Tata AIG warms up to the summer holidays with witty ad film

Travelling to cooler international destinations during the summer is a popular trend with Indians as they are keen to escape the scorching heat that takes over some cities. Indian travellers are now becoming more experimental when it comes to travelling abroad and are searching for newer and the 'not-the-usual' destinations such as London, Paris, Dubai, etc.

However, travelling to a foreign land requires a considerable amount of planning and effort and there is always some amount of risk involved. Hence, foresight is useful with regard to protection from financial losses with travel insurance.

Tata AIG's '#ThinkAhead, Think Travel insurance' campaign

Taking a cue from this insight, private insurance player Tata AIG General Insurance - a joint venture between the Tata Group and the American International Group (AIG) - have created an experiential campaign titled '#ThinkAhead, Think Travel insurance'. The call-to-action initiative stems from the core thought of having the prudence to acknowledge and protect yourself against risks that could hamper the planning and hard work that go into travelling.

Jayraj Jadhav

"When we were looking for market expansion, we decided to focus on a larger market - who is planning ahead for travel, but may not buying insurance. We thought of leveraging this fact of travel planning and introducing the concept that insurance is an essential part of the process," reveals Jayraj Jadhav, head of digital and marketing, Tata AIG.

The biggest challenge that the category faces is that insurance advertising is subject to indifference due to clichéd communications. Hence, Tata AIG aims to improve insurance penetration in a large set of new travellers.

"Travel insurance is part of travel planning where typically the first stage is when a traveller is researching a destination and insurance is often the last step. We have planned our media and communication strategy to target this travel journey of a user," says Jadhav.

As part of strategising the marketing plans, the brand has segregated the entire process into three different phases, namely 'Awareness' or the 'reach' phase - targeted to connect with travel enthusiast to drive the brand message of #ThinkAhead; the 'Engagement' phase - planned for building a connect with the travel preparation phase such as ticket booking, visa and the buying of travel essentials; and 'Consideration' phase - built for travellers with probable insurance buyers targeting media touch points before travelling. (Communication in this phase is primarily about travel insurance product benefits and it's aimed at business conversion increase).

Conceptualised by Enormous Brands, the ad film has been produced by Soda Films and directed by Rajesh Krishnan. The tongue-in-cheek humour and exaggeration have been used as key elements to demonstrate the goal. The film that opens with a local food joint in China where two Indian travellers - the protagonists - are seen enjoying a meal. One of them abruptly expresses his desire to eat 'Poha' (home-cooked food is a common craving during international trips, especially after experimenting with local food). The ad concludes by demonstrating the fact that forethought always helps and that while planning a trip, it is important to look out for travel insurance as one of the aspects of this 'Think Ahead' philosophy.

Speaking about the campaign, Ajeet Shukla - executive creative director (Lucid - a division of Enormous Brands), says, "#ThinkAhead came as a very strong brand proposition for me. There could have been many ways to explore it creatively. We had to find an interesting way of communicating this brand story in line with the young tech-savvy and discerning set of audiences. We looked at humorous and engaging content that illustrates the single point of the benefits of thinking ahead."

The '#ThinkAhead, Think Travel insurance' campaign will be carried forward on TV and digital platforms. "We are primarily a 'Digital Only' brand, but in this campaign, we are using both Digital and ATL. The media plan is built on the audience planning concept and each of them have well-defined objectives. TV is used for reach, radio for consideration and digital media is planned across all the stages," informs Jadhav.

Expert Speak

We asked the experts whether such call-to-action videos will actually influence the viewers and consumers or would they think twice before transacting and spending money on buying a Travel Insurance policy.

Tamanna Virmani

Deepak Singh

Nimesh ShahAccording to Tamanna Virmani, AVP and senior creative director - ADK Fortune, a decade ago, insurance advertising was anything but fun. "It has changed tremendously since then. These days it is humorous and the best part is that it doesn't lose its focus while delivering the main message," she opines.

"The Tata AIG travel insurance ad hits the nail on the head. Not just in terms of humour but also delivering the USP of the product brilliantly. The acting of the protagonist wanting to have Poha is applause-worthy. The film is well-directed though the execution is not-so-new," she adds.

Deepak Singh, chief creative officer, The Social Street, feels that the ad has been nicely done. "It's an interesting take, especially coming from an insurance company; a funny take rather than a serious zone does well here. The direction is fine. The script needed simple execution with well-crafted characters, which they have got right," he says.

Nimesh Shah, head maven, Windchimes Communications, a digital agency, believes that the treatment, plot and cast in the film are the strong points that keep you glued to the communication. "The premise taken by the brand is that customers forget to buy or don't plan for travel insurance. My belief is that a lot of customers don't feel the value in doing so. They are either not aware of what all is covered or don't feel like it is worth taking a policy. In my opinion, tackling these would have led to a more relevant brand recall and higher click to action."

(With inputs from Suraj Ramnath)