From rural penetration to metro branding: HDFC ERGO's multifaceted marketing approach

India's top private sector general insurer, HDFC ERGO General Insurance, is concentrating on raising awareness, fostering digital innovation, and fostering deeper customer connection in order to boost insurance acceptance as the country's insurance market rapidly changes. Somesh Surana, Joint President – Digital Business Group & Marketing at HDFC ERGO General Insurance, discusses the company's marketing roadmap, Gen Z strategy, the role of AI, and the brand's planned use of carefully chosen marketing techniques to reach "real Bharat" in this interview with Adgully.What is HDFC ERGO's overall marketing plan for the rest of the year, given the impending holiday season? India is working hard to promote the use of insurance. At HDFC ERGO, our approach will remain focused on category awareness, digital transformation, customer-centric innovation, and deeper engagement throughout Bharat, all while adhering to the IRDAI's 3A's framework: Awareness, Accessibility, and Affordability.

To teach insurance from a young age and create a future-ready, insurance-aware India, we administer Insurance Quiz Junior. Now in its tenth edition, this innovative program began in 2016 with just 18 schools in one city and has since expanded to serve around 25 lakh kids in approximately 200 locations. In 2024, 3,200 institutions—including government and vernacular language schools—will be involved. Notably, 32% of these schools were located in small towns, and nearly equal numbers of female students participate, demonstrating that this program is truly inclusive.Building on the success of this campaign to raise awareness of insurance among the next generation, we have this year introduced a senior version of the quiz for college students, who are young adults about to enter the workforce and must make their own decisions about their future. In keeping with our goal of raising awareness of insurance at a young age, 1,100+ college students from 140+ Indian cities registered for the inaugural edition alone.Additionally, as the primary insurer for Tamil Nadu and Puducherry under IRDAI's State Insurance Awareness campaign, we have been educating the public about house, auto, and health insurance through a variety of initiatives. We go out to government schools around the states with the regional version of the quiz in addition to other awareness campaigns. Thirty-three districts participated last year alone.