7 P’s of Marketing Mix of ICICI Prudential

Written By: Yogin Vora on June 23, 2010 1 Comment

ICICI Prudential Life Insurance :

ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company is a joint venture between ICICI Bank – one of
India’s foremost financial services companies-and Prudential plc – a leading international
financial services group headquartered in the United Kingdom. Total capital infusion stands
at Rs. 47.80 billion, with ICICI Bank holding a stake of 74% and Prudential plc holding 26%.

It began its operations in December 2000 after receiving approval from Insurance Regulatory
Development Authority (IRDA). Today, their nation -wide reach includes 1,960 branches
(inclusive of 1,096 micro-offices), over 237,000 advisors; and 6 bancassurance partners.

For three years in a row, ICICI Prudential has been voted as India’s Most Trusted Private
Life Insurer, by The Economic Times – AC Nielsen ORG MARG survey of ‘Most Trusted
Brands’. As they grow their distribution, product range and customer base, they continue to
tirelessly uphold their commitment to deliver world-class financial solutions to customers all
over India.

For the past nine years, ICICI Prudential Life has retained its leadership position in the life
insurance industry with a wide range of flexible products that meet the needs of the Indian
customer at every step in life.

ICICI Prudential Life has one of the largest distribution networks amongst private life
insurers in India. It has a strong presence across India with 1,960 branches (including 1,096
micro-offices) and an advisor base of over 230,000 (as on December 31, 2009).

The company has 6 bancassurance partners having tie-ups with ICICI Bank, Jalgaon Peoples
Co-op Bank, Ratanagiri District Central Co-op Bank, Ballia Kshetriya Co-operative Bank,
Renuka Nagrik Sahakari Bank, Bhandara Urban Co-operative Bank.

7 P’s of Marketing of ICICI Prudential :

1. Products and Services:

Insurance Solutions for Individuals: ICICI Prudential Life Insurance offers several novel,
customer-centric products for customers at every stage of life. The products and services
offered by the organization are in various fields, such as:

Protection Plans:

1. Save ‘n’ Protect : It’s a perfect plan to collect funds as savings and be protected by the
insurance policy.
2. Cashback : It’s a policy with a combination of three benefits periodic liquidity, protection
& savings.

3. Home Assure : It is a policy where you can cover your home loan which is a term
assurance plan.

4. Pure Protect : It secures your life and your family’s in case of any unforeseen situation. It
is a term plan which is a flexible and inexpensive product.

5. Life Guard : It is a cover which is available at a low cost. This plan comes with 2 options
–level term assurance with return of premium & single premium.

Premium Guarantee Plans:

1. InvestShield CashBack : It provides a premium guarantee and also balancing the returns,
safety & liquidity. It is a unit linked plan.

2. InvestShield Life New : A plan where the customer is guaranteed that he will at least get
back his premiums. It is a unit linked plan which also provides premium guarantee and the
customer gets the benefits of high returns. The policy also offers a protection to the family
with a life insurance cover.

Education Insurance Plans:

1. SmartKid Regular Premium : It is a tradional plan where funds are provided for the
needs of the child in the future.

2. SmartKid New Unit-linked Regular & Single Premium : The policy is made in such a
way that the child receives money at a stage, for his educational needs.

Wealth Creation Plans:

1. PremierLife Gold : Premier Life Gold helps with long-term wealth creation .It is a limited
premium paying plan. And from the second year onwards it also provides flexibility of
premium reduction.

2. LifeStage RP : The LifeStage RP is unit linked plan that provides you with a portfolio
strategy and keeps distributing your funds across the different asset classes depending on
your profile.

3. Wealth Advantage : Its an exclusive whole life single premium unit linked plan that
provides long term coverage up to the age of 70 years. And you have the option of
withdrawing your funds systematically.

4. Lifetime Gold : This plan is a unit linked plan from which you can get high returns over a
long term with easy investment options. It offers 8 fund options – Preserver, Protector,
Return Guarantee Fund, Balancer, Flexi Balanced Multiplier, R.I.C.H and Flexi Growth.
5. LifeStage Assure : A unit linked insurance plan that provides Guaranteed Maturity
Addition of 100%- 450% of first year premium based on the term and number of premiums
paid. Also your funds are allocated across several asset class based on your profile.

6. LifeLink Super : It’s a single premium unit linked insurance which offers premium
allocation along with a chance to get high returns over the long term, and your family is also
protected by this plan.

Group Plans:

1. Group Term Insurance Plan : It’s a flexible group term plan which provides an
inexpensive cover to members of a group. The cover is either given based on uniform or
based on designation/rank or a multiple of salary. The benefit under the policy is paid to the
beneficiary nominated by the member on his/her death.

2. Group Gratuity Plan : The plan helps employers fund their statutory gratuity obligation
in a scientific manner and also avail of tax benefits as applicable to approved gratuity funds.

3. Group Super Annuation Plan : This plan offers a flexible market linked scheme that
provides substantial benefits to both employers and employees. Both defined contribution
(DC) and defined benefit (DB) schemes are offered to optimize returns for members of the
trust and rationalize cost. Members have the option of choosing from various annuity options
or opting for a partial commutation of the annuity at the time of retirement.

4. Annuity Solutions : This plan has annuity products which give you income and help you
realize your needs. In addition to the annuities offered to existing superannuation customers,
the plan also offers immediate annuities to superannuation funds managed by the team.

Health Insurance Plans:

1. Diabetes Plans : It is a long term insurance policy created for individuals with Type II
diabetes and pre-diabetes. It offers long term (upto 20 years) control over diabetes through a
specially designed Wellness Programme including regular health checkups and a Diabetes
Coach to facilitate diabetes management. It also provides you coverage against seven major
critical illnesses.

2. Cancer Plans : It provide a regular premium plan that helps you with a cash benefit on the
diagnosis as well as at different stages in the treatment of various cancer conditions.

3. Comprehensive Health coverage : provides comprehensive hospitalization cover

and reimburses all other medical expenses by building a health fund.

4. Critical Illness Plan : It is a 360-degree product that will provide long-term coverage
against 35 critical illnesses, total and permanent disability, and death.

5. Hospitalisation Plan : A health insurance policy that provides assured insurability till
age 75 years, assured coverage for accepted pre-existing illnesses after 2 years and an assured
price for 3 years. Also there is another hospital care plan where there is a fixed benefit plan
covering various stages of treatment – hospitalisation, ICU, procedures & recuperating
allowance. It covers a range of medical conditions (900 surgeries) and has a long term
guaranteed coverage upto 20 years.

Retirement Plans:

1. Forever Life : A traditional retirement product that offers guaranteed returns for the first 4
years.

2. Immediate Annuity : A single premium annuity product that assures an income for life at
the time of your retirement. It has the benefit of 5 payout options.

3. LifeStage Pension : A regular premium unit linked pension plan that provides you with a
unique lifecycle-based strategy that continuously re-distributes your money across various
asset classes based on your age and risk profile.

4. Premier Life Pension : It is a unit-linked pension policy with a limited premium paying
option for preferred customers.

5. Lifetime Super Pension : It is a regular premium unit linked pension plan that helps one
accumulate over the long term and offers 5 annuity options (life annuity, life annuity with
return of purchase price, joint life last survivor annuity with return of purchase price, life
annuity guaranteed for 5, 10 and 15 years & for life thereafter, joint life, last survivor annuity
without return of purchase pric5. at the time of retirement.

6. LifeLink Super Pension : A single premium unit linked pension plan.

Rural Plans :

Suraksha & Suraksha Kavach : It’s a rural plans which offer benefits like life Cover, low
and Affordable Premiums and Hassle Free Procedure.
Micro Insurance Sarv Jana Suraksha : Sarv Jana Suraksha is a plan to provide protection
and security to rural population at a very affordable cost. The family members are protected
in this plan incase of death of the policyholder.

The New Product Launched by ICICI Prudential is as follows-

1. ‘Anmol Nivesh’ for tea tribes in Assam in January 2009
2. Health Saver in January 2009

2. Price:

Pricing is very important in life insurance as policyholders are attracted towards it more
often. ICICI Prudential has some unique policies which is different from other companies.

Example: ICICI Prudential- Pure Protect

Below is the table that shows premium for various age-term combinations for a Sum
Assured of Rs.50 lakhs.

Age 10 years 15 years 20 years 25 years

30 year Rs.7608 Rs.8378 Rs.9444 Rs.12558
35 year Rs.9889 Rs.11390 Rs.13,327 Rs.18809
40 year Rs.14394 Rs.17064 Rs.20067 Rs.27075

Features of Pure Protect :

1. Entry Age

Policy Pure Protect Classic Pure Protect Elite

Minimum age(years) 18 18
Maximum age(years) 65 65

2. Policy Term:

Policy Pure Protect Classic Pure Protect Elite

Minimum age(years) 10 3
Maximum age(years) 30 15

3. Place:

Mostly Life Insurance companies have offices at main locations in cities and towns. But most
of the customers buy insurance policies with the help of agents. Therefore place is important
but other than place what is more important is wide distribution of policies through banks
directly. It is known as Bancassurance. Bancassurance is the term used to describe the
partnership or relationship between a bank and an insurance company whereby the insurance
company uses the bank sales channel in order to sell insurance products. Bank staff and
tellers, rather than an insurance salesperson, become the point of sale/point of contact for the
customer. Bank staff are advised and supported by the insurance company through product
information, marketing campaigns and sales training. Both the bank and insurance company
share the commission. Insurance policies are processed and administered by the insurance
company. By selling insurance policies bank earns a revenue stream apart from interest. It is
called as fee-based income. This income is purely risk free for the bank since the bank simply
plays the role of an intermediary for sourcing business to the insurance company.So, ICICI
Bank uses bancassurance to distribute policies to its customers. ICICI Prudential Life has one
of the largest distribution networks amongst private life insurers in India. It has a strong
presence across India with 1,960 branches (including 1,096 micro-offices) and an advisor
base of over 230,000 (as on December 31, 2009).

ICICI Prudential has 6 bancassurance partners having tie-ups with ICICI Bank, Jalgaon
Peoples Co-op Bank, Ratanagiri District Central Co-op Bank, Ballia Kshetriya Co-operative
Bank, Renuka Nagrik Sahakari Bank, Bhandara Urban Co-operative Bank.

Mostly all private life insurance companies are using bancassurance model. Other than this
all ICICI Prudential Life Insurance offices are at significant locations.

4.Promotion:

Over the last few months, ICICI Prudential has been advertising in outdoor, TV and press.
The company launched a corporate television campaign – Saat Phere – which took the
emotions and thoughts of initial Sindoor corporate film a few steps further.
The film highlights the strength of promises that a husband makes to his wife, through the
depiction of everyday situations, and then goes on to emphasise that ICICI Prudential will
stand by the husband to help him fulfill all these promises. The TV campaign has also been
extended to outdoor.

“The company has also undertaken press and internet campaigns to inform customers about
benefits of some of its products, particularly retirement solutions, through the Chintamani
campaign.”

After the hugely successful Chintamani (retirement) and Saat Phere (corporate) campaigns,
ICICI Prudential Life Insurance also introduced some innovations in the category, such as:
having a tax planner by the name of Chintamani on radio, who would answer consumer’s
queries about the role of insurance in financial planning.

“Other initiatives included tie-up with the Dabbawalla Organisation in Mumbai for a direct
marketing exercise, to talk to the customer through a non-cluttered route, and thereby have a
higher impact. The direct mailer was about ICICI Prudential’s retirement solutions and the
tax benefits that one can avail of by investing in any of these. About 100,000 direct mailers
were attached to the ‘dabbas’, in areas such as Churchgate, Bandra and Andheri where there
are mostly office-goers” .

In addition to advertising, the company has also initiated several activities to raise consumer
awareness about life insurance and ICICI Prudential. “It includes seminars – ICICI Prudential
regularly holds consumer awareness meets on ‘the need for retirement planning’ in different
cities such as Pune, Aurangabad, Coimbatore, Nagpur, Bangalore and Mangalore. These are
very well attended and have contributed significantly towards increasing awareness about the
category and the company. Apart from this, it also entered into alliances with telecom
companies, as well as companies like BPCL and Dominos”

5.People:

People are the main assets in any organization . They are very precious in the service sector.
Therefore, ICICI Prudential has good number of talented people in their organization . The
people strategy of ICICI Prudential is “To build a committed team with a culture of
innovation, learning and growth. The Human Resource Function at ICICI Prudential drives
the people strategy of the business. With its initial focus on operational excellence to deliver
benefits and services to staff members, HR is now committed to building capability through
state of the art processes. A robust performance management system, compensation system
and a segmented training architecture enable it to deliver value to the organization. The
company provides an enabling environment to foster growth and learning for their
employees.

Every member of the ICICI Prudential team is committed to 5 core values:

• Integrity
• Customer First
• Boundaryless
• Ownership
• Passion
These values shine forth in all we do, and have become the keystones of our success.

6. Process:

The client approaches the insurer (ICICI Prudential) through an agent with a proposal
containing his personal details, income details, medical history, products ( the product
describes the features provided by the insurer like maturity bonus, claims allowed etc. These
features vary from product to product), sum assured (the amount for which the client is
covered), term (number of years for which the client is to be covered) and premium amount
(installment amount to be paid by the client to the insurer). The agent who brings this
proposal is termed as a base/servicing agent for the proposal.

The proposal will go through various stages of approval and risk evaluation by the “Central
Processing Centre” of the ICICI Prudential. Upon final approval, a legal agreement, termed
as policy, between the insurer and the client is prepared whereby the insurer covers the client
for the sum assured. The client is also entitled for some additional benefits, if any, depending
on the features of the product taken in the policy. The base agent gets a commission for the
policy.

The client pays a premium at regular intervals. These subsequent premiums are termed as
renewal premiums. The base agent gets a commission on the renewal premium also.

The client may come back with some alterations to the policy viz. increase/decrease in sum
assured, increase/decrease of the term of policy etc. The insurer will make the relevant
changes to the policy and will issue endorsements stating the alterations made and their effect
on the policy.

During the term of the policy, the client can submit claims. The insurer makes payment
against the claim after verification. Depending on the type of claim the policy is either
terminated or is kept in force.

At the end of the term of the policy, the client gets the sum assured as part of the maturity
benefit under life insurance policies. In addition to this the client will get the maturity bonus
and any other benefits depending on the product feature.

7. Physical Evidence:

Physical evidence includes facility design, equipment signage, employee dress, tangibles,
reports and statements.

Signage:

Signage personifies the insurance company. It gives a identity by which users recognize the
company. A signage depicts the company’s philosophy and policy. Following are some of the
examples

Tangibles:
Insurance companies give their customers and agents various tangible items like pen, letter
pad, calendars. Such things try to reduce the intangibility characteristics of this industry.
Example: Pen of ICICI Prudential

Statements:

The statements are punch line which briefly depicts the vision and attitude of a insurance
company towards its users/potentials. It also indicates their business motive. Example: ICICI
Prudential have a punch line called “ We cover you at every step of Life” and also the
advertisement of “Jeete Raho” was hit among the TV viewers.