What Agents Want
June 10, 2010 by Kevin Jenne · Leave a Comment
By Kevin Jenné
Movie lovers may remember Mel Gibson’s gaining the ability to read women’s minds in “What Women Want.” And we market researchers sometimes wish for this kind of direct insight. Living in the real world, when we want to know what people want, we turn to our research tools: surveys, interviews and focus groups.
And in a recent survey of 1,498 independent insurance agents, we validated what many industry leaders already know: among all the important factors that agents consider when choosing their “go-to” carriers for personal lines, claims service quality matters most. Not technology, not their own agency compensation – but the service their clients get from insurance carriers.
Aartrijk’s Rick Morgan Re-Elected to Board of Big ‘I’ New York State
May 10, 2010 by Charles Wasilewski · Leave a Comment
Rick Morgan, VP-New Media, Aartrijk
Rick Morgan, vice president-new media of Aartrijk, was recently re-elected to the board of directors as a director-at-large of Big ‘I’ New York State (The Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of New York, Inc.).
About Big ‘I’ New York State: The Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of New York, Inc. has represented the common business interests of independent insurance professionals since 1882. More than 1,900 agencies and their 18,000 employees currently rely on the DeWitt, New York-based not-for-profit trade association for legislative advocacy, continuing education and other means of industry support. In addition, many IIABNY members represent Trusted Choice®, a national consumer brand uniting more than 7,000 independent agencies across the United States. For more information, go to www.trustedchoice.com or www.iiabny.org.
Big Field Man on Campus
April 29, 2010 by Peter van Aartrijk · Leave a Comment
At a time when people are skittish on the economy, it’s great to hang out with folks who are bullish.
One of my favorites is Charlie McShane, and his company is State Auto, based out of Columbus, Ohio.
Recently Maureen Wall Bentley, our executive vice president of brand strategy, and I attended Charlie’s grand opening of State Auto’s new Hunt Valley, Maryland offices, just north of Baltimore. Charlie is the company’s eastern regional president—he actually founded the region for State Auto and was the only employee there a few years ago. (In case you don’t recognize Charlie, he’s the big man on campus in the center of the photo.) Read more
Brand = Value
April 5, 2010 by Maureen Wall Bentley · Leave a Comment
So, you’re thinking about the value of your independent agency. Maybe you’re considering selling it, or merging with another firm, or maybe you just want to know what it’s worth in this marketplace. Now, what if you could increase your agency’s valuation multiple by 100 basis points—say from 5.00x to 6.00x? Would you spend a few hours learning how?
Welcome to Our New Site!
March 22, 2010 by Peter van Aartrijk · Leave a Comment
March 19, 2010 by Peter van Aartrijk
We at Aartrijk have been working on our client’s Web sites—using the very new and very cool social networking and site-building tools available. So we thought it was high time we brought a fresh look to our site. Please let me know what you think about it (peter@Aartrijk.com).
As we pause to celebrate 11 years in the branding business, I’d like to say, “Thank you.” It has been an enjoyable ride—even in this stormy sea of an economy. If you don’t know me well, I’m a glass-half-full kinda guy.
Read more
Earthquakes Shake Up Haiti. Will They Wake Up America?
February 1, 2010 by Charles Wasilewski · Leave a Comment
One earthquake of 7.0-magnitude on Tuesday January 12, 2010 was bad enough. A second earthquake of 6.0 magnitude on the Richter scale on Wednesday January 19, also hit the impoverished and now-imperiled island nation of Haiti.
Risk-modeling firm Risk Management Solutions estimated that the Haitian earthquake killed an estimated 250,000 people and destroyed more than 4,000 buildings in Port-au-Prince, according to an article in insurance trade publication National Underwriter. The publication also reported that the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (a risk pooling facility that includes the Haiti government), will receive less than $8 million for earthquake damage.
The road to recovery looks long and difficult for everyone in the small island nation, which before the earthquake already faced overwhelming poverty. But the world rallied to the side of the Haitian people, with military, financial, food, water and other resources being brought to Haiti in the days following the quake. The efforts range from the donation bins that sprang up in fast-food restaurants (see photo), to a text-message fund-raising campaign, to thousands of U.S. Marines, to multiple charitable donations from insurance firms in the United States.
A recent article from Trusted Choice, the brand campaign launched by the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America, reported another number: 5,000. That’s how many earthquakes are felt in the United States each year.
Many Americans may think California is the state at most risk of an earthquake. Since 1900, though, earthquakes have caused damage in all 50 states, according to information from the Insurance Information Institute. California is at greatest risk for widespread and catastrophic damage to property, however. In 2006, a forecast from the U.S. Geological Survey, the Southern California Earthquake Center, and the State Geological Survey said that the state is likely to be struck by a major earthquake by 2028.
But only 12 percent of Californians own earthquake insurance, according to the Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I.). That’s sharply lower than 30 percent in 1996 (when California was in recovery from the 1994 Northridge earthquake, which at an estimated $20 billion in property damage was the most-costly quake in U.S. history).
Whose job is it to change this before the “big one” hits? Ultimately, it’s the responsibility of property owners. But isn’t it almost always true that when a community recovers from a disaster, there’s a team of local insurance professionals behind it? And independent insurance agents often are the captains of those local teams.
– Charles Wasilewski
Opportunities, Doubts Abound in Social Media for Insurance, Aartrijk Brand Camp Survey Finds
October 23, 2009 by Charles Wasilewski · 4 Comments
Six Key Issues Uncovered in Research of Brand Decision-Makers
SPRINGFIELD, VA (October 23, 2009)—Insurance brand decision-makers are intrigued by increasing opportunities to use social networking, but they face internal pressure about these new rules of customer and prospect engagement, according to a recent survey conducted by leading industry branding firm Aartrijk.
The survey of attendees at Aartrijk Brand Camp 2009, an interactive conference for insurance and financial services brand managers in the age of the social Web, found that caution and doubts about managing social media are holding back many insurance brands from experimenting and implementing social media initiatives. Brand Camp attendees work at agencies, brokers, trade associations, carriers, technology firms, and other industry partners.
“Insurance brands that already have begun to work in social media have a lot of passion for it,” says Maureen Wall Bentley, vice president of brand strategy for Aartrijk. “But those who are in the exploration stage have real uncertainty about the potential impact and application of social media. They are curious but cautious, and many are not sure where to start.”
The survey was completed by most of the conference attendees prior to Aartrijk Brand Camp, held last month in Chicago. It found that the top six issues are:
1. Social networking is viewed more as a risk than an opportunity by many insurance executives outside the areas of marketing and branding. Brand managers face internal struggles in convincing management to implement social media. Concerns about security, productivity, reputation, privacy, disclosure, workflow, technology and legal issues have held up even experimental efforts. “The conversational, interactive nature of social networking conflicts with the traditional one-to-many marketing efforts, which lack an online feedback loop,” Bentley points out.
2. How do professionals and businesses manage the time and people involved in social media efforts?
3. Brand decision-makers are unsure where or how to start with social media—they are looking for a plan, budget and agreement on corporate leadership on the issue. They’re not certain if and when those resources will come.
4. Insurance brands see social networking opportunities in agent or member communications as well as the business-to-consumer realm. The dual opportunities, however, split resources and focus.
5. Brand decision-makers are seeking ways to measure activity and success in social media.
6. Insurance brands are looking for best practices and success stories for building brand awareness and customer service through social media.
Despite these issues, Bentley notes attendees at Aartrijk Brand Camp heard from a cross-section of insurance professionals who are writing new business, servicing existing business, listening to customers, engaging prospects and building their brands—all with a variety of social media tools such as blogs, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. Web sites, too, are evolving rapidly as corporate online “brochure-ware” becomes less interesting to customers and prospects.
The Aartrijk Brand Camp community, which includes “campers” attending the first event and “counselors” from Aartrijk, are continuing a dialogue online, and a Webinar is planned for this winter to address some of the issues raised in the survey as well as present case studies.
“Some people in our industry still question whether social media should play any role at all in insurance and financial services,” says Bentley. “They’re not convinced that consumers want to engage with their agent or carrier in the same way that they follow their personal interests online.
“And, frankly, insurance probably doesn’t have the same pull as entertainment, politics or sports,” continues Bentley. “But smart insurance professionals are touching customers and prospects through online social networks much in the same way they’ve always done offline—by demonstrating their expertise, their relationship to the community, and their understanding of the challenges families and businesses face each day. The social Web is simply a new vehicle for expressing those qualities.”
About Aartrijk: Aartrijk is a boutique branding firm serving clients from insurance and financial services firms and member organizations. Aartrijk’s experienced team offers business-to-business and business-to-consumer brand auditing; brand identity development; Web and social media; advertising, marketing-communications and public relations; publishing and editorial; and customer and marketing channel research. Visit www.Aartrijk.com; find Aartrijk on Facebook, Linked In, and Twitter (@Aartrijk), and follow Brand Camp and social media topics on Twitter: #ABC09. For camp information, visit www.aartrijk.com/brandcamp/agenda-2009.
CONTACT:
Charles Wasilewski
(908) 647-2216; charles@Aartrijk.com
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You Want Help with Social Media!
October 3, 2009 by Peter van Aartrijk · Leave a Comment
Aartrijk Brand Camp—held in Chicago Sept. 28-30, 2009 and continuing on the virtual calendar of online conversation—was all about the risk and opportunity of social media in our Wonderful World of Insurance.
We had pre-surveyed attendees at Aartrijk Brand Camp. These were agents, brokers, carriers, association executives, media reps, and business partners such as technology firms.
In sum, you have genuine concerns and questions around the impact and application of social media. You are being cautious about stepping into fray.
Here are some top issues you are having with all the excitement behind Linkedin, Twitter, Facebook, etc.:
Social media appears to be a time vampire. How do you manage the time you and your people spend with it?
How do you show a return on the effort? One survey respondent said: “While time spent on informing/communicating with fans helps build relationships, does that turn into referrals?” And sales?
We don’t know where or how to start with social media. We need a plan and a budget and somebody in charge—who is that going to be?
The internal battles are brutal. How do we get our management on board? And our legal beagles are putting the kybosh on us branding folks—the IT department isn’t helpful either. One of you said, “The current rule is to run all printed copy past the marketing and legal departments. Social [media] requires a more relaxed, conversational tone to be authentic and trustworthy…[But] it is viewed as more of a risk than an opportunity.”
We’re not sure when we should start! One of you said: “Maybe it’s better not to put a toe in the water until this new frontier matures.”
Who in insurance has gone before us? What are the best practices around building brand awareness with social media? “We need success stories.”
Who is this for? Is social media best for business-to-business? Business-to-consumer? Both? Neither?
Finally, do insurance and financial services play a role at all in social media? Do consumers care about us? We’re not worthy! We’re just not cool enough!
Ah, yes, great questions. Stay tuned for some solutions offered up by Brand Camp attendees.
– Peter van Aartrijk
Follow Aartrijk on Twitter: @Aartrijk. Follow Brand Camp conversation on Twitter using hashtag #ABC09.