elling insurance. This probably counts among the five most challenging jobs for an advertising agency. When all the players have more or less the same benefits to offer, the communication for insurance products, with detailed explanations, calculations, tax benefits and disclaimers, ends up something like a black hole, which absorbs everything, including brand recall. But things are changing, albeit slowly.

ICICI Prudential, the private player that enjoys the highest recall among consumers (The Brand Reporter, August 16-31), is targeting kids to convince parents. The new television commercial for its SmartKid Education Plan is interesting in the way it has steered clear of the "montage" treatment almost generic to insurance advertising. The ad aims to provide a reason to buy into the SmartKid policy by choosing to focus on one incident that threatens to eat into a family�s savings. ... more