Will the scrapping of Norwich Union help or hinder Aviva?
By David Benady - Marketing Week 8/5/08
Insurance and pensions giant Aviva’s long-expected announcement last week that it is axing the 200-year old Norwich Union (NU) brand comes amidst turmoil in the credit markets and concerns over the trustworthiness of financial institutions. But the company believes that phasing out the UK’s biggest and most trusted insurance brand name and replacing it with the little know Aviva parent brand will send out a powerful message.
“It’s good timing,” says Sally Shire, group brand development director for Aviva. “It is a message of a company growing the business and creating value for customers and shareholders. It is very refreshing to read about a company looking at the future and growing rather than worrying about the credit crunch.”
A cause for concern?
However, some wonder whether the switch to the global Aviva name will cause consternation among Norwich Union’s UK pension customers. “They may be concerned that they will become a small cog in a very large machine,” says one observer. “The added buying power of the global brand can only be god, but will I still be an important customer in the grand scheme of things?”
Even so, the source says: “Norwich Union has come to stand for quality, reliability and really good service. If Aviva can make it even better, it stands a chance of enhancing the brand.” However, branding all its operations under the Aviva name is the next logical step in the company’s development, it argues, and will deliver cost savings on marketing and help it exploit global synergies. It offers the opportunity for Aviva to stand for something different. As Paul Gordon, managing director of advertising agency Tangible Financial says, “rebrand’s in the financial sector can be successful and points to HSBC’s takeover of Midland Bank.
Norwich Union will be gradually replaced by Aviva during the next two year and much of the rebrand’s success will depend on the quality of the advertising campaign created by Abbott Mead Vickers. BBDO.
Friday, 16 May 2008
Insurance Related Issues
Insurer goes ‘worry free’
by Robin Hicks Media Asia 14-May-08, 07:51
Bangkok Insurance is the latest insurer trying to amuse Thai consumers into buying its products with a new advertising campaign created by Creative Juice/G1.
The initiative, with estimated spend of up to US$5 million, is the latest move by Bangkok Insurance to boost its brand status, three years after launching its first branding campaign.Since 2005, Thailand’s airwaves have been heavily populated with insurance companies targeting the mass market with product-led initiatives, promotions and branding work.
The new campaign looks to assert Bangkok Insurance’s position within an increasingly competitive market, with the likes of Mittare, Ayudha Allianz and Krung Thai Axa all jostling for share - and all using humour-based advertising.
The Creative Juice ads position Bangkok Insurance as the ‘worry free’ insurer. In one spot, a man pulls up to a posh hotel in a convertible Mercedes. He gets out of his car, and hands the keys to a porter - who promptly drives the Mercedes into a wall. The man looks stunned at first, then begins chatting amiably to a friend. ‘Worry free’ reads the endline.
Pongsuree Asanasen, the managing director of Creative Juice/G1, said: “The key objective of the TV campaign is to launch the ‘Worry free’ positioning. Supporting media - print and posters - will explain more about how and why consumers will feel ‘worry free’ with Bangkok insurance.” In another spot, three plane crash survivors relax on a sofa beneath the remains of the wreck. A pilot staggers from the debris and one of the trio casually asks him where he’s from. “Mayday, mayday!” the pilot says. “Ah, from LA,” the husband replies.
The campaign targets 20 to 50 year-old consumers.
by Robin Hicks Media Asia 14-May-08, 07:51
Bangkok Insurance is the latest insurer trying to amuse Thai consumers into buying its products with a new advertising campaign created by Creative Juice/G1.
The initiative, with estimated spend of up to US$5 million, is the latest move by Bangkok Insurance to boost its brand status, three years after launching its first branding campaign.Since 2005, Thailand’s airwaves have been heavily populated with insurance companies targeting the mass market with product-led initiatives, promotions and branding work.
The new campaign looks to assert Bangkok Insurance’s position within an increasingly competitive market, with the likes of Mittare, Ayudha Allianz and Krung Thai Axa all jostling for share - and all using humour-based advertising.
The Creative Juice ads position Bangkok Insurance as the ‘worry free’ insurer. In one spot, a man pulls up to a posh hotel in a convertible Mercedes. He gets out of his car, and hands the keys to a porter - who promptly drives the Mercedes into a wall. The man looks stunned at first, then begins chatting amiably to a friend. ‘Worry free’ reads the endline.
Pongsuree Asanasen, the managing director of Creative Juice/G1, said: “The key objective of the TV campaign is to launch the ‘Worry free’ positioning. Supporting media - print and posters - will explain more about how and why consumers will feel ‘worry free’ with Bangkok insurance.” In another spot, three plane crash survivors relax on a sofa beneath the remains of the wreck. A pilot staggers from the debris and one of the trio casually asks him where he’s from. “Mayday, mayday!” the pilot says. “Ah, from LA,” the husband replies.
The campaign targets 20 to 50 year-old consumers.
Behavioural Targeting
PRCA endorses Netemic's Web 2.0 monitoring tool
by Jacquie Bowser Brand Republic 16-May-08, 09:50
The Public Relations Consultants Association is to endorse Netemic's automated online social media monitoring tool, after striking a discount deal with the software firm. Netemic's iFeed tool, which launched last November, allows PR agencies and digital marketers to monitor Web 2.0 media, such as blogs, forums and wikis in real time. The iFeed tool scours the sites to discover content matching companies, products and services; it then delivers the relevant results to the user. This gives subscribing agencies a real time measure of brand awareness and consumer sentiment.
Netemic said that iFeed was created in response to the explosion in social media content and its rapidly growing importance as a key channel of influence. Francis Ingham, director general of the PRCA, said: "Social media has huge implications for brands. "At the very least companies should be monitoring what is said about them in these uncontrolled and uncensored environments to ensure they are able to anticipate potential issues. "More proactive companies will see the ability to monitor unconstrained influencers as an opportunity to improve their products and services. iFeed makes these processes much easier."
by Jacquie Bowser Brand Republic 16-May-08, 09:50
The Public Relations Consultants Association is to endorse Netemic's automated online social media monitoring tool, after striking a discount deal with the software firm. Netemic's iFeed tool, which launched last November, allows PR agencies and digital marketers to monitor Web 2.0 media, such as blogs, forums and wikis in real time. The iFeed tool scours the sites to discover content matching companies, products and services; it then delivers the relevant results to the user. This gives subscribing agencies a real time measure of brand awareness and consumer sentiment.
Netemic said that iFeed was created in response to the explosion in social media content and its rapidly growing importance as a key channel of influence. Francis Ingham, director general of the PRCA, said: "Social media has huge implications for brands. "At the very least companies should be monitoring what is said about them in these uncontrolled and uncensored environments to ensure they are able to anticipate potential issues. "More proactive companies will see the ability to monitor unconstrained influencers as an opportunity to improve their products and services. iFeed makes these processes much easier."
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