Twenty-five years is a long time to build trust. It is also a long time to learn what your audience truly needs.
As SBI Life Insurance marks a quarter century, the brand is channeling that legacy into their boldest, most character-driven campaign yet. Jolly–Polly brings together cricketers Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja in an entirely new avatar, as two characters at the heart of a long-running brand narrative.
We sat down with Mr. Ravindra Sharma, Chief of Brand, Corp. Comm. and CSR at SBI Life Insurance, to understand what is driving the shift.
The life insurance category has traditionally leaned on fear-based messaging with serious tonality. Jolly–Polly feels like a deliberate departure from that. What was the core intent behind this shift?
The brief to ourselves was simple: how do we make life insurance feel less distant?
Because awareness is one thing, but adoption is a different story all together. We felt that if you really want people to adopt something – not just acknowledge it – you have to make it relatable. The messaging needs to be easy to digest, and easy to act upon.
The idea was: what if your next-door neighbour was nudging you toward making smarter financial decisions? That is the kind of conversational warmth we wanted Jolly–Polly to carry.
That is quite a tonal leap for the category. Were there moments of doubt? Were you confident this would land?
From the very start, we were very sure of the direction we wanted to go, and that certainty came from knowing our audience: young, aspiring India. What this demographic wants, more than anything, is to feel understood.
We also wanted to reinforce a shift in how people perceive SBI Life – not just as a security provider, but as an enabler. Someone who helps you pursue your passions while knowing your loved ones are taken care of.
A conversational, uplifting tone felt like exactly the right vehicle for that.
Let’s talk about the choice of Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja. Beyond the obvious star power – why this combination, and why two ambassadors instead of the more conventional one?
Because we wanted a conversation, and a conversation needs two people. But beyond that, each character carries a very specific role. Rishabh (Jolly) is the catalyst. Young, passionate, a little impulsive in the best way. Ravindra (Polly) is the guardian. Someone who has seen enough of life, navigated adversity, and can offer genuine reassurance.
Together, the dynamic duo works: Jolly says go, pursue it, live your life. And Polly says I’ve got you covered. That banter, that push-and-pull, is at the heart of the campaign.
With cricket endorsements being almost a default in Indian advertising, was there a conscious decision to not present them as cricketers at all, but as characters?
Yes, because everyone is using cricketers. If you put a cricketer in a jersey and have them endorse your brand, the memorability becomes diluted. But when you put the same faces in an entirely different avatar, people pay attention.
They become familiar enough to trust, but surprising enough to be interesting.
And the hope is that Jolly and Polly take on a life of their own, beyond just this campaign?
Absolutely. Think Zoozoos, think Ramesh-Suresh. Characters that outlive the campaign era and become synonymous with the brand. That’s the ambition.
Jolly Polly are not just a one-time executional choice; they are hopefully the beginning of a long-running narrative.
From a distribution standpoint, where are you placing your bets? Given the younger target audience, is this predominantly digital?
We actually approached planning a little differently this time. Rather than starting with which platform, we started with which format. The answer was clear: audio-visual.
We want people to experience the conversation. So TV, cinema, YouTube, OTT – that has been our primary focus.
Print was deliberately introduced at a later stage. We let the AV content run for two weeks first, build recall and familiarity, and then dropped the print. We went with a single print insertion which could give us significant reach, because people had already seen the commercial. It was about sequencing for maximum impact.
And what is next for Jolly–Polly? Can you give us a preview?
More is definitely coming. Right now, we are in a watch-and-learn phase. Looking at what’s resonating, where the high points are, where there is room to improve.
We are also exploring formats beyond conventional AV, and the conversation will evolve. But Jolly and Polly will be back.
With a legacy brand like SBI Life now actively courting Gen Z and millennials through character-driven storytelling and a markedly more optimistic brand voice, it will be worth watching how the campaign arc develops – and whether Jolly–Polly become the enduring brand icons they are clearly being built to be.
