Don’t be surprised if your child pulls you by the hand and asks you to buy him that insurance product. Chances are he has been drawn to it by none other than Sachin Tendulkar.
Indeed, Aviva Life Insurance has not only roped in Tendulkar, but has also named its new children’s insurance policy as ‘Little Master’.
What’s more? Tendulkar was heard as saying at the launch of the product, “It is a great opportunity for forward thinking parents to secure their children’s future and gain kal par control.”
The reasoning of the company is pure and simple. At the launch, Bert Paterson, managing director of Aviva India said, “Sachin is the most popular icon in India for all age groups and his popularity transcends the boundaries of religion, caste and region. It also builds on Aviva’s association with cricket from the time we launched our operations in India.”
Several other life insurance companies have taken that line before - Birla Sun Life, Max New York Life and the now-defunct ANP Sanmar Life if one may recall.
The advantages of celebrity endorsement are all to well known, especially for first attraction. “Then, a Kapil Dev or a Tendulkar is a winner… is a brand in himself, so you try and identify with him,” says an industry official.
But why sports personalities and not film stars? Because of the cost, industry officials agree all agree. “A Hrithik Roshan would be a lot more costly than a Rahul Dravid,” says a distributor with an insurance company.
Why not mascots then? “You have to invest quite a lot in mascots. You remember Asian Paints’ mascot today after it has been publicised for so long. However, mascots have one advantage. They don’t change like celebrity endorsers do,” says the distributor.
And do celebrity endorsements work? No, says H Ansari, a former IRDA member. “Insurance is sold, not bought. Unless someone comes to you personally and tries to sell the product to you, you wouldn’t buy it. Celebrity endorsing may not to lead to buying,” he adds.
So, why aren’t mutual funds allowed to use celebrity endorsements on the ground that they could mislead, whereas insurance companies are?
At any rate, around 90% of the insurance policies sold by private sector insurance companies last financial year were unit linked insurance plans (Ulips), which are more investment than insurance products.
Indeed, “If banking can do it, insurance can do it, why not mutual funds? … It can’t be misleading for one and not misleading for others,” says Jaideep Bhattacharya, chief marketing officer of UTI Mutual Fund.
Penetration of mutual funds in the country is less than 4% today and celebrity endorsement could help improve penetration, he adds.
Waqar Naqvi, vice president of international sales & speciality business at Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund echoes the view. “Imagine Aishwarya Bachchan endorsing a mutual fund product … While performance is the predominant factor people look at while investing, there are other things that work in (a fund’s) favour as well.”
But, others feel mutual funds don’t need celebrities as performance is the only thing that counts.
“If investors do not see performance, they would not invest in the mutual fund,” says a fund manager. A P Kurein, chairman of the Association of Mutual Funds in India is also clear: “We are not very keen on celebrity endorsement and misleading advertisements.”
Article by: Khyati Lodaya for DNA
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