THE FIRST CHALLENGE that faced Vighnesh Shahane when he took over as CEO at IDBI Life Insurance five years ago was to help build brand trust in the consumer’s mind, in an already cluttered market.
The 48-year-old former cricketer says the the decision then to shun the beaten path and sell life insurance using the health, fitness and well being plank has reaped rich dividends for the company since. The company has currently tied up with the Pullela Gopichand Academy to scout under 10 talent that could be nurtured for international events a decade hence.
Winners of the three week contest that closes on December 28, will get to train at the Pullela Gopichand Academy in Hyderabad after going through a 4 to 6 week long selection process. Shahane spoke to Sportzpower.com recently about the reasons why taking the sports marketing route has made eminent sense to the decade young IDBI Life Insurance company.
Excerpts –
Why did IDBI Life choose the sports marketing route and how did it go about it?
We could have sold the product in the same way others had been doing for years – on the plank of insecurity and loss. But we decided to take the road less travelled, a more contrarian, unconventional strategy, and we said life insurance should be all about health and fitness sport and well being, being alive.
The brand plays an important role in the sale of its products. The first challenge was to build the brand, which could bring about trust in the customer’s mind. We wanted life insurance to show that we take away your economic worries, and you live life to the fullest. That’s how we got into sports marketing. We would have been lost in the clutter if we had followed 23 other insurance companies doing the same thing. The running culture in this country was taking root. We sponsored four marathons in four major cities, and had 50 k participants in the first year itself. They went on social media, posted pictures and it turned out to be an extremely cost effective way of bolstering our brand awareness.
After that, apart from participatory sports like running, we thought of investing in grassroot sports. We had the IDBI Federal bowling clinics, led by Jeff Thompson, the legendrary Australian fast bowler, in Mumbai, Karnataka and Kerala which produced some champion bowlers for the states. We also sponsored a grassroot level football tournament – an all india schools football tournament, which also produced good players.
Was there research or precedent into picking the sports you did?
Not too much science or research went into the thinking. Marketing is more about knowing the pulse of the customer, communicating in a lucid way, in a way she likes and understands.
Like Young Champs, our ongoing programme, is a platform for kids under ten, to come train under Gopi and get scholarships. The Quest for Excellence initiative was fuelled by the need to have a medallist in the 2020 Olympics. Young Champs will ensure that this assembly line keeps churning out talent for the 2024, 2028 Olympics as well.
Have you increased your sports marketing budgets over the years?
Organically, yes the budgets are increasing. But we don’t have a fixed budget. Wherever we see an opportunity to enhance our brand’s visibility, we go for it. Like, we had not budgeted Sachin Tendulkar as a brand ambassador for our marathon but we thought he would add great value, with him speaking about running and fitness that motivated a lot of people. And it worked.
All our marketing is sports related. It has given us good results so far, it helps us differentiate in a cluttered market also.
Would you be open to taking up other sports in future?
Sports in the country are picking up. Sports is moving beyond cricket and spreading beyond the metros. It is the remotest villages which are producing world class champions. Our grassroots initiatives are helping take brand awareness to tier two and three cities as well.
We are not closed to any sport, but first need to consolidate the properties we own.
