Devina Joshi
Advertising

Expect the expected from financial ads

In an ad for LIC's Bima Gold Policy, Mudra follows the path trodden by Everest Brand Solutions in 2005 for ING Vysya Mutual Fund. However, Mudra has to its credit a different rendition, which agency officials feel is more 'relatable'

The memory of an ING Vysya Mutual Fund ad created by Everest Brand Solutions in 2005 still lingers in the mind. After all, the ad was a goodbye gift from Everest's erstwhile NCD, Milind Dhaimade. It depicted an airhostess launching into her routine flight instructions on a state transport bus, leaving passengers bewildered (the idea being that with the mutual fund, one can 'expect the unexpected').

Well, the concept seems to have resurfaced. In an ad for LIC's Bima Gold Policy, Mudra treads the same path as Everest did, though the rendition and setting is quite different.

Expect the expected from financial ads
The guy telling the waiter to get a cup of tea.
Expect the expected from financial ads
He is showered with loads of good food.
Expect the expected from financial ads
The brand connect comes in, with LIC claiming to offer more than expected.
The LIC ad opens on the shot of a young professional entering a roadside tea shop, asking the waiter to get him a cup of 'chai'. As he sits down, the monotonous voice of the newspaper-reading shop owner instructs the waiter to ensure he gets extra milk with the tea. He then tells the waiter to fetch biscuits, cakes and other goodies for the young visitor, all complimentary, of course. The owner goes on to ask for the fan and radio to be switched on.

Though overwhelmed when the various dishes arrive, the young man composes himself and takes a sip of the 'chai'. The voiceover concludes that it feels good to receive more than you ask for, just like LIC's new Bima Gold Policy, which offers a 50 per cent life cover even after maturity, along with 'Money Back' and 'Auto Cover' schemes.

Explaining what could be an 'unexpected' similarity, Mahendra Bheda, creative director, Mudra, says, "In the financial space, features of any particular scheme or product are easily replicable. In that case, the advertising has to be different, which ours is." He backs this up with the theory that while the ING Vysya ad goes a bit over the top, the LIC ad is more realistic, albeit with a dramatic twist. "LIC doesn't offer you heaven, it just offers you more than you expect," explains Bheda.

The LIC Bima Gold Policy was launched last year, and it has been re-launched in 2007 with the extra benefit of insurance cover for a couple of years after the maturity of the policy. That idea is that when a person gets a larger return on an investment than he had hoped for, he is floored. "We didn't want to go the preachy 'I get more out of my policy' route," says Bheda. "We'd rather overwhelm the consumer when he least expects it." Just like in the case of the chap who goes to an Irani restaurant for a cup of tea, and is served the best food instead – on the house.

The TG for the ad includes professionals in their early to mid thirties, who have just started thinking about insurance and investment plans. The film has been shot in Kayani's (a popular tea/coffee stall) in Mumbai with a budget of Rs 20 lakh, by Bipin Nadkarni of Opticus Films.

© 2007 agencyfaqs!

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