In an exclusive interview with EVENTFAQS's Shweta Ramsay, Mehrotra discusses the importance of experiential marketing and how the medium is used effectively to promote the Baja Allianz brand.

How important is the experiential marketing platform for Bajaj Allianz?

It is an extremely important space for us. Experiential marketing allows us to provide a more personalised and unique experience to our customers. It helps us to tap our TG precisely. We constantly come up with a range of on-ground activities and initiatives to connect with our TG and reach out to new potential customers. In our research, we have noted that people are generally reluctant to converse with sales people or in a way, even avoid knowing about insurance offers and tax policies from company representatives. Thus our aim is to engage our audience in a very subtle and interesting manner.

What are the on-ground initiatives organised for Bajaj Allianz as part of the marketing strategy?

Earlier in the year, we had organised several on-ground initiatives like the Discover India campaign in association with Anupam Kher which was a school contact program. We also had a tax ambulance run across 30 cities that provided provided people with the necessary information on tax policies. In a year, we organise 150 events nationally. We conduct activities in malls, colleges, housing societies and try to engage as many people as possible directly. We also hold several CSR initiatives. Along with IBN 7, we organise Super Idols which honours disabled people for their achievements.

What is the approximate annual experiential marketing budget this year?

For most of our campaigns, we develop a 360 degree campaign. We commence the campaign generally on TV and radio which eventually is supported by on-ground initiatives. Our marketing budget for BTL activities for a year ranges from eight to nine crores.

Which event or activation agency do you regularly work with?

We have been associated with groupm's, Dialect for over eight years now. They have managed several activations for us and even handle the conceptualisation of our activations.

Please tell us more about the recently launched Bajaj Allianz campaign

Bajaj Allianz announced the launch of a unique and innovative mobile-app for tax planning on December 12. This mobile-app is an instant tax-calculator that enables users to calculate their tax liability. A month-long 360 degree campaign has been launched to promote the same. The on-ground activation will be managed by Dialect, groupm.

In order to promote the new application, there will be several activations conducted that will be targeting people between the 25-33 years age group. We will be targeting around 130 corporate offices across India. We will also be carrying out activations in over 30 malls in 30 cities. Our aim, through the activation, is to atleast have two lakh people download the application on their mobile phones. Also, in order to promote the new application, Blue-fi zones have been created in over 3000 locations like malls, select corporate offices, IT parks and other hot-spot outlets across over 90 cities in the country. The application will be available for download at these locations.