Q] ACKO’s recent health insurance campaigns, including the one built around ‘Baahon Mein Chale Aao,’ feel very different from traditional insurance advertising. What drove that approach?
Insurance communication has largely relied on familiar tropes of fear and fear-mongering. We have always believed in taking a more positive approach by celebrating consumers and the choices they make. In our health insurance campaign, we wanted to celebrate the small everyday compromises people make for their health, whether it is saying no to temptations or making healthier choices. The message was simple: if consumers do not want to compromise on their health, they should not have to compromise when it comes to health insurance either.
Q] Insurance penetration in India remains low. As a digital-native insurer, what needs to change?
We need to make insurance much simpler for consumers, both in communication and in the products we offer. Products should be designed around consumer needs rather than making people fit themselves into a set of plans created by insurers. The category also needs to rethink how trust is built. Traditionally, insurance companies often benefitted from borrowed trust through their parent financial institutions, branches or physical infrastructure. Today, trust needs to be earned consistently through simplicity and experience. Once consumers experience a product and see that it delivers consistently, trust is earned.
Q] Is the claim experience the biggest moment in building that trust?
A claim is certainly one of the many moments of truth, but consistency needs to exist across the entire buying cycle. It starts when a consumer researches the brand and explores options, continues through the purchase journey and extends to the assistance they receive digitally, and eventually to the post-purchase experience, including claims. The entire spectrum needs to be consistent from a brand experience perspective.
Q] Traditional insurers are also building strong digital experiences. What remains distinctive about being digital-native?
For many competitors, digital is a part of their business model. For us, it is the core of our existence. Being digitally native allows us to sell directly to consumers without intermediaries. That means there are no commissions being absorbed by intermediary layers, allowing us to pass more value back to our consumers. Some traditional players have built strong digital experiences, but being direct-to-consumer is fundamentally different from simply adding digital to an existing model.
Q] With stricter advertising rules, how do you balance attention with accurate communication?
Attention is extremely important, particularly when consumers discover brands through short-form content. We try to build the hook around a consumer insight or something relatable and organic. At the same time, we completely avoid misleading consumers or using clickbait where the truth is different from the promise.
Q] As ACKO looks beyond metros, what is the biggest challenge to adoption?
Given how low insurance penetration is, the industry needs to address affordability, distribution and financial literacy. For us, however, the immediate focus is on the top 25-30 million families across the top 10-15 cities.
