Case Study: Why Tata AIA chose the Mumbai Metro to talk about health

Tata AIA Life Insurance introduced its Health Buddy feature through a location-led campaign that placed health messaging within the everyday commute of Mumbai Metro passengers. Rather than relying on conventional awareness formats, the initiative used the confined pause of a metro journey to surface short, observational prompts around health and self-care, with QR codes linking commuters directly to Health Buddy’s digital tools.

The on-ground activation was supported by a month-long digital amplification across meme pages, marketing-focused social accounts, LinkedIn creators, and internal communication channels.

Category introduction

India's insurance sector has witnessed significant growth, with the domestic market growing at a 17% CAGR over the past two decades. It is projected to reach Rs. 19,30,290 crore (US$ 222 billion) by FY26. This growth has been driven by increased awareness, favorable regulatory changes, and greater participation from the private sector

Brand introduction 

Tata AIA Life Insurance operates in India’s life insurance segment, with offerings spanning protection, savings and wellness-linked services. Its Health Buddy feature, available through the Tata AIA mobile application, provides users access to doctor tele-consultations, discounted diagnostic tests and personalised health-related information.

On social media, the company’s communication focuses on linking financial planning with broader conversations around health and well-being, positioning insurance within everyday lifestyle contexts rather than purely transactional or policy-led narratives.

Summary

In a city that never slows down, the brand wanted to make health feel relevant to those always on the move. The objective was to make health feel approachable and relevant to Mumbai’s fast-paced audience by turning a routine metro ride into a moment of reflection. 

The campaign introduced Tata AIA Health Buddy in a creative, contextual way that connected with the city’s on-the-move crowd, encouraging small behaviour shifts without sounding preachy. By blending humour, empathy, and local insight, Tata AIA made wellness talk to Mumbai in its own language, which is direct, witty, and real.

Objective 

Despite increasing awareness, health often takes a backseat in Mumbai’s fast-paced life. The brand aimed to bridge this gap between awareness and action by introducing Health Buddy in a way that felt real and contextual to everyday Mumbaikars.

The campaign set out to:

• Introduce Tata AIA Health Buddy 

• Make wellness approachable through humour and empathy

• Encourage small lifestyle shifts during moments of pause

• Strengthen Tata AIA’s wellness-led differentiation in the insurance category.

Brief

The brief was to introduce Health Buddy in a way that made wellness feel like part of everyday life, not another app feature or resolution.

Creative idea

Mumbai never stops. It rushes, moves, and rarely pauses for breath. So instead of asking the city to slow down, we decided to meet people where they already do, inside the Mumbai Metro.

Traditional health messaging often goes unheard in a city that’s constantly on the move. So, we turned the daily commute into a reminder to care for oneself. Between two stations, amid the hum of travel, commuters were nudged to take a moment for their health, proving that caring for oneself doesn’t need extra time, just a little attention.

The result was a campaign that used humour and relatability to spark meaningful self-check moments in one of the city’s busiest spaces.

Challenges

• Ensuring the message felt relatable and conversational, not preachy or instructional.

• Maintaining consistency in tone and design across OOH, digital, and internal communication platforms.

• Sustaining buzz and engagement throughout the month-long rollout while keeping the messaging authentic.

• Translating the on-ground metro experience into measurable online engagement and conversation.

Execution 

Ambient Media:

• A full Mumbai Metro train was interior-wrapped with relatable witty copy that spoke directly to the commuters. 

• QR codes linked commuters to Health Buddy features like doctor consultations and fitness tools inside the app.

Social media & Digital amplification

• Meme collaborations on pages such as Trolls Official delivered 13.8 lakh reach and 74.9 k engagements, making health talk trend organically.

• Marketing pages like @btswithbrands and @businessstory.india expanded credibility within the advertising community, adding another 2 lakh reach.

• LinkedIn voices including Kiran Bharambe, Nisha Mehta, and Amit Verma shared personal reflections, generating 2.3 lakh impressions among professionals.

Employee & customer engagement

• Internal WhatsApp and email campaigns engaged with around 14,000 employees and 38,000 customers, prompting 100+ Health Buddy stories and user-generated posts.

The campaign ran for a month, with periodic content drops ensuring consistent visibility and conversation across platforms.

Results 

The campaign went viral, gaining widespread attention from users, meme pages, LinkedIn creators, and more.

Quantitative

• Overall Reach: 33.5 lakh +

• Engagement: 2.08 lakh +

Qualitative

• Shifted the wellness conversation from gyms to daily life.

• Strengthened Tata AIA’s image as a well-being ally rather than a conventional insurer.

• Demonstrated that humour can drive serious health behaviour change.

Yash Chandiramani, Founder & Chief Strategist, Admatazz, said, "The Health Buddy metro campaign was designed to make people think about their health in the middle of their busiest moments. The Mumbai Metro was the perfect medium to do that. It’s where the city slows down, even if just for a few seconds. We wanted that pause to carry meaning and spark reflection."

Girish J Kalra, Chief Marketing Officer, Tata AIA Life Insurance, said, "With the Health Buddy metro campaign, our goal was to make health awareness a part of everyday life, not a distant ideal. We transformed a space as routine as the Mumbai Metro into a reminder to pause and prioritise well-being. This brought the Tata AIA Health Buddy promise closer to where people truly are, in motion, on the go, and always connected."