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"People, distributors might be more inclined towards digital enablement"
Abhishek Gupta, chief marketing officer, Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance, talks about marketing after lockdown.
Once the lockdown is lifted, what will be your top 3 big priorities?
After the lockdown is lifted, we will see some short-term changes in the way business is conducted, but I don’t believe the underlying priority will change for us. We will continue to focus on protecting dreams and aspirations of our stakeholders – customers, employees and distributors.
The immediate three factors we will focus on are:
a. Restoring confidence of our customers, who have become highly risk-averse, and are feeling anxious and vulnerable right now.
b. Support our distributors in their growth and customer outreach.
c. Facilitate engagement within employees and create a platform for appreciation for their wholehearted support in this transition.
Will your market behave the way it was before the lockdown, or will there be subtle changes?
The insurance marketplace will definitely see some changes in how distributors offer insurance solutions and customer behaviour. For some, this pandemic has been an eye-opener in respect of the unforeseen risks one can face during their life. I believe people will be more focused on buying protection products, and some might actively look at buying insurance products. The way that insurance products are sold will certainly change; the advisory nature of the business will remain constant, but people and distributors might be more inclined towards digital enablement. The over-reliance on personal interaction on both ends – customer and distributor – might go down.
Will your broad view of marketing communication be different from before, in some way?
Marketing communication and avenues are already changing with people arrested to their homes. More than the avenues we use, content will have a deeper impact. It will help brands break through the clutter and be effective in engaging with the audience. As I mentioned before, our view of communication will be focused on our three key stakeholders, and restoring confidence among that group will be key for us. More importantly, the insights we have collected during this time will guide our communication once we return to normalcy. We will see an overall impact on business, right from product design, delivery, customer experience and the marketing communication.
('Post Lockdown' is a series of short interviews that explores what consumer marketing will look like on the other side.)