Allianz Bajaj - a joint-venture between Allianz AG and Bajaj Auto - is planning to expand its reach into the hinterland, by penetrating smaller towns and villages in rural India.
"There is a significant change in business direction from two and a half years back when Contract Advertising was appointed," said Sanjay Jain, head of marketing at Allianz Bajaj.
"We are looking at not just creating metro-centric, English thoughts, but want thoughts and ideas to motivate and connect with the masses in rural and semi-urban areas."
While the brand has released a lot of work that has been adapted from international creative, there will be a change in direction as it now looks beyond the original urban markets. It will be "more earthy, with local connect, local values which can motivate Indian masses to partner and trust us for a lifetime", said Jain.
The winning agency's brief will be to penetrate the Indian masses' mindset, to make Allianz Bajaj stand out as "one of the most recalled brands among not only insurance companies but in the financial sector", Jain added.
To that end, the brand's communication partner must be strongly rooted in the Indian ethos. Creative presentations by the five agencies involved took place during the first two weeks of July, and the company is expected to announce a decision by the end of the month.
The insurance business has been one of the growth drivers of the advertising industry during the last few years, growing almost seven-fold since the opening up of the sector to private players in 2000. Since then, there has been a blitz of both corporate brand-building and product-specific advertising campaigns.
Major players in India include the state-owned Life Insurance Corporation and General Insurance Corporation of India, as well as joint ventures between Indian companies and multinational financial services giants such as Prudential ICICI, Birla Sun Life and Max New York Life.
According to data from Press AdEx, in 2003, Allianz Bajaj was the fourth largest spender in print advertising.
Despite that, the awareness and familiarity of the average Indian consumer with the plethora of financial service brands is not high.
In a recent Brand Equity survey of India's most trusted brands, Allianz Bajaj did not figure in the top 50 service brands - however, major competitor Life Insurance Corporation was at number one. The only other insurance brand that did make the top 50 was ICICI Prudential at number 30.
