, up-to-date profile can be maintained.
It is also possible to “buy” mailing lists from elsewhere. There are numerous mailing list
owners and brokers who sell lists of names. The Internet, directories, associations and
other sources are good sources.
PERSONAL SELLING
Personal selling is oral communication with potential buyers of a product with the
intention of making a sale. The personal selling may focus initially on developing a
relationship with the potential buyer, but will always ultimately end with an attempt to
"close the sale"
Personal selling is one of the oldest forms of promotion. It involves the use of a sales
force to support a push strategy (encouraging intermediaries to buy the product) or a
pull strategy (where the role of the sales force may be limited to supporting retailers and
providing after-sales service).
What are the main roles of the sales force?
Kotler describes six main activities of a sales force:
(1) Prospecting - trying to find new customers.
(2) Communicating - with existing and potential customers about the product range.
(3) Selling - contact with the customer, answering questions and trying to close the sale.
(4) Servicing - providing support and service to the customer in the period up to delivery
and also post-sale.
(5) Information gathering - obtaining information about the market to feedback into the
marketing planning process.
(6) Allocating – in times of product shortage, the sales force may have the power to
decide how available stocks are allocated.
What are the advantages of using personal selling as a means of promotion?
• Personal selling is a face-to-face activity; customers therefore obtain a relatively high
degree of personal attention
• The sales message can be customized to meet the needs of the customer
• The two-way nature of the sales process allows the sales team to respond directly and
promptly to customer questions and concerns
• Personal selling is a good way of getting across large amounts of technical or other
complex product information
• The face-to-face sales meeting gives the sales force chance to demonstrate the
product
• Frequent meetings between sales force and customer provide an opportunity to build
good long-term relationships
Given that there are many advantages to personal selling, why do more businesses not
maintain a direct sales force?
Main disadvantages of using personal selling
The main disadvantage of personal selling is the cost of employing a sales force. Sales
people are expensive. In addition to the basic pay package, a business needs to
provide incentives to achieve sales (typically this is based on commission and/or bonus
arrangements) and the equipment to make sales calls (car, travel and subsistence
costs, mobile phone etc).
In addition, a sales person can only call on one customer at a time. This is not a cost-
effective way of reaching a large audience.
INTERNET
The world of advertising is slowly evolving facilited by technological development. With
the other marketing communication tools not offering much interaction facilities, the
trend favors interactive advertising and promotions, the best example f which is the
ITERNET. This is clearly justifiable when we look at the websites of companies which
have all facilities in one place, from product knowledge to promotions, from providing
information to gathering responses and suggestions.
Apart from the major activity of advertising, companies have nowadays also started
sales promotion incentives via the internet by offering coupons, contests and
sweepstakes. Companies are even known to have improved the efficiency of their direct
marketing, personal selling and public relation activities after switching over to the
internet.
The internet also servers as an effective marketing communications tool. Product
strategy has already shifted from mass production to customized and personally
delivered services. The use of the internet in the future could also bring about a change
in each of the elements of the marketing communications mix. Distribution problems
and costs have been minimized with the online availability of the product, its inspection
and purchase. Price discrimination is no more at the discretion of managers. Customers
can now easily track the price changes sitting in one place and opt for the lowest. It
helps a company to have access to the global marketplace and identify the target
audience with minimal effort. It also facilitates quick interaction with customers, with
customized messages and in tracking communication effectiveness. Thus, we see that
the internet, as an effective communications tool, provides wider reach with
personalized messages and two-way interaction.
KEY BENEFITS OF LIFE INSURANCE:-
Life insurance, especially tailored to meet financial needs
Need for Life Insurance
Today, there is no shortage of investment options for a person to choose from. Modern
day investments include gold, property, fixed income instruments, mutual funds and of
course, life insurance. Given the plethora of choices, it becomes imperative to make the
right choice when investing your hard-earned money. Life insurance is a unique
investment that helps you to meet your dual needs - saving for life's important goals,
and protecting your assets.
Asset Protection
From an investor's point of view, an investment can play two roles - asset appreciation
or asset protection. While most financial instruments have the underlying benefit of
asset appreciation, life insurance is unique in that it gives the customer the reassurance
of asset protection, along with a strong element of asset appreciation.
The core benefit of life insurance is that the financial interests of one’s family remain
protected from circumstances such as loss of income due to critical illness or death of
the policyholder. Simultaneously, insurance products also have a strong inbuilt wealth
creation proposition. The customer therefore benefits on
two counts and life insurance occupies a unique space in the landscape of investment
options available to a customer.
Goal based savings
Each of us has some goals in life for which we need to save. For a young, newly
married couple, it could be buying a house. Once, they decide to start a family, the goal
changes to planning for the education or marriage of their children. As one grows older,
planning for one's retirement will begin to take precedence.
Clearly, as your life stage and therefore your financial goals change, the instrument in
which you invest should offer corresponding benefits pertinent to the new life stage.
Life insurance is the only investment option that offers specific products tailor made for
different life stages. It thus ensures that the benefits offered to the customer reflect the
needs of the customer at that particular life stage, and hence ensures that the financial
goals of that life stage are met.
Marketing Strategy
''ICICI Prudential Life positions its life insurance products as complete financial
solutions, and hence sees even sales than those products positioned as tax-saving
tools, as the latter are purchased more at the time of filing taxes. Having said that, life
insurance in India is still regarded as a tax-saving instrument, though the perception is
changing. So we are also likely to see higher sales over the next three months,''
ICICI, the erstwhile financial institution, in 1980, Sharma was involved in setting up I-
Sec, a joint venture between ICICI and JP Morgan, and also ICICI's personal financial
services that includes retail deposit taking, retail credit, credit cards and web trade.
Tied Agency is the largest distribution channel of ICICI Prudential, comprising a large
advisor force that targets various customer segments. The strength of tied agency lies
in an aggressive strategy of expanding and procuring quality business. With focus on
sales & people development, tied agency has emerged as a robust, predictable and
sustainable business model.
Target courses: The Strategic Marketing simulation is designed for the Marketing
Strategy, Marketing Management and Capstone Marketing courses. It exposes the
participant to all the aspects of modern marketing.
Content: The decision content includes market opportunity analysis, brand
development, advertising, pricing, and sales force management decisions. It also
includes profitability projections and profitability analysis decisions.
Time frame: The game is set for 8 decision rounds, with each round taking one hour to
two hours to complete.
The Marketing function at ICICI Prudential covers an array of activities - brand and
media management, channel support, direct marketing and corporate communications.
The Brand and Communications team is in charge of advertising, consumer research,
media planning & buying and Public Relations; that helps develop and nurture ICICI
Prudential's corporate identity while effectively communicating its varied product
offerings to the customer. Channel marketing provides support to the sales force by
streamlining the design and development of collaterals and sales tools across
distribution channels. The Direct marketing team was set up to generate high quality
leads for profitable business. The team achieves this through target database
acquisition and communicating customized product information through e-mailers,
telemarketing and innovative direct mailers.
With the business growing and to meet the reserving and capital adequacy norms, the
company is planning to bring in additional equity of Rs 50 crore in a couple of months.
Owing to its focus on selling life insurance on the platform of protection and as a
versatile financial instrument, ICICI Prudential Life has attracted business of premiums
and sums assured greatly exceeding those that we had seen two-three years ago.
The average sum assured is now well over Rs 2 lakh. Also, because of the increased
awareness of benefits of life insurance, people are more motivated to keep their policy
in force, and hence the percentage of policies that are surrendered or lapsed has also
decreased.
ICICI Prudential Life has met its rural obligations as per IRDA [Insurance Regulatory
Development Authority] guidelines.
Our products have been structured to be as flexible, liquid and transparent as possible.
Many products have been designed based on customer feedback so as to include
elements that would appeal to customers. For instance, ICICI Prudential Smart Kid has
been structured with flexible maturity ages and in a manner that the child receives the
money at specific educational milestones.
ICICI Prudential Life has a range of products that meet the needs of every segment, in
both individual and group policies. There are 13 policies to cater to individuals, which
can be enhanced with six riders so as to create a number of combinations. The
company also offers three group policies - group term, group gratuity and group
superannuation.
Given the demographic and social conditions of India - like an ageing population,
absence of a social security system and inflation - ICICI Prudential Life sees immense
potential in the growth of retirement products. We have already introduced three
retirement products - Forever Life, Lifetime Pension and Life Link Pension. For our
endowment products - Cashbox, Save 'n' Protect and Smart Kid - there are guaranteed
additions for four years, after which bonuses are declared on a yearly basis. Market-
linked products such as Lifetime, Life Link, Lifetime Pension and Life Link Pension are
valued on a NAV [net asset value] basis. Hence policyholders benefit from the
appreciation in the fund, of which there are three options - protector, balancer and maxi
miser.
There are two products with guaranteed returns - Reassure and Assure Invest. We
believe that there is a place for assured return products in our product portfolio. We
follow a proactive strategy of reviewing these on a regular basis in order to provide
sustainable, consistent returns in the long term.
Communication strategy and budgeted promotional spend
When we first began operations, the task was to present the visiting card of the
company to the public at large and build credibility and stature and to give the consumer
the confidence that ''here is a company that can be trusted to invest funds with.'' This
required a corporate campaign - to establish the brand, build awareness and give the
brand a larger-than-life image. The advertising idea, which was encapsulated in
symbols of protection from the initial print campaign, culminated in the corporate film.
Once the corporate image and brand identity were established, and as the company
expanded and its product range grew, the next phase of communication was to give the
consumer a rational and tangible reason to buy - first of all insurance and secondly from
ICICI Prudential Life. This was tackled through product-specific advertising, such as for
ICICI Prudential Smart Kid, retirement solutions or Lifetimes.
Can you explain your investment strategy? How did the sliding down of interest rates
and dull equity markets affect or alter your business plans? What are your investment
income and the yield on investments?
Life insurance is a long-term financial investment and ICICI Prudential Life invests
policyholder's funds in order to earn sustainable, consistent returns over the long term.
Policyholders investing in our market-linked products can select from three fund options
- each with a varying degree of risk and return. The policies are structured to be as
transparent as possible and policyholders can check the NAV of the policy on a
biweekly basis in leading newspapers.
The reduction in interest rates has not affected ICICI Prudential Life drastically, as our
products are priced sustainable and our assured return products are revised on a
regular basis.
Strategic Sales and Marketing Plans
The Sales and Marketing Policies and Procedures manual helps you organize and
manage these essential functions, giving you direction and guidance to help you turn
the art of marketing and sales into science. This manual helps you break down the
barriers between sales and marketing departments. It emphasizes communication and
unity of purpose, helps you set a clear course for your sales and marketing strategy,
and lays the foundation for continual improvement. The Bizmanualz Sales and
Marketing manual covers:
• Sales and marketing strategies
• Marketing tactics;
• Sales process;
• Sales and marketing administration; and
• Product management.
You get valuable, up-to-date information on such important topics as:
• Stakeholder analysis
• Situational analysis
• Internet marketing
• Lead management
• Lead qualification
• Customer life cycle management
• Customer relationships
• Competence, awareness, and training
• Product development and launch
.
Also included in the Sales and Marketing Procedures Manual is a glossary of sales and
marketing terms, a Sales & Marketing Executive’s Manual, and a FREE Internet
Marketing Guide
Use of technologies
Marketing management can also note the importance of technology, within the scope of its marketing efforts. Computer-based information systems can be employed, aiding in a better processing and storage of data. Marketing researchers can use such systems to devise better methods of converting data into information, and for the creation of enhanced data gathering methods. Information technology can aid in improving an MKIS' software and hardware components, to improve a company's marketing decision-making process.
In recent years, the netbook personal computer has gained significant market share among laptops, largely due to its more user-friendly size and portability. Information technology typically progress at a fast rate, leading to marketing managers being cognizant of the latest technological developments. Moreover, the launch of smartphones into the cellphone market is commonly derived from a demand among consumers for more technologically advanced products. A firm can lose out to competitors, should it refrain from noting the latest technological occurrences in its industry.
Technological advancements can facilitate lesser barriers between countries and regions. Via using the World Wide Web, firms can quickly dispatch information from one country to another, without much restriction. Prior to the mass usage of the Internet, such transfers of information would have taken longer to send, especially if via snail mail, telex, etc.
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