Brand strategy

It does not take long to find a broker with a tired brand and those with great websites are in a minority. Finding a broker with talent for marketing is a rarity but there are some sharp players around. What is more, there are some good people on hand who can help bring brokers up to speed, among them marketing consultants and insurers.

There is no doubt that insurance companies are keeping a much tighter hold on their marketing purse strings but brokers with sound businesses should still be able to tap an insurer if they present their cases properly and have attractive pickings to offer.

Effective marketing matters as never before. Direct Line is ploughing cash into marketing its small and medium-size enterprise proposition while the aggregators continue to drive down prices and create the impression that remotely sold and depersonalised cover is the norm for everyone. What is more, many brokers fail to differentiate their businesses, leaving new customers clueless about which to select and existing ones struggling to identify the brand values that might make them more loyal?

Old hat

There are plenty of brokers that give fantastic service but operate under a drab brand - putting an advertisement in Yellow Pages to attract custom and raise brand awareness is no longer pushing the boat out. These dinosaurs may well have satisfied customers but this is an industry where renewal is essential every year, so questions abound such as what will make those people stay and will they go direct or visit an aggregator? Equally likely, will they look on the internet to find another local broker that simply looks more appealing? No one needs reminding that most standard classes of business are phenomenally competitive and so doing nothing when it comes to marketing is reckless.

It appears in some broking quarters that this message is being received loud and clear. Aon has announced an audacious four-year, £20m sponsorship of Manchester United from next year, taking over from humbled insurance giant AIG. Aon said that, following the announcement of the deal, it received a 500% increase in traffic to its website.

John Keeble, Aon's director of sales and marketing for the UK, explained the thinking behind the decision: "We chose Manchester United as the leading brand internationally in the most popular game worldwide." However, this kind of budget is way beyond what most brokers can afford.

For those brokers prepared to admit that their marketing skills are weak and their company is more vulnerable than it should be, now is the time to have a rethink.

When it comes to the SME enterprise sector, brokers remain the dominant distributors. In recent years, more personal lines brokers have moved into the sector and big players such as Swinton are also making an impact. Aviva - in its former guise as Norwich Union Direct - sought to sell direct SME cover but has now had a change of heart and instead is solely backing brokers in this market.

Now, Aviva is spending millions on its Paul Whitehouse-fronted television advertising to encourage SME customers to call a broker - will it be you that they choose?

Aviva is not releasing many details about the advertising campaign before its launch, although the insurer has confirmed an October start; it will also run across national and regional newspapers and radio. The message will be to encourage commercial clients to speak to a broker for commercial insurance guidance. Although this sounds like a straightforward communication, it has so far had little national attention on this scale.

Brian Spinks, Aviva's head of corporate sales and marketing is excited to have been given the opportunity to help create the advert and comments: "We firmly believe brokers are best placed to distribute commercial insurance to businesses. They are uniquely positioned to assess individual insurance needs, source the right policy from a range of products and providers while at the same time providing clear, honest and independent professional advice. This is why we are promoting brokers on television as the channel of choice for the SME market. At the same time, this is raising awareness of the Aviva brand in the UK as a major provider of commercial insurance."

Star turn

He continues: "As with any TV campaign, we are looking to achieve cut-through among our target audience, particularly as insurance is not seen as a particularly sexy product. The use of humour within our advertising and Paul Whitehouse is fully intended to provide this while still delivering the key message of 'go to your broker to arrange the right cover for your business'."

Aviva is also aware that sending potential customers to brokers could mean losing business should the intermediary recommend another insurer. Spinks insists: "It is altruistic in its approach, promoting as it does the channel rather than a single product or provider; that is how much Aviva believes in the brokers and our commercial offering in the UK. We are very excited about using TV as a new media for promoting brokers to businesses and look forward to hearing from our brokers what they think." The advert ends with strapline 'Visit your broker or find one at Aviva online.'

Aviva, perhaps because of its sheer size, is criticised at times by brokers but surely even the most hardened cynic among the broking fraternity cannot fail to be cheered by this campaign.

The marketing message differs from insurer to insurer. Brit, which is broker-only, targets business owners through focused sponsorship of cricket. Having first sponsored Surrey cricket club in 2004, from next year the insurer will sponsor the England cricket team, taking over from Vodafone. Brit hopes the name recognition will carry through to clients when they are presented with the opportunity of taking a Brit policy. Mark Jones, group marketing and communications director at Brit, explained its decision: "Both those who advise on and purchase business insurance show a high propensity to follow cricket. The sponsorship helps us develop comfort and confidence with the brand." He added that he is aware he has to link the marketing to "the business experience brokers actually have with us".

Investment

For local brokers on smaller budgets than insurers, now is the time to smarten up and show the customers that you are ready for their business by marketing your offering. Starting with a brainstorming session could work well, provided it is properly facilitated and any bright ideas are properly developed; there is also the opportunity to look at what the competition is doing and improve on it.

Brokers that do well spend a decent sum on marketing. While frugality may be positive in many areas, a creative, carefully thought through marketing strategy is worth a sizeable investment. Brokers that take marketing seriously and that are successful are in turn more likely to receive further funding from insurers for bespoke projects.

Property specialist Barbon is a case in point. Nick Sharp, managing director of the broker's property and commercial division, explains that the business has a small in-house marketing team that focuses on building relationships with affinity clients: "We take our affinity business very seriously, it is where we have real expertise and we want our clients to get to know us and what we can offer."

As a result, Barbon sponsors events connected to its key sectors, which include property managing agents. Sharp continues: "We specialise in blocks of flats through our Deacon division and we sponsor important events such as annual general meetings and annual dinners for clients including the Association of Residential Managing Agents and the Property Managers' Association of Scotland. These are key events and so we make sure that they are well planned, in good hotels and that we talk to the people that matter."

Loosened collars

It does not have to be all business suits. Another example of Barbon's sponsorship is The National Society of Allied and Independent Funeral Directors - SAIF. Sharp says: "We support their dinner and also regular Ryder Cup events. Some might be surprised but a lot of funeral directors love to play golf and have some fun."

Barbon is also active in the social housing market and so sponsors the National Housing Federation's Conference. Another of its niches is haulage, for which it provides the TruckInsure product.

TruckInsure sponsors the UK Truckshow, held at Santa Pod in Northamptonshire, sending a strong team to work over a weekend. Most recently, within its VIP enclosure, TruckInsure offered a free draw to give away eight rides in a 172mph twin-seat dragster. There is another sponsorship deal aimed at independent film producers, who are invited to a Barbon-sponsored award ceremony in London.

"We haven't cut back. We want to expand - even in this market - and you need to show you are committed to your chosen affinity group," Sharp comments.

Barbon has also received financial support from insurers. Sharp explains: "If you are working closely on a scheme then some support may be available. If you know an insurer well and have proven results then assistance in areas such as marketing and technology is still available for websites or quote-and-buy systems."

Meanwhile, Somerset-based Higos, which has 13 West Country branches, came up with a captivating campaign at relatively low cost that resulted in a healthy increase in personal lines business. The promotion linked to the business winning a trade magazine's regional broker of the year award. Marketing manager Neil Wyatt explains: "We decided to let our customers know about our success, so we designed 'celebrate with us' themed posters, saying we had won and also that for anyone taking out a policy worth over £100, we would give them either champagne or chocolates. People liked it and it gave them a chance to get to know our branch staff. In fact, we only planned to run it for a few months but will extend it to the end of the year."

Higos has also scored a hit with local advertising on Heart FM, something Hastings broker Ian Mantel of Manor Insurance has also found effective in the past, although this year he took a different tack. He says: "We sponsored the Red Arrows at Airbourne 2009, the world's largest free seafront airshow. It took place in Eastbourne and highlighted our TravelInsured brand, ensuring relevancy for the many older people there."

"We're a local broker and while we help people across the UK find travel cover, I also believe being visible in your local community is important."

Brokers that are active in their business communities may be approached about sponsorship opportunities and these can be an excellent way of building new relationships, the brand and corporate hospitality. Based on the sponsorship deals, most clued-up brokers can gauge quickly if the package is relevant for them, though the area in which brokers seem to want their hands held most is the internet.

Bob Gratton, Bollington's product and underwriting director, points out that these affinity clients are worth their weight in gold and can offer a retention rate of around 90%. Niches can be a broker's best friend: rather than covering all shops, the broker that becomes an expert in a specific type of retailer and offers unique policy features relevant to that client is likely to do far better.

Easy internet

Brokers should see the internet as a core part of their marketing strategies and understand how pay-per-click advertising works on search engines. Gratton comments:"[On the internet] income versus costs should be easy to measure and it is easy to vary the daily spend to fit in with how people are using the net to make searches. It is also easy to analyse what is working and make quick changes, for example to the search words used. Again, targeting specific trades enables specific website addresses to be purchased that take enquirers to a specific internet landing page for that trade where the unique selling points can be promoted."

He continues: "With smaller SME business, the less involvement of your own staff in dealing with enquiries the better, so the development of products that can be applied for, bound and serviced online by the prospect is key for the future. Good web design is key to making it easy for people to deal with you and will give you a head start over others whose websites are clunky and difficult to navigate." This, of course, has to balance with continuing investment in dealing with customers not wishing to buy online.

A broker may have to make use of an expert consultancy if it needs a major website revamp and significantly improved search engine optimisation. Ignition offers a range of marketing services tailored to brokers and general manager Michael Butler explains that these can be paid for directly by brokers and may even be paid for by insurers.

Butler acts sometimes as an executive for a broker's project team to help it find out what the firm's differentiating features are - something vital for effective marketing but that can also be hard to define. He remarks that identifying a brand's unique features is something that brokers often struggle with.

Adding value

He points out that, within SME, additional service lines such as risk management or claims support could be promoted in addition to the quality of the people. Meanwhile, Butler says that some of the ways brokers can start to become more sophisticated in their marketing strategies is through areas like data purchase, telemarketing, online and real-world campaigns and the use of technology solutions to manage and track results.

Butler points out that, from January to June this year, there were an estimated 3.5 million commercial insurance keyword searches on Google in the UK, meaning that achieving a high-ranking advertising position using popular pay-per-click keyword searches can be expensive. Butler warns: "It is important for brokers to access professional expertise to ensure a satisfactory return."

Andy Hawkes, director at THB Risk Solutions, agrees that too many brokers have a me-too offering: "They may do some advertising or be involved with Rotary or play golf with clients but that may only work when times are easy. We provide brokers with risk management solutions for their clients that can be white-labelled from our Cardinus subsidiary. This helps with health and safety legislation online, specifically for SMEs. This not only creates revenue, it also differentiates brokers and builds client loyalty."

Trevor Cutts, business development director at 1 Answer Network, which targets smaller brokers as members, says network membership can mean fresh marketing ideas and support. Cutts argues: "At times, brokers have joined us because they have run out of ideas; they are threatened by the amount of competition out there and often feel defeated. They need to get out of this way of thinking and start again. We can share experience and provide practical help."

Proving ground

The network also operates its own small broker with gross written premium of £2.5m. It is used to test out marketing ideas that in turn are passed onto members. "We help with areas like lead generation and setting up e-mail - we're running a mobile phone texting trial. It seems that a lot of people are happy to respond to texts and it is cost effective. There is still a place to build a local presence; often, I will visit a broker that is surrounded by businesses, none of which are clients. That can be turned around."

Several insurers have emphasised that they want to curry favour with independent brokers, so even if they are not flush with cash, it may be possible to obtain some financial assistance. Cutts said this could include sorting out policy extras with an insurer or email or traditional mailings.

Meanwhile, Lyndon Wood, chairman at Moorhouse Group, says that any broker still fiddling with traditional advertising needs to wake up. Wood says: "A few years ago, we spent around £260,000 on local directory advertising and won around £26,000 of business. I also think direct mail is not effective and, while outbound telephony can be helpful, most business now is coming through the web. It really helps if you have someone good in-house who can manage this for you, who understands how pay-per-click works. If not, find a high-quality local agency that is not going to rip you off: in these times you should be able to negotiate a good rate."

While remote sales may be taking off, he has this advice: "There is no point hiding in your office and spending a lot of money on expensive marketing if you aren't in touch with your business and customers. Pick up the phone. Talk to people and get a feeling for what your customers want. This is what you should build your marketing strategy around."

Appropriate, sustained and intelligent marketing will pay dividends if the broker can deliver on promises. Many brokers have no problem with the delivering part but too few are properly marketing their businesses. For those that realise this but have pushed it to the back of their minds, now is the time to bring it to the forefront and take action. Perhaps the Aviva adverts will inspire you.