Historically, life insurance in India had witnessed very little advertising in the mass media; as it was largely sold through insurance agents. Moreover, the need for advertising was not felt till the late 1990s, as there was only one player in the market – The Life Insurance Corporation of India. However, post 2000, there has been a rapid proliferation of private insurance companies. As a result, they released a variety of advertisements. They have used testimonial ads, introduced fictional characters and have adopted the celebrity endorsement route. However, regardless of the format, innovative campaigns with distinct positioning to generate significant brand recall, and which also highlights the importance of life insurance in an engaging manner, appear to be the most successful.

The turn of the 21^st century saw the life insurance indus- try in India witness a boom, thanks to the advent of many private players. Changing socioeconomic demographics and consumer behavior, together with GDP growth and the increased frequency of calamities and disasters have been some of the major reasons that have contributed to this sudden growth. The value of the Indian life insurance industry was forecast to reach Rs. 1683 bn by the year 2009. Commenting on the growth of life insurance in India, CS Rao, chairman of Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) said, "Going by the pace of growth in life insurance, we expect that there will be more activity in the form of joint ventures between multinational insurance companies and their Indian counterparts."

Presently, in India, out of 21 entities in the life insurance sector, there is only one public sector firm, LIC (Life Insurance Corporation of India). Private companies have 35% market share and it is specifically the private life insurance segment that is witnessing maximum activity. The private life insurers are coming up with innovative communication techniques apart from witty slogans to woo the Indian populace. The private life insurers have not just introduced innovative products, but have made every attempt to increase their acceptability among Indians through persuasive advertising techniques.

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