Native is the sweet spot for the insurance industry: Sameer Jain

In conversation with Outbrain Digitalks, Sameer Jain, Assistant Vice President, Digital at Max Life Insurance India, shares the impact of the global pandemic on the industry and how it can be leveraged as an opportunity in disguise.

The banking and finance industry, like most others today, have felt the impact of the economic downturn caused by the pandemic. Offering deeper insights from the industry, Sameer Jain, AVP - Digital, Max Life Insurance India, shares that COVID-19 has brought about changes in awareness among consumers and their readiness for unseen eventualities. 

“Insurance is now at the top of mind of consumers and has become a mainstream investment.” In a highly competitive industry, it is essential to build an empathetic relationship with consumers, especially during difficult times. 

Where companies use 'fear' as a selling point of insurance products, Jain believes that communication should be contextual for consumers and make them feel heard and understood. "Native platforms have become one of the most well-known ways for brands to connect with their audiences", he shares. 

Max Life Insurance is one such adopter of native advertising – a savvy insurance brand that has already been effectively leveraging Outbrain as a major digital channel for lead generation purposes. “Native is the sweet spot for the insurance industry and we are ready to invest more on the platform,” highlights Jain. 

In the concluded finance budget, the news about the completion of the LIC IPO in 2021-22 was reaffirmed. Sandeep goes on to explore how insurance companies as one market would benefit from a capital-intensive environment and convert it into an opportunity. To this, Sameer has a strong conviction that even though the market would be dominated, it is going to be an exciting opportunity for the industry. 

The much-awaited move will be to ease foreign direct investment (FDI) in Indian insurance companies, which is expected to be 74%. 

This move will not only increase global investments, innovation in products, more transparency in policies and regulations, but will also increase consumer awareness and trust.

Also read: COVID-19 has encouraged innovations that are changing the way the industry will grow business: Sam Thomas

Selling insurance products comes with its challenges, and that is where Native stands out as a successful marketing channel in the digital ecosystem. Sameer’s broad experience in the performance of digital channels unearths some interesting insights, especially for brands looking to reach the harder KPIs.

From the discussion of performance and awareness, we easily digress into the hot topic of a cookieless world! The move will have the greatest impact on digital channels and Jain agrees that it is essential to become 'more upfront' with the consumers to build trust. In the current ecosystem, with newer GDPR policies, it is crucial to maintain data security with an enhanced customer experience. And the sooner advertisers understand the gravity of the situation, the better they will be prepared for a cookieless future. 

There is no doubt that by 2021, most advertisers will be investing heavily in programmatic, with already a considerable percentage being spent on platforms like Zemanta (Outbrain’s Native DSP) and Display and Video 360. 

“We are quite confident that 100% of our efforts are going to be programmatic,” says Sameer, thus signifying the share programmatic will take in overall spend strategies.

On a thoughtful note, Sandeep and Sameer consider the constantly evolving dynamics of the ad tech industry, especially in a post-COVID era. And speaking of the next big predictions and innovations for the industry, Sameer shares the idea of combining offline and online data sources to build a strong mechanism of richer information and intelligent data signals. This would not only provide deeper consumer insights but will also assist in determining future ad spends. 

With the newer trends also taking over, the idea is to enhance the user experience and build differentiation factors for their users by intelligently using technologies.

You can watch the complete interview with Sameer Jain here.