"In The Age Of Automation, Personalization Is key In Driving Customer Engagement"- Aalok Bhan

by  EVENTFAQS Bureau Marketing | May 13, 2019 | Interview

Max Life Insurance

Aalok Bhan, Director and Chief Marketing Officer at Max Life Insurance is a doyen with longstanding experience in his domain. He oversees operations synergizing the company’s Product, Branding, and Corporate Communication strategies advancing leadership towards strengthening customer-oriented Product Design strategies, Brand Positioning, building a sizeable protection business as well as managing all Corporate & Internal Communications.  

Tell us about Max Life Insurance’s recent India Protection Quotient survey

In our endeavor to create a financially protected India, we carried out a survey called the India Protection Quotient to evaluate the life insurance ownership, awareness levels and mental preparedness around protection of people. It revealed startling facts of the current state of protection the country is in – term insurance, despite being the most fundamental and cheapest form of financial protection, lacks a significant uptake in urban India. Citizens need to realign their approach to life insurance by understanding the true value of protecting one’s family from the uncertainties of life. The survey’s compelling findings are being used to drive initiatives that will help bring about change in the underlying attitudes and overall behavior of people around life insurance.

Do you think commercial partnership with Royal Challengers Bangalore will help you reach out to the youth through this engaging platform of T20 League?

India is a young country, and our approach has always been to increase awareness and build a more protected nation. The survey unveiled that only 17% of the youth own term insurance. Reaching out and driving resonance amongst millennials about financial protection is comparatively difficult, as most prioritize spends on luxury and travel. The T20 league has witnessed stupendous interest from the youth and offers a great platform to connect with them in a meaningful way, however, there have been few partnerships that highlight important life events such as life risks through an association with the game. Team RCB is an extremely professional and aspirational group, making them an excellent role model for millennials. The idea of the partnership is to draw parallels between cricket and life; both are full of uncertainties and challenges and it is imperative to protect oneself physically and financially.

Being an insurance company how challenging it is to gain customer attention/engagement?

It can be quite difficult to retain customer interest in this business. In the age of automation, personalization is key in driving customer engagement. Demographics of customers are already known to us, but the sharpest differentiate in the space comes when we gain insights about the customers’ life stages, preferences and behavior patterns with the help of analytical tools. This allows us to offer relevant and compelling propositions throughout the life of customers. From when they buy their first insurance policy, to when they start working, to getting married, starting a family and later approaching retirement, we have immense opportunities to become curators of the life stage data and engage with them in meaningful conversations throughout their lives.

What other future initiatives are planned through campaigns/activation/engagement for Max Life insurance? 

While many campaigns are in the pipeline, the common thread between all the initiatives is building conversations around financial protection. With urban India’s protection quotient pegged at a mere 35 out of 100, there is an urgent need for people to understand the true value of protecting one’s family from uncertainties of life. We will continue to ideate upon campaigns which educate consumers and the industry at large to increase financial protection in the country. For us, it will always be #ProtectionFrontFootPe.