The Hindu Business Line : ING bets on TV ad to improve connect

Bangalore, Jan. 12 Having achieved a national footprint and scale of operations, ING aims to double its market share in the country’s financial services sector. Towards this, the company has been carrying out a series of marketing activities, including a television commercial.

Currently, the market share of each of ING’s three businesses in India (banking, asset management and insurance) is between 1 and 2 per cent. ING’s business footprint is across tier 1, 2 and 3 cities. While the life insurance business is present in 232 cities, the bank is present in 300 cities.

Says Mr Amit Gupta, Director (Marketing and Communication), ING Life Insurance, “ING is keen to invest in emerging markets like India. There is reasonable expansion in the North; in the South, the company has been strongly established. The growth ambition is to double market share in the next 24 months. We hope the TVC will improve consumer connect and deliver efficiency for all three services in India.”

Conveying ‘personality’

The rationale behind the ongoing TVC is to build the ING mother brand by showcasing the company’s businesses on a unified platform. The commercial, developed by McCann Erickson, shows several occasions of celebration and festivals and how money changes many hands.

“The TVC shows how Rs 100 becomes Rs 101 and so much more auspicious. It hopes to convey a brand personality of warmth and approachability. The message we want to convey is that we understand the consumer, hence the management of their money will be better,” says Mr Gupta.

ING has also been engaged in targeted marketing activities to establish stickiness. The ING Creating Star School Contact Program last year provided a platform for children to showcase their talent in art and literature.

ING Life also launched ‘The Big Book of Little Geniuses’ with a collection of drawings and essays by children. The Super Mom activity involved cooking workshops for housewives. ING Life used this “as an opportunity to talk to women on financial security and advisor recruitment opportunities at ING Life.” ING also held the ING Renault F1 roadshow in Delhi in November.

‘Necessity’ to invest

But in the face of an economic slowdown, how does ING justify its marketing spends? Says Mr Gupta, “Life insurance is felt as a necessity… so people will invest. Even in uncertain times, research has shown insurance and fixed deposits will continue to find favour with investors. Clearly, there is a slowdown ... however, there is growth as well.”

Where does ING see itself in the financial services space? “50-60 per cent of the market is dominated by the public sector. The public sector is stable, but it is the private segment that is really growing, with a 20-25 per cent market share. We are there.”

ING, which is from Benelux, does not want to be seen as a pure foreign player in India. “Foreign brands form only 10 per cent of the market. It is not growing that fast. We don’t want to be there. We are not foreign or alien anymore in India. In the private space, if there are 30 players operating in all three businesses, we are in the middle rank. We would like to be among the top 10 players in the private sector.”

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