Pak Qatar Takaful Group appoints creative agency in Pakistan

Pak Qatar Takaful Group has named Blitz Advertising as its creative agency in Pakistan, tasked with working on the Pak Qatar Family and the General Takaful brands.

According to Muhammad Waqas Durrani, head of marketing and corporate communications at Pak Qatar Takaful Group Blitz presented the "right synergy mix to achieve our new brand equity, boosting medium-term and long-term business initiatives."

Takaful is an Arabic word for Shariah-compliant insurance. Unlike conventional insurance, Takaful consists of a cooperative system of reimbursement in case of loss by pooling the insurance premiums and losses among participants. Its similarities to conventional insurance include charging and penalizing customers who are ill or have pre-existing conditions, one of many factors which run counter to its claim of being based on Islamic values.

Only companies and providers that entirely dealt on an Islamic business model were allowed to offer Takaful until earlier this year, but now conventional firms are able to offer sharia-compliant products as well. Since then competition has been fierce, with Jubilee General Insurance, United Insurance Company of Pakistan, and EFU Group also entering the race.

Pak Qatar Takaful Group has a reach of over 70 branches and a customer base exceeding 700,000 nationwide. To help the company position itself against conventional insurance providers, Blitz Advertising will be focusing on communicating the value proposition of the service.

"The Takaful industry is appearing as a strong competitor against the conventional insurance, especially in the Muslim countries," said Umair Saeed, the chief operating officer at Blitz Advertising. "While the Takaful industry is contributing a lot of new things to the global insurance industry, there is still lack of awareness about Takaful and the benefits it offers in Pakistan. There is still a great deal of work needed to change that. Blitz has extensive experience in managing financial brands including banks, mutual fund companies, and conventional insurance companies. We’ve also been the brains behind SECP’s investor education program titled 'Jama Punji'. We aim to use our expertise to help grow the Pak Qatar brand in Pakistan through communication strategies that are effective and executions that stand out from the typical rhetoric."