NEW DELHI: ICICI Prudential Life Insurance has appointed Abhishek Bhatia as the head of marketing. The 28-year old, whose career has spanned six years, was previously working as marketing manager with the same insurance company.

Bhatia, an alumnus of IIM Calcutta started his career with SmithKline Beecham Consumer Healthcare , where he was responsible for handling brand Boost. Bhatia decided to move on after a two and a half years stint there and joined ICICI Prudential Life Insurance as a brand manager.
Bhatia is pleased with his sojourn so far. “The main challenge is to think beyond convention. There is hardly any FMCG company with advertising plans looking beyond TV. Almost of all them seem to be missing out on impact. One of the reasons why I joined ICICI Prudential Life Insurance was the fact a new industry and a new company gives freedom and opportunity to do something different. Over here, the challenge was to start a brand from scratch. Having done that with the corporate brand, we also created categories like Retirement Solutions from a zero base. So it’s been quite challenging and satisfying as well,” said Bhatia.

Reminiscing his stint at SmithKline Beecham, he said, “The high point there was creating a 360 degree marketing plan around Sachin Tendulkar. Rather than distributing conventional freebies, we decided to go for memorabilia of Sachin. The idea was not only to reach out to mothers but kids as well, creating pester power.”

Bhatia and his team at ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, which is currently reviewing the media planning and buying account (currently with Initiative Media), has already worked some innovative campaigns. For instance, a tie-up with the Dabbawalla Organisation in Mumbai for a direct marketing exercise, to talk to the customer through a non-cluttered route, and thereby have a higher impact. Also, introducing a tax planner by the name of Chintamani on radio, who would answer consumer’s queries about the role of insurance in financial planning.