MAM
SBI Life’s friendly gesture unites other Indian life insurers, towards a common goal of protecting a billion lives
MUMBAI: India's insurance industry is pegged to reach US $ 280 billion by 2020. As many as 24 life insurers are actively working to push insurance penetration in the country, which continues to be abysmal. The mere 3.69% life insurance penetration, also presents a growth opportunity for players in the Indian insurance space, where insurance companies, regulator and the government have been deploying various strategies to make insurance accessible to larger sections of society.
Acknowledging the industry’s common dream of a well-protected and insured India, SBI Life sent friendship day messages on Twitter in a unique and fascinating style, to life insurers across the country, triggering a chain of positive conversations from its peers in the insurance space and other social media users. The conversations are vital to increase awareness about the importance of life insurance and will benefit the entire insurance industry.
Speaking on the campaign, Mr. Ravindra Sharma, Chief of Brand and Corporate Communication, SBI Life Insurance, said, "As responsible life insurers we strive to create values that resonate with the customers and build on it to establish a life-long relationship. Whilst there will always be a competitive narrative for market share and business overall, at the core of it is a common dream of every insurer which is to protect and insure lives. It is this dream that connects us all life insurers. For us at SBI Life, friendship day laid down a perfect foundation to be able to rejoice this dream for a moment together with other life insurers. With this gesture, we hope to spark more positive conversations and stand united for a greater good.”
AD Agencies
Fevicol releases its last ad campaign by the late Piyush Pandey
The adhesive brand’s last campaign by the late advertising legend Piyush Pandey turns an everyday Indian obsession into a quietly powerful metaphor
MUMBAI: Fevicol has never needed much of a plot. A sticky bond, a wry observation, a truth that every Indian instantly recognises — that has always been enough. “Kursi Pe Nazar,” the brand’s latest television commercial, is no different. And yet it carries a weight that no previous Fevicol film has had to bear: it is the last one its creator, the advertising legend Piyush Pandey, will ever make.
The film, released on Tuesday by Pidilite Industries, fixes its gaze on the kursi — the chair — and what it means in Indian life. Not just as a piece of furniture, but as a currency of ambition, a vessel of authority, and a source of quiet social drama that plays out in every home, office and institution across the country. Who sits in the chair, who waits for it, and who eyes it hungrily from across the room: the film transforms this sharply observed cultural truth into a narrative that is, in the best Fevicol tradition, funny, warm and instantly familiar.
The campaign was Pandey’s idea. He discussed it in detail with the team before his death, but did not live to see it shot. Prasoon Pandey, director at Corcoise Films who helmed the commercial, said the team needed five months to find its footing before they felt ready to shoot. “This was the toughest film ever for all of us,” he said. “It was Piyush’s idea, magical as always.”
The emotional weight of that responsibility was not lost on the team at Ogilvy India, which created the campaign. Kainaz Karmakar and Harshad Rajadhyaksha, group chief creative officers at Ogilvy India, described the process as “a pilgrimage of sorts, on the path that Piyush created not just for Ogilvy, but for our entire profession.”
Sudhanshu Vats, managing director of Pidilite Industries, said the film was rooted in a distinctly Indian insight. “The ‘kursi’ symbolises aspiration, transition, and ambition,” he said. “Piyush Pandey had an extraordinary ability to elevate such everyday observations into iconic storytelling for Fevicol. This film carries that legacy forward.”
That legacy is considerable. Over several decades, Pandey’s partnership with Fevicol produced some of the most beloved advertising in Indian history, building the brand into something rare: a household name that people actively enjoy watching sell to them.
“Kursi Pe Nazar” does not try to be a tribute. It simply tries to be a great Fevicol film. By most measures, it succeeds — which is, in the end, the most fitting send-off of all.
