Challenges and trends

The brand is confident of leveraging the trust associated with its parentage. According to Ramachandta, the same values that are dear to the constituent brands are the values that will be used to differentiate the agency in the crowded and high decibel insurance space. In addition, as far as competition is concerned, the company feels that Tata AIA Life is in the business of protection against life risks. “More than just the companies in the life insurance category, true competition is the mindset of prospects, who believe that either coverage is unnecessary or the coverage against risks is adequate,” he explains.

Thus, the challenge the company faces stems from the awareness deficiency among consumers. The spokesperson adds, “India is under-insured. More than the challenges of reaching the customer, the true challenge lies in category need creation and awareness of the protection gap that Indians have. The challenge for the industry is to highlight the inadequacy of the first insurance purchased, most likely as a tax break at the early stage of their working career.”

According to IRDA, there are currently 23 life insurance companies in India and as far as the conventional plans of Life Insurance policies are concerned, there is a growth of 11 per cent in policies and 22 per cent in premium as in February 2012, according to the Ministry of State for Finance.

Banking on the agent

As a matter of fact insurance, as a category, needs personal intervention for need creation, product selection, purchase process and post purchase maintenance. Because the nature of the industry is so complex and incomprehensible at times for consumers, it becomes important for agencies to recruit the right kind of agents.

Ramachandra agrees, “A large part of the responsibility rests on the Agent, who is the last mile contact with the insurance agency’s customers. Tata AIA Life embarked on a large transformational program, for over six months, called Premier Agency Program. What this entails has been the creation of Tata AIA Life Premier Academy, which has been mandated to recruit right, train extensively, retain only those who can withstand the process of Premier Academy, and ensure life-long training process. We believe that a Premier Agent of Tata AIA Life will substantially add value towards the protection needs of their customers.”

Upping the emotional quotient

Vikrant Ramachandra, Vice President and Head of Brand Marketing, Tata AIA Life Insurance, says, “Research has suggested to us that in this category, a customer first buys into a Corporate Brand, along with the agent recommending, and finally an Insurance Product. Additionally, money in India is an emotional currency. All transactions are camouflaged in an emotion. At Tata AIA Life we have continually balanced the need of building its brand equity, in conjunction with appropriate product communication.”

Thus the brand has recently launched its third series of campaign based on the same brand philosophy of values and strong foundation. The brand seriously pursues the age old adage that it takes the right values to grow into a secure future. Explaining the rationale behind the campaign, Ramachandra says, “The new campaign continues to leverage a strong belief held dear at Tata AIA Life – if the foundations are strong, the future will be protected. It emanates from an insight that if the learning of tables at the early stages in life is sound, then taking a bash at CAT exams becomes easier.”

He also adds that changing values are an area of high concern in parenting. Based on that understanding Tata AIA Life encourages parents to concentrate on the basic values of life that stand in good stead in the long term. Thus, in a marked difference from other players that use the theme of ‘fear’ of losing, Tata AIA has surely tried to create a sentimental approach to the subject of life insurance.

The new teacher: Tata AIA gives parenting tips

There is still a lot of speculation and confusion when it comes to purchasing life insurance products. In fact they are the last thing on a consumer’s wish list. Thus, it is important for players in this sector to create an emotional bond with consumers as the category is all about trust. Believing in this philosophy that trust is a necessity for the category, Tata AIA Life Insurance (earlier Tata AIG) is pursuing a communication and brand building initiative to strengthen its emotional connect with consumers. In its latest campaign the brand is all set teach a lesson or two to parents on bringing up their child on the right values.

Vikrant Ramachandra, Vice President and Head of Brand Marketing – TATA AIA Life Insurance

Upping the emotional quotient
Vikrant Ramachandra, Vice President and Head of Brand Marketing, Tata AIA Life Insurance, says, “Research has suggested to us that in this category, a customer first buys into a Corporate Brand, along with the agent recommending, and finally an Insurance Product. Additionally, money in India is an emotional currency. All transactions are camouflaged in an emotion. At Tata AIA Life we have continually balanced the need of building its brand equity, in conjunction with appropriate product communication.”
Thus the brand has recently launched its third series of campaign based on the same brand philosophy of values and strong foundation. The brand seriously pursues the age old adage that it takes the right values to grow into a secure future. Explaining the rationale behind the campaign, Ramachandra says, “The new campaign continues to leverage a strong belief held dear at Tata AIA Life – if the foundations are strong, the future will be protected. It emanates from an insight that if the learning of tables at the early stages in life is sound, then taking a bash at CAT exams becomes easier.”
He also adds that changing values are an area of high concern in parenting. Based on that understanding Tata AIA Life encourages parents to concentrate on the basic values of life that stand in good stead in the long term. Thus, in a marked difference from other players that use the theme of ‘fear’ of losing, Tata AIA has surely tried to create a sentimental approach to the subject of life insurance.
The campaign, created by Bates, will be supported by a multi-media, multi-touch-point communication program. One of the most important engagement programme for the company is the soon-to-be-introduced digital tablet-based sales management enabler, where a premier agent of Tata AIA Life will showcase the complete insurance cycle – from prospecting, to evaluating, recommending and policy issuance on a digital platform.

There is still a lot of speculation and confusion when it comes to purchasing life insurance products. In fact they are the last thing on a consumer’s wish list. Thus, it is important for players in this sector to create an emotional bond with consumers as the category is all about trust. Believing in this philosophy that trust is a necessity for the category, Tata AIA Life Insurance (earlier Tata AIG) is pursuing a communication and brand building initiative to strengthen its emotional connect with consumers. In its latest campaign the brand is all set teach a lesson or two to parents on bringing up their child on the right values.

MEDIA RELEASES

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Tata AIG General Insurance Company wins the E-Commerce Award at Asia Insurance Technology Awards 2011
November 11, 2011
Tata AIG General Insurance Company wins awards at Indian Insurance Awards
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Gaurav Garg appointed new managing director, Tata AIG General Insurance
June 27, 2007
Tata AIG General profit before tax grows 236 per cent
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Tata AIG's 'Green Channel Settlement' to make accident repairs and claims easier than ever before
June 28, 2004

FEATURES STORIES

Tata AIG Life Insurance
November 2008 | Cynthia Rodrigues
The appeal of the Tata AIG Life Insurance brand lies in its ability to connect with customers at an emotional level while offering them world-class solutions
The new money-go-round
September 2004 | Shobha Ramswamy
Tata companies in the financial services sector are using innovative thoughts, processes, approaches and strategies to spur economic growth

AREA OF BUSINESS

       

areas of business | location

Tata AIA Life Insurance Company (Tata AIA Life) is a joint venture company, formed by Tata Sons and AIA Group (AIA). Tata AIA Life combines Tata's pre-eminent leadership position in India and AIA's presence as the largest, independent listed pan-Asia life insurance group in the world spanning 15 markets in Asia Pacific. Tata Sons holds a majority stake (74 percent) in the company and AIA holds 26 percent through an AIA Group company. Tata AIA Life was licensed to operate in India on February 12, 2001, and started operations on April 1, 2001.

Areas of business
The company offers a broad array of insurance products to individuals, associations and businesses of all sizes. It is one of the major private sector insurers in India offering life, health and group insurance products covering entire life-stage needs.

Location
Headquartered in Mumbai, Tata AIA Life has sales offices in major cities and towns across India.
   

Health Foundation

•     Tata AIA Life Health First.
•     Tata AIA Life Health Protector.
•     Tata AIA Life Health Investor.
•     Tata AIA Life Hospi CashBack.

PROTECTION FOUNDATION

•     Tata AIA Life Raksha.
•     Tata AIA Life LifePlus.
•     Tata AIA Life Maha Raksha Supreme.
•     Tata AIA Life Insurance iRaksha Supreme.

ABOUT TATA AIA LIFE INSURANCE

About Tata AIA

AIA Group Limited and its subsidiaries (collectively “AIA” or “the Group”) comprise the largest group of independent publicly listed Asian life insurance. It has operations in 16 markets in Asia Pacific – branches and subsidiaries in Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, China, Korea, Philippines, Australia, Indonesia, Taiwan, Vietnam, New Zealand, Macau, Brunei, 92 full ownership of subsidiary percent of Sri Lanka and 26 percent – a joint venture in India.

Business, which is now AIA was first established in Shanghai over 90 years. It is a market leader in the Asia Pacific (ex Japan) based on life insurance premiums and holds leading positions across the majority of its markets.

They had total assets of 119 dollars, 494 million as at 31 May 2012.
AIA meets the savings and their protection needs of individuals by offering a wide range of products and services, including retirement savings plans, life insurance and accident and health insurance.

The Group also provides employee benefits, credit life and pension services to corporate clients.

Through its extensive network of agents and employees across Asia Pacific, AIA serves the owners of more than 24 m individual policies and over 10 million participating members of group insurance plans.

AIA Group Limited listed on the main board of the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited under the stock code “1299″ with American Depositary Receipts (Level 1) traded on the over the counter (NYSE: “AAGIY”).

Code of Conduct for Vendors

 Code of Conduct for Vendors

Objective:

The objective of this Code of Conduct is to ensure the minimum performance standards for to be adhered by the Vendor/Service Provider of Tata AIA Life Insurance Company Limited ("TALIC"). TALIC aims to advance human dignity, reduce waste, improve efficiency, and safe and healthy workplace and encourage these best practices among Vendor/Service Provider. TALIC expect Vendor/Service Provider to have natural respect for our ethical standards in context of their own particular culture. TALIC expects its Vendor/Service Provider to extend the same principal of fair and honest dealing to all others with whom they do business, including employees, sub-contractors and other third parties. This Code of Conduct shall apply to all the Vendors/Service Providers who deals in with TALIC irrespective of whether it is for a particular activity or for a series of assignments.

TALIC supports Vendor/Service Provider adoption of their own codes or statements of best practices that include the following principles and core elements: Ethical Business Practices, Labour Standards, Health & Safety and Management Systems.

Vendor/Service Provider must comply with all applicable laws, regulations and standards in the location in which they operate. TALIC recognize that the standards set forth in this document may differ from local laws and customs, and TALIC expect Vendor/Service Provider to respect these standards within the context of the laws and cultural norms of their particular geography. This Statement of Vendor/ Service Provider is designed to complement their similar internal standards that they may have implemented already or may be working towards.

Section A: ETHICAL BUSINESS PRACTICE

TALIC aspires to the highest standards of ethical conduct and expect our Vendor/Service Provider to aspire to same standards in their business practices and to develop training and implementation programs to assure that all employees and agents understand and adhere to these standards.

    Business Integrity : The highest standards of integrity should be upheld in all business interactions. Any and all forms of corruption, extortion and embezzlement are unacceptable.
    No Improper Advantage : Bribes or other means of obtaining undue or improper advantage are not to be offered or accepted. No festival gifts to be offered to TALIC employee. If evidence is found against any of the Vendor/Service Provider; all the Contracts/Purchase orders of the Vendor/Service Provider shall be terminated with immediate effect and the Vendor/Service provider will be black-listed for future business.
    Disclosure of Information : Information regarding business activities, structure, financial situation and performance is to be disclosed in accordance with applicable regulations and prevailing industry practices. Vendor/Service Provider shall ensure at all times the integrity of data or information furnished by TALIC. Vendor/ Service Provider shall entirely be responsible in ensuring that the confidentiality of data is retained and in no circumstances transferred to an outsider, in the course of normal operations, without written approval of TALIC.
    Intellectual Property : Intellectual property rights are to be respected; transfer of technology and know-how is to be done in a manner that protects intellectual property rights.
    Intellectual property, including, but not limited to, patents, trademarks and copyrights, developed or otherwise acquired by Vendor/Service Provider, using TALIC resources, during their engagement with TALIC and which is related to TALIC's business, is the property of TALIC. Vendor/Service Provider having access to TALIC intellectual property must not improperly disclose or use the intellectual property either during or after association with TALIC unless proper authorization is received. Vendor/Service Provider must cooperate with TALIC in all efforts to secure its interest in intellectual property deemed to be the property of TALIC. Vendor/Service Provider may not use intellectual property obtained in the course of their engagement with another company without first obtaining permission from the other company. Vendor /Service Provider are not permitted to use or copy software or documentation, except as agreed upon in writing. Vendor/Service Provider, who are approached with any offer of confidential information that may have been obtained improperly, must immediately discuss this matter with the Legal & Compliance Team of TALIC.
    Transparency : Information regarding business activities and performance should be informative and disclosed in accordance with applicable regulations and prevailing industry practices.
    Antitrust and Fair competition : Vendor/ Service Provider shall provide superior products and services not through improper or anticompetitive practices but by maintaining healthy and prudent competitive practices. Vendor/Service Provider shall not violate the provisions of anti corruption laws including Prevention of Corruption Act to obtain or retain business and shall not indulge into any practices prohibited under anti corruption laws.
    Trading in Securities : No Vendor/ Service Provider and immediate family shall derive any benefit or assist others to derive any benefit from the access to and possession of information of TALIC which is not in the public domain. No Vendor/ Service Provider shall use or proliferate information which is not available to the investing public and which therefore constitutes insider information for making or giving advice on investment decisions on the securities of TALIC on which such insider information has been obtained.

    Such insider information shall include but not limited to:
        acquisition and divestiture of businesses or business units
        financial information such as profits, earnings and dividends
        announcement of new product introductions or developments
        asset revaluations
        investment decisions/plans
        restructuring plans
        raising finances

Section B: LABOUR STANDARDS

Vendor/Service Provider are committed to uphold the human rights for employees, treat them with dignity, and respect as understood by international community.

    Forced Labour: Employees should not be forced, bonded, indentured, or subjected to involuntary prison labor.
    Child Labor Avoidance : Vendor/Service Provider and their sub contractors will not hire any person under the age for completing compulsory education, or under the minimum age for employment in the state, whichever is greatest.
    Working Hours: Working time of the employee of the Vendor/Service Provider shall be as per Shop & Establishment Act or other relevant Act prevailing in the said geography.
    Respect in the Workplace: Vendor/Service Provider and their sub contractors will treat with respect and dignity and ensure employees are not subjected to any form of physical, sexual, psychological or verbal harassment or abuse
    Wages and Benefits: Compensation should comply with all applicable wage laws, including those relating to minimum wages, timely wages, overtime hours and legally mandated benefits.
    Health and Safety: Vendor/Service Provider should provide adequate and safe working conditions and comply with applicable health and safety policies and laws.

Section C: HEALTH AND SAFETY

Vendor/Service Provider shall recognize that a safe and healthy work environment enhances the quality of products and services, consistency of production and employees' morale. Vendor/Service Provider also recognize that ongoing employee input and education is a key to identifying and solving health and safety issues in the workplace. TALIC encourage Vendor/Service Provider to join in similar sustainability efforts. TALIC targets for Vendor/Service Provider to continuously maintain:

    Occupational Safety: Employees exposure to potential safety hazards are to be controlled through proper design, engineering and administrative controls, preventative maintenance and safe work procedures. Where hazards cannot be adequately controlled by these means, employees are to be provided with appropriate personal protective equipment. Employees shall be disciplined for raising safety concerns.
    Emergency Preparedness: Emergency situations and events are to be identified and assessed, and their impact minimized by implementing emergency plans and response procedures, including: emergency reporting, employee notification and evacuation procedures, employees training and drills, appropriate fire detection and suppression equipment, adequate exit facilities and recovery plans.
    Occupational Injury and Illness: Procedures and systems are to be in place to manage, track and report occupational injury and illness, including provisions to: a) encourage employee reporting; b) classify and record injury and illness cases; c) provide necessary medical treatment; and d) investigate cases and implement corrective actions to eliminate their causes.

Section D: MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

Vendor/Service Provider shall adopt or establish a management system whose scope is related to the content of this Code. The management system shall be designed to ensure compliance with applicable laws, regulations and customer requirements related to their operations and products/services; conformance with this Code; and identification and mitigation of operational risks related to this Code.

The Management systems shall recognize and ensure Corporate Social responsibility, Legal & customer requirements, proper Risk Assessment & Risk Management, imparting periodical Training, employee feedback and participation, Audit and Assessments, corrective action process, retention of Documentation and records.

Vendor/Service Provider shall operate in full compliance with the laws of their respective jurisdiction and with all other applicable laws, rules and regulation


Note:

This Statement of Principles neither constitutes nor should be construed to constitute a contract and nothing contained or implied herein is intended or shall be construed to create or convey upon any person or entity, including employees, any benefits, rights, actions or remedies.

Tata AIA Life Insurance Company Limited (Tata AIA Life) is a joint venture company, formed by Tata Sons and AIA Group Limited (AIA). Tata AIA Life combines Tata's pre-eminent leadership position in India and AIA's presence as the largest, independent listed pan-Asia life insurance group in the world spanning 16 markets in Asia Pacific. Tata Sons holds a majority stake (74 per cent) in the company and AIA holds 26 per cent through an AIA Group company. Tata AIA Life Insurance Company Limited was licensed to operate in India on February 12, 2001 and started operations on April 1, 2001.