Niva Bupa: Marketing lessons from a Rs 14,000 crore insurance giant

Niva Bupa (formerly known as Max Bupa) stands as one of India's leading health insurance providers, commanding a significant presence in the rapidly evolving health insurance landscape. With a robust market value of Rs 14,700 crore, and an estimated market share of 17.29 percent in the Indian standalone health insurance market, the company is pushing boundaries in making health insurance more accessible and comprehensible to Indian consumers, particularly through its innovative marketing approaches and digital transformation initiatives.

At the helm of the brand's marketing endeavours is Nimish Agrawal, who is the EVP and chief marketing officer at Niva Bupa and has been with the company for nearly four years.

afaqs! sat down with Agrawal to decode the marketing strategy of one of India's fastest-growing health insurance brands, exploring everything from campaign philosophies and media choices to emerging consumer trends and regional market dynamics.

Edited excerpts: 

Q: What are the key pillars of Niva Bupa's marketing strategy for 2025?
A: Our strategy revolves around four core pillars: storytelling, familiarity, segmentation, and analytics and insights. Storytelling facilitates the establishment of an emotional bond with consumers, while familiarity guarantees our continuous presence in their minds.

Segmentation enables us to tailor our messages to different consumer groups, and a strong analytics framework allows us to optimise our efforts and make data-driven decisions.

Q: Can you elaborate on some key campaigns that Niva Bupa has rolled out or plans to continue in 2025?
A: Two campaigns that we are particularly passionate about will continue into 2025. The first is the Zindagi Ko Claim Karle campaign, which highlights real consumer stories and success cases in health insurance.

The insurance sector often focuses on the small percentage of claims that are denied, but we want to showcase the 92-93% of claims that are successfully settled, demonstrating the reliability and impact of health insurance.

The second campaign, Kam mein shaan hai, aims to bring pride and recognition to the advisor community, which is instrumental in driving health insurance adoption.

Despite their heavy reliance on advisors, the insurance sector often undervalues their role. Through this campaign, we are working to elevate their status, encourage more people to join the profession, and provide them with upskilling opportunities.

Q: Given this multi-pronged approach, what is Niva Bupa's media strategy for 2025?
A: We follow an omnichannel strategy that includes digital, OTT, social media, display, search, radio, print, and TV. However, in 2025, we are making some refinements to expand our reach beyond the top 15 to 20 cities. 

Our media choices will focus more on regional and vernacular content, leveraging regional television channels, social media, and cricket as a unifying platform. The goal is to make Niva Bupa a more familiar brand beyond metro cities.

Q: How is the budget split between digital and traditional media?
A: Historically, we have allocated 75% of our budget to digital media and 25% to traditional media. However, since we are looking to expand our reach, this mix might change slightly. We are currently finalising our media plan for 2025, which will determine the exact

Q: Will IPL play a key role in Niva Bupa’s marketing and advertising strategy in 2025?
A: Live cricket has worked well for us in the past, and we have invested in properties like the IPL and the World Cup. Initially, our objective was purely to build awareness, and IPL played a significant role in that.

However, now that the brand has reached a maturity stage, our focus has shifted to growth-on-growth, meaning we need to reassess whether IPL remains the best investment.

We are currently evaluating whether the cost-to-impact ratio aligns with our business objectives. While IPL offers high visibility, the level of clutter can dilute recall, which is crucial in our category.

If the investment aligns with our expected impact, we will proceed; otherwise, we will explore alternative properties that provide better ROI. Our decision will be based on detailed analytics tracking brand recall, website visits, search interest, and incremental lift in customer engagement.

Q: How do you see the evolution of the BFSI sector, particularly in health insurance, in India?
A: While awareness of health insurance is high at around 86%, actual ownership remains low at 43%, highlighting a significant gap. The biggest shift we are seeing is in digitisation—consumers are increasingly researching, purchasing, and servicing their policies online.

Additionally, younger consumers and women are emerging as key segments. Millennials today are more financially aware and are actively investing in insurance, while women are increasingly participating in the decision-making process.

Q: What are the key trends in health insurance consumption across geographies?
A: Health insurance penetration is highest in the top eight cities, with a significant drop beyond the top 25 cities. Southern India has a higher adoption rate compared to the East, while North and West are similar.

A major challenge is information asymmetry—many consumers lack access to clearly localised content in their preferred language. Bridging this gap through digital education and regional content has the potential to significantly impact insurance adoption in smaller cities and rural areas.

Q: What is the gender split in health insurance purchases?
A: While purchase data may not be the best indicator due to policies being bought in the names of spouses or dependents, decision-making is still largely male-dominated, with a 78:22 ratio.

However, this is slowly changing. As financial independence among women increases, we anticipate a more balanced distribution over the next five years.

Q: Any final thoughts on how Niva Bupa plans to navigate 2025?
A: Our focus will remain on building consumer trust, expanding our reach, and enhancing digital experiences. By strengthening our storytelling, analytics, and segmentation strategies, we aim to drive greater awareness and adoption of health insurance across India.