The General Insurance Council (GIC) of India earlier this year rolled out its latest nationwide campaign, ‘Achha Kiya Insurance Liya’, to communicate the importance of securing one’s valuable assets, whether health, vehicle, property, or livelihood.
Developed basis in-depth research that explored the key triggers and barriers influencing general insurance adoption. The study revealed that while security and peace of mind are strong motivators for first-time purchase, a lack of awareness, perceived complexity, and limited trust act as major barriers to entry—especially in non-metro and Tier Three regions. These insights shaped the campaign’s core narrative: making insurance conversations more relatable, frequent, and accessible in everyday life.
Shifting away from using overwhelming and complex jargon or fear-led, prescriptive messaging, this campaign looks to deliver its point through slice-of-life stories that showcase the power of being prepared, the relief of being covered and the wisdom of smart planning narrated by ‘pets’!
Whether it’s Barfi, the dog, recounting his beloved Mary Aunty taking a bone-shattering fall, or Oscar the hungry cat bemused at Ghosh Babu’s unexpected reaction to his car accident, these characters deliver mischievous yet heartwarming commentary on why insurance matters when life gets messy.
The audience is also introduced to an engrossed cat and dog duo delivering a pro-cricket style rousing commentary on a hilarious but highly possible gully cricket mishap that not only breaks records but also breaks Jayesh Bhai’s car, Bunty’s arm, and a neighbour’s TV!
MediaNews4U.com caught up with Sheena Kapoor Head Marketing, Corporate Communications & CSR, ICICI Lombard, Nimish Agrawal, Director Digital Business Unit & Chief Marketing Officer, Niva Bupa Health Insurance and Kotha Kartheek senior VP And Head Digital Marketing & Transformation, Star Health Insurance
Q. How did the idea for the ‘Achha Kiya Insurance Liya’ by General Insurance Council come about?
Sheena Kapoor: The campaign, “Achha Kiya Insurance Liya”, stems from a deep consumer insight: insurance isn’t merely a policy, it represents peace of mind in life’s unexpected moments.
At the start of 2019, the General Insurance Council envisioned an industry-wide awareness initiative. The pandemic delayed the full rollout, but under the joint leadership GI Council, CEO and CMO committees, we relaunched the industry awareness campaign 2.0 with greater focus and in alignment with and commitment towards IRDAI’s long-term vision of “Insurance for All by 2047”.
Over an 18 to 20 Months pre-launch period, we engaged deeply with consumer behaviour research to first understand the complexities and barriers to adoption of insurance. Thereafter, we collaborated with top creative, PR, media and research agencies.
Several pitches were evaluated, and through guided deliberation by CMO and CEO‑level leaders, we defined a campaign ethos that would serve as a clarion call, be simple and emotionally resonant and have universal appeal across geographies and demographics.
The campaign features a series of films spanning health, motor (two and four-wheeler), crop, property and integrated scenarios, all narrated from the charming viewpoint of pets – dogs, cats, birds and even fish. These “uncommon narrators” act as the protagonists bring human warmth, humour and relatability to insurance storytelling, making the subject feel accessible and engaging.
This campaign transcends conventional marketing. It’s a collective effort to humanise insurance, rebuild trust and place awareness at the heart of financial resilience. It empowers individuals to feel good, and reinforce the positive action of having insurance and adequate coverage…and thus reinforce ‘Achha Kiya Insurance Liya’. We deliberately did not want any negative connotation and stayed away from fear mongering about unfortunate events.
Together, we are reshaping perceptions and enabling meaningful change for the industry at large and building a more resilient nation in the years to come.
Q. The campaign aims to unites the Non-Life Insurance Sector under one message. Could you shed light on the gameplan to achieve this including on-ground activation and regional marketing?
Nimish Agrawal: Absolutely. The primary goal of this campaign is to bring consistency, clarity, and a unified voice to the Non-Life Insurance sector. Our approach is both strategic and inclusive to ensure widespread impact.
On-ground activations is pivotal to drive campaign reach in media dark markets (especially rural markets) and aids comprehension of the message since these markets have negligible insurance penetration. Especially in rural pop strata wherein mainline campaign reach gets compromised. Second it also helps drive comprehension of the message. India speaks more than 121 languages and hence our regional marketing efforts emphasise vernacular messaging, hyper-local storytelling, and cultural nuances to make the benefits of non-life insurance not only understood but also personally meaningful across diverse demographics nationwide.
Our omni channel strategy game blends mass media outreach with localised content and immersive on-ground activations. By partnering with community leaders, leveraging vernacular narratives, and collaborating with local media outlets, we aim to ensure that conversations around insurance feel relatable and culturally grounded.
Ultimately, we want to ignite a nationwide movement where every Indian, regardless of geography, understands the true value of insurance and feels empowered to take action.
Q. The campaign shifts away from using overwhelming and complex jargon. Is simplicity going to be a key focus area in marketing activities done this year?
Kotha Kartheek: Absolutely. Simplicity is not just a creative choice—it’s a strategic imperative. In a category like insurance, which is traditionally perceived as complex and intimidating, our goal this year is to demystify the product for everyday consumers.
The ‘Achha Kiya Insurance Liya’ campaign is built on relatable insights and human-first language, not policy clauses. By avoiding jargon, we’re creating emotional connection and trust. Our marketing will focus on visual storytelling over dense text, Snackable digital content for quick understanding and simplified benefit-driven messaging, so customers immediately grasp why insurance is a smart decision.
This approach aligns with how today’s consumers engage—they want quick, clear, and confident decisions. Simplicity helps convert intention into action.
Q. How will using pets help the campaign’s message resonate better?
Kotha Kartheek: Pets bring a powerful emotional layer to our storytelling. They evoke feelings of care, trust, and protection — which are the very foundations of insurance. By using pets, we’re making insurance feel warmer, more empathetic, and less transactional.
Additionally: Pets cut across age, region, and language barriers — they instantly connect. They help reduce the anxiety associated with financial products.
Q. Will the media mix be a combination of traditional and digital media?
Nimish Agrawal: Yes, a hybrid media strategy is at the heart of the campaign’s success. From a media approach we have a 3 by 3 grid that we optimise the media plan for. This includes personas based on media consumption – cord lovers (people on C&S connection), cord cutters (completely on smart TV) and lastly Cord Shavers who have dual consumption. In addition to this there are 3 screens – Mobile, Television and Smart TV.
This approach helps us maximise reach and also drive synergy amongst traditional and non-traditional media vehicles. TV and radio play a key role in reaching rural and semi-urban areas, while digital channels—including social media, OTT platforms, influencer collaborations, and content marketing—enable hyper-targetted communication. Our robust media plan spans TV, digital, print, and out-of-home advertising, ensuring the campaign’s message reaches every corner of India—from metros to the most remote villages.
In addition to this we have a layer of on-ground activations that covers media dark markets where both internet & media consumption is on the lower side.
Q. Could you shed light on the IPL integration that took place for the campaign? Was the goal reached?
Sheena Kapoor: When we launched AKIL, we had a well-crafted high decibel and an integrated 360 degree campaign across all media vehicles pan India. We strategically aligned its debut with the IPL season – widely regarded as India’s most high-impact and culturally resonant broadcast window. The IPL provided the perfect amplification platform to build awareness and generate consumer buzz.
Recognising the critical nature of this industry-wide initiative – encompassing not just insurers but regulators, channel partners, consumers and media, we wanted to leverage IPL to dial up the awareness. We allocated significant portions of our media budget to television, digital and OTT channels during IPL, delivering both our longer campaign films and agile, match-style “vignette” assets. These smart, cricket-aligned snippets mimicked player graphics and seamlessly blended into IPL broadcasts, capturing attention and embedding our message deeply in viewers’ minds.
We didn’t simply run traditional ads during IPL; we also created innovative impact properties aligned with the IPL format. We created 10‑second vignettes featuring various products – health, two‑wheeler, four‑wheeler highlighting claim amounts and settlement times. These vignettes mirrored cricket match graphics and player stats, making them seamlessly feel like part of the live match broadcast. They provided uninterrupted viewing and created magic and impact.
And we included a mix of slightly longer lines too, emphasising how viewers saw statistical popups akin to player performance – number of runs, wickets, etc. blended into our insurance messaging. The format was extremely seamless, engaging and memorable.
We made sure each vignette quickly established the need and benefit of being covered. In literally 10 seconds, we showed why insurance matters and reinforced it visually in cricket-style graphics.
Yes, decisively. By leveraging this strategic timing, the campaign achieved unprecedented reach: touching over 800 million Indians across more than 200 rural and semi-urban areas, delivered in 12 languages.
Stakeholder feedback and early data indicate substantial uplift in awareness, recall and brand sentiment. From every metric, from high TVRs to audience share and recall -it was clear the IPL integration transformed our launch from impactful to truly transformative.
Q. A lack of awareness, perceived complexity, and limited trust act as major barriers to entry—especially in non-metro and Tier 3 regions. What marketing tactics could work to address this effectively?
Nimish Agrawal: Addressing the barriers of awareness, perceived complexity, and limited trust in non-metro and Tier 3 regions requires a nuanced and empathetic approach. With our “Achha Kiya Insurance Liya” campaign, we set out to fundamentally change the way insurance is understood and embraced in the heartland of India. Three key tactics underpinned our strategy:
1. Hyper-local & relatable storytelling: We moved away from technical jargon and instead focused on real, relatable scenarios. By using a unique cast of animated pets—Barfi, Oscar, Chulbuli, Billi, and Paaji—voiced by much-loved celebrities, we brought warmth and relatability to insurance, making it a household topic rather than a daunting financial decision.
2. Multi-lingual and multi-channel outreach: Recognizing linguistic and cultural diversity, our campaign was rolled out in 12 languages across TV, radio, digital, print, and impactful OOH placements. We complemented this with grassroots outreach in over 200 towns, ensuring our message reached both urban and rural households in their own language and context.
3. Demystifying Insurance through Simplicity: We broke down insurance into simple analogies and clear messaging, addressing common myths and misconceptions head-on. This simplification—delivered with humor and emotion—helped reduce apprehension and allowed consumers to understand insurance as an act of foresight and love for their families.
Our experience has shown that making insurance conversations contextually relevant, simple, and emotionally resonant is critical in bridging the awareness and trust gap. The “Accha Kiya Insurance Liya” campaign succeeded because it positioned insurance not just as a financial product, but as a wise and caring choice.
By celebrating local heroes, leveraging humour, and communicating consistently in regional languages, we created a new, positive narrative that is driving real change across India’s non-metro and Tier 3 markets.
Q. Hyper personalisation is an important focus area in BFSI. In 2025 how important will this area be for the insurance category and what do the various players need to do to create an impact?
Sheena Kapoor: In an era where customers are empowered by OTT, e‑commerce, robo-advisory, and AI/ML capabilities at their fingertips, cookie‑cutter approaches no longer suffice. Today’s consumers expect hyper personalisation experiences tailored to their life stage, behaviours and needs.
Leading insurers are leveraging AI and advanced analytics to transform this expectation into action creating highly contextualised, individualised interactions at scale. These include usage-based auto insurance, personalised health and wellness programmes, and AI-driven prompts for policy renewal or cross-sell opportunities.
Consumers now expect the same tailored experiences they get from Netflix, Amazon, Swiggy or Zomato. They want communications, pricing and product offers that reflect their unique behaviours, life stages and risk profiles. In India, hyper‑personalisation and automation are reshaping life insurance: 58% of consumers are willing to share data for more relevant advice, and 60% want faster, friction‑less service. Insurers equipped with AI‑driven analytics and Customer Data Platforms (CDPs) can trigger pre-emptive interventions (e.g., renewal reminders, personalised riders) that significantly enhance engagement and loyalty.
Q. Do the bulk of marketing activities for the insurance category take place during the January -March period each year?
Sheena Kapoor: Yes, the majority of insurance category marketing especially in Life, Health, and General insurance is strategically deployed during the January to March (JFM) period each year. Reports show that over 40% of annual BFSI advertising spends occurred during JFM 2025 and more than 50% in JFM 2024, align closely with broader BFSI sector trends.
During the first half of 2024, the BFSI industry reported strong growth in advertising volumes: television ad volume rose by 14–19% compared to prior periods, while digital impressions surged by over 74% year-over-year.
Print ad volumes jumped about 37%, and radio volumes showed double-digit growth – driven largely by Life Insurance sector. These patterns reveal an intentional drive to scale visibility and market penetration during a concentrated period.
A key logical factor underpinning this timing is the financial year-end in India. As March marks the closing of fiscal accounts, insurance companies must judiciously allocate their marketing budgets often optimising spend before year-end closure.
This drives elevated activity in JFM, as brands push to hit targets, boost policy conversions and capitalise on consumer behaviour around tax planning and renewals. Moreover even in commercial lines of insurance, a lot of group renewals come up coinciding with fiscal year end.
Q. What role will data analytics playing in helping tailor the campaign to different consumer groups, different regions and in converting leads?
Nimish Agrawal: The campaigns core objective is to drive penetration of General Insurance from the current level. Data analytics is central to stitching a sharp campaign and also monitoring progress.
A lot of behaviour analytics was carried out to help us understand choice of media vehicle / publisher in planning the digital and non-digital aspects of the campaign. And we have set up brand lift study and other data emerging from the campaign response on digital to help us understand what is working and what needs to be chopped.
Q. Consumers are increasingly researching, purchasing, and servicing their insurance policies online. What role will things like apps, AI chatbots, AI agents play in helping the industry address this behaviour?
Kotha Kartheek: Digital is no longer just a channel, it’s the primary customer experience. Apps, AI chatbots, and AI agents are going to play an instrumental role in making insurance smarter, faster, and more customer-centric. Here’s how: Apps will evolve from policy storage tools to wellness companions—offering claims tracking, rewards for healthy behaviour, reminders, and renewals.
AI chatbots will handle first-level queries 24/7, reducing friction in decision-making and improving onboarding. AI agents will personalise recommendations based on behaviour and risk profiles, making insurance feel tailored—not templated. We’re looking at a future where customers self-serve with confidence. These tools will also allow us to continuously listen, learn, and improve—making the experience not just digital, but delightful.
