Viveat Susan Pinto
Advertising

Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance creative account up for grabs

Five agencies pitched for the business about three weeks ago

As a category, insurance has been growing over the last few years, and not surprisingly insurance players, especially, life insurance companies attract a fair share of attention.

PSU Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) has been in the news for putting its Rs 100-crore advertising account on the block. However, what has gone relatively unnoticed is that private player Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance is also on the lookout for a creative partner.

The business, estimated to be in the region of Rs 10-crore, is in the custody of Contract Advertising, Mumbai, and in recent weeks the company called for a pitch, which saw the incumbent agency and four others, namely, TBWA, McCann-Erickson, FCB-Ulka and Ambience-Publicis in the fray.

Sanjay Jain, head of marketing, Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance, says that the outcome of the pitch will be announced soon. But, if industry grapevine is to be believed then TBWA is one of the agencies in the reckoning for the business. One reason for this could be the fact that the agency was called for a second meeting with the company last week. It could not be ascertained, however, whether any other agency apart from TBWA was called for a second round with the company. And if yes, who where they?

Sources at FCB-Ulka and Ambience-Publicis indicate that no such invitation for a second meeting with the company was made to them. Which leaves the field open between TBWA, McCann and Contract.

The reasons for calling the pitch in the first place were not indicated by Jain, and whether Contract does manage to retain the business or whether rivals lay their hands on it is anybody's guess at this point. © 2004 agencyfaqs!

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