The Life Insurance sector in India which has grown to Rs 12 Trillion in Asets ( 12 lakh Crores) or $300 billion with LIC alone and with atleast 35% of the new business share during lean times and 65% share during growth years the Pvt sector also has an asset book of Rs One lakh crore or $ 25 billion. FDI reforms for the sector are a sure thing butt he sector has been lagging behind in social innovation to cater to its commitments of 40% business in urban poor and rural masses. 

The one response to that from the industry has been that of Max New York Life. I intend to show you the brilliant product design of this new great product Max Vijay which has all the 5 Ps of Marketing going for it rather than just branding like Kotak Life's "Chhotu kya banega" r WOM like Birla Sun Life. 

The product Vijay is a Whole Life Insurance Product and thus more affordable as insuranec cover without losing the savings..Also the new cproduct is warehousable, in that it is sold in units of Rs 1000, that are sold at cost to the company on Day ) and goes through distributors, retailers and end agents that use POS terminals to record user details on a simple form. Anyone can pay the Rs 10 ( or maybe 20) required for a Rs 1000 insurance cover, and the company has already sold it from HQ for the 770 value that accrues to the T Ledgers fro the day 1 of sale.. The mortality and the social group demographics have been factored in by actuarrial analysis while the insurer / proposer can buy it 'off the shelf' at his convenience..From my knowledge, for every 10000, the company records 775, while the whole sale distrivutor records the same at 850 or 900 to his retail agents who can be MFI or local Soap/Tobacco/grocery shop owners than can make the sale of each Rs 1000 unit for recorded value f 970. Thus the commission structure is also much more equitable and at the same tie fairly values the insurance contract. The use of POS terminals means that whenever the final sale is made unit value is updated at the CPU and thence any updates regarding renewal premiums and modifications can be made. 

The other products in the sector are basically leaning towards risky capital market based investment pools in Variable Universal Life plans or simply quasi MF investments in Units that can be tracked by their NAV. The riskiest class Equity Funds are allowed 50-60% in Equities. these products then use the family-man appeal to sell by using branding and advertising campaigns around the children / or targeting women. such an example would be Kotak's "Chhotu kya banega" 

A quick comparison above shows you the extent to which Vijay can really serve the rural mass market needs with the operationally complex product that hung IRDA approvals for over a year. As it is sold directly by the company, mis-education may however cause its neglect by the Agent Advisor force and any corporate / bancassurance partners that focus on the wealth segment. 

The final approved product from Max has three distinct flavours, Silver Gold and Diamond, much in use in Sales incentive compensation with largest retail distribution companies like ITC, HUL and thus easily understood.  The product is endorsed by regional and bollywood celebrities like Vijay and Amitabh Bachchan (Brand Ambassador)  and is expected to gather Rs 300 crores in 3 years