Life insurance was bought as a tax saving tool in India rather than for financial protection or long-term wealth creation. Coupled with the non-existent social security system this made 25% of India’s population financially unprotected.The need to bring alive the financial vulnerability of Indians, educate them and reposition life insurance as a long-term wealth creation tool became the primary focus of Max New York Life Insurance in India in 2008-09.

A strategic partnership with India’s Premier Think Tank – National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) enabled Max New York Life Insurance to conduct India's largest survey across 63,000 households and publish the findings in a book – “How India Earns, Spends and Saves”.This research formed the basis to spread awareness about life insurance as the first step towards creating a financially secure nation. The 3-phase financial literacy campaign has changed attitudes towards life insurance of more than 100 million people in India and has established Max New York Life Insurance as a thought leader in the industry.

Phase 1 – High profile book launch on 6th February 2008The Max New York Life – NCAER India Financial Protection Survey (comprehensive sample size of 63,000 households) highlighted ways in which India earns, spends and saves.

A ‘Financial Literacy Campaign’ was implemented to reinforce survey results. Press release dissemination led to high volume media coverage over the next three months across 30 major publications including electronic generated more than 150 clips and touched more than 3,000,000 readers. The survey triggered debate around India’s financial vulnerability and financial protection needs and influenced the Planning Commission to endorse life Insurance as a mandate for all salaried Indians.

Phase 2 - Aggressive media advocacy and financial literacy seminarsThe Max New York Life CEO engaged with 50 top Business editors, emphasizing the need for financial planning. Survey results in successive months became the reference point for many financial newspapers and magazines.

Phase 3 – The public private partnership with Indian railways and the Indian Oil Corporation in July 08 further helped penetrate deeper into India to increase financial protection awareness.

The results of the survey in successive months became the reference point for many financial newspapers and magazines including Businessworld’s ‘Marketing Whitebook’, reinforcing the life insurance need.From powerful headlines to inclusion in the Marketing Whitebook, the financial literacy campaign took the media by storm. The impact of the financial literacy campaign had far reaching effects on building consumer confidence towards life insurance and investment in long term wealth creation options.

The insurance sector saw an overall growth of 64% in 2008-09 in India and Max New York Life Insurance reported a 70% growth Year-to-date in Dec 2008.In addition:- Share of Voice in media stories increased from 12% to 15%- Print coverage went up by 22% to 60% in 2008- Industry stories exclusive to Max New York Life went up to 34%- Internet coverage went up by 346% - Brand awareness jumped from 61% in Feb 08 to 74% in Feb 09The financial literacy PR campaign touched more than 118,000,000 Indians.