Most people flip through channels during
commercial breaks. Well, I belong to a rarer specie- one that loves watching
advertisements. Because of this unique habit of mine, I am almost always able
to recall all the past campaigns for most brands and industries. The ones that
don’t make the cut are those with pathetic recall value. Insurance always
fitted into this category.
It was partly because of the absence of
private players in this industry prior to 1999. And after that- due to generic
advertising that was carried out. Some might disagree, citing the emotional
factor that these ads carried and still carry. A theme like caring for your
family and keeping their future secure would touch anyone’s heart. But a theme,
no matter how good or bad it is, loses its relevance when it is overplayed.
Recall the example of the movie “righteous kill.” How can a crime drama with Al
Pacino and Robert De Nero fail so miserably? It happened because it was based
on an overplayed script. The same is true for any field.
So apart from offering us with a choice of
more insurance schemes (some of them better than the ones offered by LIC),
private insurers also began to bore public with their redundant advertisements.
One campaign which caught my attention (and
everyone else’s too) was the K.I.L.B. campaign. The teasers were fantastic. The
revelation was shocking. And even though the execution of the ads wasn’t too
great, the campaign achieved what it had targeted- eyeballs and brand recall.
Both of which are very important for a new brand. More so for a brand which
majority of Indians find so difficult to pronounce. Yes, Aegon Religare did hit
the bull’s eye.
To succeed an insurance ad doesn’t have to
be as different as this one, there are sure enough unexplored avenues in the
overused I-love-my-family realm. Check this one out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LR5mZqeDNtg
I hope everyone learns from the K.I.L.B.
campaign. I hope the insurers are listening. And I hope I don’t get a sense of
deja-vu when I next see the next insurance ad.
