Home insurance crucial as more floods are predicted (Tesco online)
17/01/2008
Homeowners are being warned of the possibility of further flooding and some are already seeing the effects of recent weather conditions which have breached their homes once again.
The forecasts for a combination of flooding and high winds to come have urged Halifax Home Insurance to encourage people to ensure they have adequate home insurance in case their homes are damaged, especially the five million people living in areas threatened by flooding, and those affected by last summer's floods, the consequences of which are still ongoing and many families remain displaced from their homes. Halifax's recommendations include putting sandbags outside of doors and windows to reduce the amount of water entering the property, turning off mains supplies of water, electricity and gas, disconnecting pipes to appliances such as washing machines and dishwashers to avoid damage to the pipes, and moving as many furniture items, curtains, rugs and other belongings as possible upstairs.Officials have said that the next several days will prove critical in assessing the potential damage to homes, and last night the Environment Agency had 71 flood warnings in place as many homeowners battened down the hatches against the elements for the second or third time in just eight months.
Savvy shoppers set to benefit as comparison sites prepare for home insurance price war (Tesco online)
16/01/2008
Price comparison websites are preparing for battle as an increasingly competitive home insurance market is forcing down prices, providing web-savvy customers with the opportunity to snap up cut price deals. Research by Consumer Intelligence (CI) has found that home insurance customers are becoming more price conscious which in turn is likely to cause a price war for price comparison websites later this year.A survey of 2,000 home insurance buyers, conducted monthly by Consumer Intelligence has seen a ten per cent increase in price sensitivity in recent months, the biggest rise since the study began 18 months ago. Currently, around 69 per cent of motor insurance customers use price comparison websites when they renew their policies. While car insurance shoppers are making full use of comparison sites, only 43 per cent of people seeking home insurance bothered with a price comparison site when renewing their policy. However, if these people decide to start comparing quotes, that would mean an additional 5.5 million more shoppers on price comparison sites in the next few years. Recent discounts offered to customers by insurance firms have reduced annual premiums for many by up to 50 per cent, allowing consumers to get more value for money than ever before.
Budget launches short-term car insurance
Wednesday, 23 Jan 2008 11:50
Budget Insurance is launching a range of short-term car insurance policies. The polices are aimed at those moving house, borrowing a car from a friend, overseas visitors, learner drivers, students returning home during term holidays and those test driving a vehicle. Temporary cover is available from a single day to four weeks. "But traditionally this kind of cover has been difficult to find when you need it." Temporary cover also offers reassurance to the vehicle owner, as their no-claims bonus is not at risk. "In the event of an accident, an accident involving a driver added temporarily to the owner’s policy could affect their no-claims discount. But if that driver took out a temporary policy, the owner’s no-claims discount would be unaffected," Mr Gledhill concluded.
eBay launches car insurance service
Wednesday, 23 Jan 2008 11:48
eBay is launching a new car insurance service for its site eBayMotors.co.uk.
A partnership with price comparison website insurancewide.com will provide visitors to the car auction site a comprehensive choice of car insurance policies under the eBay Motors Services section. Jody Ford, head of eBayMotors, said, "With over three million visitors every month, the needs of the eBay Motors community are wide and varied. ‘We believe insurancewide.com provides the right level of choice, service and value to address these needs’.Insurancewide.com chief executive James Harrison said: "eBay has been incredibly successful in helping people buy and sell cars simply, quickly and inexpensively. Offering car insurance comparison is a natural follow on from that. Insurancewide currently has partnerships with personal finance portals at MSN, AOL and Yahoo, and offers access to almost every UK insurer and broker.
Friday, 8 February 2008
Competitors
Sheilas' Wheels launches ad campaign for female home insurance product
By Antoinette Odoi Marketing 01-Feb-08, 15:21
LONDON - Sheilas' Wheels, the women's motor insurance company, is rolling out an ad campaign to promote its new female-focused home insurance product.
The brand, whose current TV ads for car insurance are fronted by various ‘Sheilas' clad in lurid pink, is aiming to raise awareness of its new offering. The new service, which allows people to buy contents and buildings insurance either separately or as a combined package, is designed to appeal strongly to women, although men are also welcome to buy these products. Sheilas' Wheels car insurance has proved popular with women looking for a more bespoke service, and Sheila's Wheels thinks there should be more flexibility with home insurance too.Company spokesperson Jacky Brown says: "Traditional home cover has moved little with the times and until now has been unisex in its blandness. Sheilas’ Wheels home insurance is a very serious female-focused product in the wrappings of a sassy brand."One of the benefits of its home insurance cover includes free online access to the CreditExpert identity fraud detection and assistance service provided by Experian. Furthermore, customers can choose to add home emergency and pest cover if needed, and Family Legal Protection is free for a year when bought online.
Allianz reworks Petplan title (Pet Insurance)
by Nicola Clark Marketing 22-Jan-08
LONDON - Allianz Insurance has appointed customer publisher Sunday to re-launch its Pet-plan magazine in a bid to boost customer loyalty.
The magazine is being re-launched under the title VIP (Very Important Pets). It was previously called Petpatter. Sunday picked up the contract after a competitive pitch against Wardour and incumbent publisher Mediamark.
The insurance firm will also launch a range of online content to support the magazine, which is the biggest in the market with a circulation of 750,000. The work is intended to consolidate Allianz's position as the UK's biggest pet insurance brand. The bi-annual title will be sent directly to Petplan customers with the aim of encouraging customer retention and increasing policy renewal rates. According to Sunday, the publication will have a more contemporary feel and marketing-focused approach.
The move comes as Pet-plan faces increased competition. Its rivals include Esure, More Then, Virgin Money and the RSPCA. The Halifax has also promoted pet-specific policies. A report this month by market analyst Defaqto warned that consumer confidence in the pet insurance sector is low due to the high turnover of firms leaving and entering the market.
In the past 12 months, six pet insurers have left the UK market and nine have joined. Problems during policy transferrals have led to confusion and distrust, according to Defaqto. The pet insurance category accounts for just 1% of the insurance market and is worth an estimated £400m. Defaqto' s report also warned of stalling growth among the UK pet population.
By Antoinette Odoi Marketing 01-Feb-08, 15:21
LONDON - Sheilas' Wheels, the women's motor insurance company, is rolling out an ad campaign to promote its new female-focused home insurance product.
The brand, whose current TV ads for car insurance are fronted by various ‘Sheilas' clad in lurid pink, is aiming to raise awareness of its new offering. The new service, which allows people to buy contents and buildings insurance either separately or as a combined package, is designed to appeal strongly to women, although men are also welcome to buy these products. Sheilas' Wheels car insurance has proved popular with women looking for a more bespoke service, and Sheila's Wheels thinks there should be more flexibility with home insurance too.Company spokesperson Jacky Brown says: "Traditional home cover has moved little with the times and until now has been unisex in its blandness. Sheilas’ Wheels home insurance is a very serious female-focused product in the wrappings of a sassy brand."One of the benefits of its home insurance cover includes free online access to the CreditExpert identity fraud detection and assistance service provided by Experian. Furthermore, customers can choose to add home emergency and pest cover if needed, and Family Legal Protection is free for a year when bought online.
Allianz reworks Petplan title (Pet Insurance)
by Nicola Clark Marketing 22-Jan-08
LONDON - Allianz Insurance has appointed customer publisher Sunday to re-launch its Pet-plan magazine in a bid to boost customer loyalty.
The magazine is being re-launched under the title VIP (Very Important Pets). It was previously called Petpatter. Sunday picked up the contract after a competitive pitch against Wardour and incumbent publisher Mediamark.
The insurance firm will also launch a range of online content to support the magazine, which is the biggest in the market with a circulation of 750,000. The work is intended to consolidate Allianz's position as the UK's biggest pet insurance brand. The bi-annual title will be sent directly to Petplan customers with the aim of encouraging customer retention and increasing policy renewal rates. According to Sunday, the publication will have a more contemporary feel and marketing-focused approach.
The move comes as Pet-plan faces increased competition. Its rivals include Esure, More Then, Virgin Money and the RSPCA. The Halifax has also promoted pet-specific policies. A report this month by market analyst Defaqto warned that consumer confidence in the pet insurance sector is low due to the high turnover of firms leaving and entering the market.
In the past 12 months, six pet insurers have left the UK market and nine have joined. Problems during policy transferrals have led to confusion and distrust, according to Defaqto. The pet insurance category accounts for just 1% of the insurance market and is worth an estimated £400m. Defaqto' s report also warned of stalling growth among the UK pet population.
Behavioral Targeting
Ten things you need to know about behavioral targeting
by Alexandra Jardine Media Week 05-Feb-08
Finding the right ad for the right customer at the right time is an advertiser's dream. Alexandra Jardine talks to those who are working to make that dream come true.
If you have spent any time at all online recently, you might have spotted something. There you are, perusing a TV listings page perhaps, and an ad pops up for a last-minute travel deal to Barcelona - something you were researching just yesterday. Is it just a coincidence?
The answer is almost definitely not. With marketers increasingly turning to the web, the internet ad space is getting crowded.Popular sites are often "sold out"; brands need to find better ways of targeting their audiences on the sites where they know they spend time. Cue a huge upsurge of interest in "behavioural targeting" - that is, serving a customer with ads based on their previous online behaviour.Since behavioural targeting first emerged three years ago, advertisers have scrambled to buy into technology that makes it possible for them to reach a more relevant audience.So, what is the lowdown on this emerging phenomenon?
WHAT IS IT AND HOW DOES IT WORK?Behavioural targeting (BT) basically means targeting an online consumer based on the actions and profile they have demonstrated in the past. This could be linked to a page of content they have viewed, a search they have done, or an ad they have clicked on.It can work in several ways:
1. In some cases, a network of sites tag pages according to their content. "Cookie" technology is then used to track users, following them around the sites and targeting them with advertising based on their previous behaviour.
2. In other cases, companies or media owners create "pre-canned" segments of people who have responded to specific types of campaign, then sell these segments to advertisers.
3. Other sites - retailers for example - might re-target users with ads once they have left their site, based on whether or not they have completed a desired action.
WHAT ARE ITS ADVANTAGES?
The immediate advantages are obvious: the more detailed a profile you build up of a specific user, the more targeted your campaign can be. This not only enables brands to target a more relevant audience, it allows publishers and site owners to sell their sites more efficiently. As Jeremy Mason, managing director European operations at behavioural targeting specialist Revenue Science, puts it: "As more money goes online, premium inventory is selling out very quickly."Behavioural targeting means advertisers can target their audience via a different page based on past behaviour."This allows advertisers to target consumers "out of context" - for example, on Yahoo's portal, a financial brand could target a user who is viewing news or sport pages, knowing that they have previously looked at a finance page - and can also save them money. Ed Stevenson, managing director of 24/7 Real Media, says: "A known reader of FT.com could be targeted with a financial ad while on their Facebook page, for a much cheaper price.
"WHO OFFERS IT?
In addition to several specialist behavioural targeting networks, including Tacoda, Wunderloop and BlueLithium, there are other specialists that sell their technology to media owners. For example, Revenue Science works with major UK publishers such as Guardian Unlimited and FT.com.Web portals such as Yahoo and AOL are also muscling in on the behavioural targeting game. Yahoo allows its advertisers to target audience segments based on data from search, content and ads that they click on. However, Yahoo has now also acquired BlueLithium, which specialises in re-targeting consumers that have shown an interest in brand ads with tactical, direct-response ads.BlueLithium European managing director Tim Brown says their combined reach will be vast: "An advertiser could buy a brand campaign on Yahoo and then blast a particular segment of people with a tactical message. It's about targeting the consumer right through, from the beginning to the end of the sales funnel."Online advertising specialists also offer their clients behavioural targeting services: for example, 24/7 Real Media is now offering clients a service called "search re-targeting", which allows brands to retarget customers that have already shown an interest in their products via searches.
WHAT'S THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE?
Perhaps the greatest challenge in behavioural targeting is finding an audience that's targeted, but not too niche.Revenue Science's Jeremy Mason says: "There are cases where you can limit your audience too much - sometimes agencies want to go too specific. For example, if you want to target people who read a review of a particular car, it could be that you should step back and target those who read five or six different car reviews."Paul Goad of Tacoda agrees: "The majority of advertisers are looking at reach - although if you are Porsche, you probably want to look at just a few hundred people."
ARE THERE OPPORTUNITIES OUTSIDE ONLINE?
Although behavioural targeting is still mainly an online phenomenon, opportunities are emerging on the mobile platform. Revenue Science is about to conduct a mobile advertising experiment in Japan, targeting users of a mobile web portal, Mediba, with ads based on previous behaviour such as downloading ringtones and games, visiting news sites, and e-commerce.Blyk, the opt-in mobile phone network for 16 to 24-year-olds, which gives free texts and calls in return for brands targeting them directly, also claims to offer behavioural targeting. Brands can target customers with mobile ads based on previous responses: L'Oreal sent users a quiz asking which celebrity they looked most like, and tailored future offers to their replies.
WHAT DIFFERENT TYPES OF AUDIENCE CAN IT SEGMENT?
Audiences can be as specific or broad as advertisers choose. Tacoda, for example, offers 350 pre-qualified segments to advertisers, but it can also "mix and match". For example, advertisers can target someone interested in business and travel, but also in buying an air ticket.Yahoo says that it has 114 defined audience segments for advertisers to choose from; for instance, HSBC targeted a segment of 100,000 people looking for current accounts. It experienced an 86% click-through rate increase with its ad.
WHICH ADVERTISERS ARE USING IT?
Automotive, travel, finance, technology and entertainment are the most common categories where behavioural targeting is used, but specialists predict that more niche brands will begin to use it soon.
WHAT WILL HAPPEN IN 2008?
This year looks set to see a behavioural targeting explosion. A recent e-Marketer report predicts that US spending on behaviourally targeted advertising will almost double from $575m (£288.5m) in 2007 to $1bn (£0.5bn) in 2008.Although the UK is some way behind this, interest is strong. "There is very high demand," says Yahoo's Phil Macauley."We were completely sold out across the board in the final quarter of 2007.
"Meanwhile, the technology looks set to develop apace, with better ways of segmenting audiences and more data shared across networks. Revenue Science, for example, is to pool all its participating publishers' data to target users across multiple sites, while Yahoo is starting to develop bespoke audience models for advertisers.It seems as if brands are finally starting to tap into the real potential of the internet.
HOW EFFECTIVE IS IT?
According to a study by Jupiter Research, conducted for AOL and Revenue Science in June 2007, behavioural targeting is a more effective form of online advertising than contextual ads placed alongside related content.- 63% of consumers targeted by behavioural advertising were receptive to the ads, compared to 49% targeted by contextual ads. This was consistent across several categories including entertainment, pharmaceuticals, fashion, government services and classified.
The Welcome Ad Break
07-Feb-08
If TV viewers want to avoid ads, they can. It's never been easier because they have the most intuitive and easy-to-use technology to avoid them: digital television recorder (DTR) devices, such as the Sky Plus box.
The DTR's arrival sent a ripple of fear through the TV advertising industry. It assumed that, given the choice, consumers would skip ads. However, research shows that, rather than avoiding ads, most DTR homes actually watch more in real time.
People don't get DTRs to avoid ads; they get them to find content they want to watch.
Ads are also spotted and rewound to watch fully. Thinkbox found there was a greater appreciation of good ads and of the timeliness of some advertising, especially on live TV: for example retail sales, films and trailers. DTRs renew their owners' interest in the relevance of advertising. There will always be a minority who wish for an ad-free media world but the research showed DTR owners were more circumspect. Many acknowledged advertising's funding role and rejected the notion of paying more for ad-free TV.
It is also easier for viewers to engage and be loyal to programmes they like with a DTR. For existing series it removes some stresses and strains, including the need to be "there", the pressure of seeing every episode, the disappointment of missing out and the inconvenience of setting the VHS. For new series it prevents accidental dropping and encourages long-term sticking with a series, especially to longer-run series that require real commitment in busy lives.
by Alexandra Jardine Media Week 05-Feb-08
Finding the right ad for the right customer at the right time is an advertiser's dream. Alexandra Jardine talks to those who are working to make that dream come true.
If you have spent any time at all online recently, you might have spotted something. There you are, perusing a TV listings page perhaps, and an ad pops up for a last-minute travel deal to Barcelona - something you were researching just yesterday. Is it just a coincidence?
The answer is almost definitely not. With marketers increasingly turning to the web, the internet ad space is getting crowded.Popular sites are often "sold out"; brands need to find better ways of targeting their audiences on the sites where they know they spend time. Cue a huge upsurge of interest in "behavioural targeting" - that is, serving a customer with ads based on their previous online behaviour.Since behavioural targeting first emerged three years ago, advertisers have scrambled to buy into technology that makes it possible for them to reach a more relevant audience.So, what is the lowdown on this emerging phenomenon?
WHAT IS IT AND HOW DOES IT WORK?Behavioural targeting (BT) basically means targeting an online consumer based on the actions and profile they have demonstrated in the past. This could be linked to a page of content they have viewed, a search they have done, or an ad they have clicked on.It can work in several ways:
1. In some cases, a network of sites tag pages according to their content. "Cookie" technology is then used to track users, following them around the sites and targeting them with advertising based on their previous behaviour.
2. In other cases, companies or media owners create "pre-canned" segments of people who have responded to specific types of campaign, then sell these segments to advertisers.
3. Other sites - retailers for example - might re-target users with ads once they have left their site, based on whether or not they have completed a desired action.
WHAT ARE ITS ADVANTAGES?
The immediate advantages are obvious: the more detailed a profile you build up of a specific user, the more targeted your campaign can be. This not only enables brands to target a more relevant audience, it allows publishers and site owners to sell their sites more efficiently. As Jeremy Mason, managing director European operations at behavioural targeting specialist Revenue Science, puts it: "As more money goes online, premium inventory is selling out very quickly."Behavioural targeting means advertisers can target their audience via a different page based on past behaviour."This allows advertisers to target consumers "out of context" - for example, on Yahoo's portal, a financial brand could target a user who is viewing news or sport pages, knowing that they have previously looked at a finance page - and can also save them money. Ed Stevenson, managing director of 24/7 Real Media, says: "A known reader of FT.com could be targeted with a financial ad while on their Facebook page, for a much cheaper price.
"WHO OFFERS IT?
In addition to several specialist behavioural targeting networks, including Tacoda, Wunderloop and BlueLithium, there are other specialists that sell their technology to media owners. For example, Revenue Science works with major UK publishers such as Guardian Unlimited and FT.com.Web portals such as Yahoo and AOL are also muscling in on the behavioural targeting game. Yahoo allows its advertisers to target audience segments based on data from search, content and ads that they click on. However, Yahoo has now also acquired BlueLithium, which specialises in re-targeting consumers that have shown an interest in brand ads with tactical, direct-response ads.BlueLithium European managing director Tim Brown says their combined reach will be vast: "An advertiser could buy a brand campaign on Yahoo and then blast a particular segment of people with a tactical message. It's about targeting the consumer right through, from the beginning to the end of the sales funnel."Online advertising specialists also offer their clients behavioural targeting services: for example, 24/7 Real Media is now offering clients a service called "search re-targeting", which allows brands to retarget customers that have already shown an interest in their products via searches.
WHAT'S THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE?
Perhaps the greatest challenge in behavioural targeting is finding an audience that's targeted, but not too niche.Revenue Science's Jeremy Mason says: "There are cases where you can limit your audience too much - sometimes agencies want to go too specific. For example, if you want to target people who read a review of a particular car, it could be that you should step back and target those who read five or six different car reviews."Paul Goad of Tacoda agrees: "The majority of advertisers are looking at reach - although if you are Porsche, you probably want to look at just a few hundred people."
ARE THERE OPPORTUNITIES OUTSIDE ONLINE?
Although behavioural targeting is still mainly an online phenomenon, opportunities are emerging on the mobile platform. Revenue Science is about to conduct a mobile advertising experiment in Japan, targeting users of a mobile web portal, Mediba, with ads based on previous behaviour such as downloading ringtones and games, visiting news sites, and e-commerce.Blyk, the opt-in mobile phone network for 16 to 24-year-olds, which gives free texts and calls in return for brands targeting them directly, also claims to offer behavioural targeting. Brands can target customers with mobile ads based on previous responses: L'Oreal sent users a quiz asking which celebrity they looked most like, and tailored future offers to their replies.
WHAT DIFFERENT TYPES OF AUDIENCE CAN IT SEGMENT?
Audiences can be as specific or broad as advertisers choose. Tacoda, for example, offers 350 pre-qualified segments to advertisers, but it can also "mix and match". For example, advertisers can target someone interested in business and travel, but also in buying an air ticket.Yahoo says that it has 114 defined audience segments for advertisers to choose from; for instance, HSBC targeted a segment of 100,000 people looking for current accounts. It experienced an 86% click-through rate increase with its ad.
WHICH ADVERTISERS ARE USING IT?
Automotive, travel, finance, technology and entertainment are the most common categories where behavioural targeting is used, but specialists predict that more niche brands will begin to use it soon.
WHAT WILL HAPPEN IN 2008?
This year looks set to see a behavioural targeting explosion. A recent e-Marketer report predicts that US spending on behaviourally targeted advertising will almost double from $575m (£288.5m) in 2007 to $1bn (£0.5bn) in 2008.Although the UK is some way behind this, interest is strong. "There is very high demand," says Yahoo's Phil Macauley."We were completely sold out across the board in the final quarter of 2007.
"Meanwhile, the technology looks set to develop apace, with better ways of segmenting audiences and more data shared across networks. Revenue Science, for example, is to pool all its participating publishers' data to target users across multiple sites, while Yahoo is starting to develop bespoke audience models for advertisers.It seems as if brands are finally starting to tap into the real potential of the internet.
HOW EFFECTIVE IS IT?
According to a study by Jupiter Research, conducted for AOL and Revenue Science in June 2007, behavioural targeting is a more effective form of online advertising than contextual ads placed alongside related content.- 63% of consumers targeted by behavioural advertising were receptive to the ads, compared to 49% targeted by contextual ads. This was consistent across several categories including entertainment, pharmaceuticals, fashion, government services and classified.
The Welcome Ad Break
07-Feb-08
If TV viewers want to avoid ads, they can. It's never been easier because they have the most intuitive and easy-to-use technology to avoid them: digital television recorder (DTR) devices, such as the Sky Plus box.
The DTR's arrival sent a ripple of fear through the TV advertising industry. It assumed that, given the choice, consumers would skip ads. However, research shows that, rather than avoiding ads, most DTR homes actually watch more in real time.
People don't get DTRs to avoid ads; they get them to find content they want to watch.
Ads are also spotted and rewound to watch fully. Thinkbox found there was a greater appreciation of good ads and of the timeliness of some advertising, especially on live TV: for example retail sales, films and trailers. DTRs renew their owners' interest in the relevance of advertising. There will always be a minority who wish for an ad-free media world but the research showed DTR owners were more circumspect. Many acknowledged advertising's funding role and rejected the notion of paying more for ad-free TV.
It is also easier for viewers to engage and be loyal to programmes they like with a DTR. For existing series it removes some stresses and strains, including the need to be "there", the pressure of seeing every episode, the disappointment of missing out and the inconvenience of setting the VHS. For new series it prevents accidental dropping and encourages long-term sticking with a series, especially to longer-run series that require real commitment in busy lives.
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