Burrus recently shared his “Top 20 Technology-Driven Trends for 2012.” One is “social business takes on a new level of urgency as organizations shift from an information age ‘informing’ model to a communication age ‘communicating and engaging’ model.” He also said 2012 is when electronic books, newspapers and magazines “pass the tipping point, due to the abundance of smartphones with readable displays, tablets that provide a full color experience, and publishers providing apps that give a better than paper experience by including cut, copy, paste, print, and multimedia capabilities.”

A couple of weeks ago, a Burrus article in Technorati focused on the future of newspapers. Advertising was down 7.3% in 2011, he said, a point higher than 2010’s drop. Surprising, he wrote, “was that it was only down that much.

The newspaper business is, unfortunately, focused on the second word, ‘paper,’ instead of the first word, ‘news.’ As a result, they are still making their online news static rather than dynamic, meaning that it is still one-dimensional. The online versions of most newspapers are nothing more than a piece of paper online.”

He’s not the only one who sees the demise of print. A New York Times blogger wrote that, in his second day of testimony during a British inquiry into media ethics, Rupert Murdoch said newspapers will exist as print versions for 20 more years, but with very small circulations. “And the day will come when we’ll just have to say, ‘It’s not working, we can’t afford all the trucks, we can’t afford all the huge presses and so on,’ and we’ll be purely electronic,” Murdoch said.

In his Technorati piece, Burrus asked why newspapers aren’t getting more social. “Local newspapers are about local news,” he wrote. “Yet I don’t see that social component appearing in most outlets. In the newspaper world, that could be very innovative, since so few of them are doing it currently.”

How does this relate to our industry? We don’t have insurance newspapers, per se, but we do have print publications. For the most part, they’re trying to go beyond static and aiming for dynamic. Some, I suspect, would like to get even more social and interactive. Part of what’s holding them back is us—the people in the industry who make, share and consume news.

We can do something to support the evolution from “informing” to “communicating and engaging.” For starters, interact. Respond to blog posts. Comment on articles. Share links with others—directly via email, on Twitter, on Facebook, or on any other platform. Provide links on your website to industry publications, if it makes sense to do so.

Second, engage with publishers on social media platforms. Most have Facebook pages and Twitter accounts. Like or follow them, and then be, well, social. Make social media more social.

Third, offer publications digital content. We have been able to work a number of clients to develop articles designed exclusively for online use. Understanding what editors and publishers need to build their online, interactive presence helps us do that.

Fourth, go beyond print—or digital print. Consider creating and offering podcasts and even video casts to online publications. We’ve seen how using audio and video can generate good response from folks throughout our industry.

Finally, consider digital media in your ad budget, if you have one. If sites offer visibility worthy of your investment in content development, they provide the same reach for paid ads and banners.

We may not all be hanging out in the insurance business long enough to see print disappear altogether, using Murdoch’s timeline. That doesn’t mean we can’t help breathe life into the efforts our publications are making today to reach readers and viewers where they are.

Let’s face it: While the market isn’t as soft as it was, the economy is still unstable. Marketing budgets are reflective of the environment and aren’t quite what they used to be.

Typically, the average cost to produce a professional video ranges from $5,000 to $20,000 for two minutes of time. Companies such as GE, Microsoft and others have in-house video studios and a budget to allow for the high price of perfection. But in the insurance industry, we tend to have a little less focus on marketing and drive harder on reducing risk for our customers.

That’s not a bad thing. After all, we’re in the business of mitigating risk but video is a key communication vehicle when delivering your brand message.  So, that’s where the F-word can be helpful.

Independent agency owner Chris Paradiso recently invited me to a social marketing session at his office in Stafford Springs, Conn. He demonstrated products such as Animoto, which allows for the easy creation of 30-second video, incorporating photos and footage, at no cost. Chris uses this product to communicate key messages to his clients all year round and his statistics show that his usage has proven successful.

The industrywide Real Time Campaign (www.getrealtime.org and FB page) recently created a free Animoto video to help communicate the news about Real Time Day.

Perhaps you’re a pro with a Flip camera in your hand but you don’t want to invest in video editing software (programs average about $1,000). If that’s the case, check your computer! There’s a very good chance that you already have Windows Movie Maker installed (yes, free). It’s easy to use and allows for the addition of music and other features. YouTube’s editing software has also been enhanced and makes it easy to break your clip into pieces.  And, for Apple fans, check out iMovie which is also easy to use and easy on the wallet.

Then there are the F-tools that monitor and grade your website. When’s the last time you checked your page stats or evaluated the usefulness of your site? Hubspot’s Marketing Grader will review your site and return a calculation (100 is the best) within seconds and then provide suggestions deemed to help increase traffic to your site.

Google Analytics when installed (free) will monitor the traffic on each of your pages. You know that page that’s buried three clicks deep? Are people actually visiting it? If not, it’s time for some R&R (revise or remove).

Whether you go free or go pro, be sure you’re in the game.  A compelling brand drives a home run every time.

Take These Four Insurance Branding Lessons Home With You

From modest beginnings in New Jersey, a larger-than-life politician has emerged onto the national stage: Governor Chris Christie. And he’s brought along branding experiences that apply to insurance.

Christie was criticized by opponents as an underqualified political appointee and a legal lightweight when he was nominated by President George W. Bush to the post of U.S. Attorney for the State of New Jersey. During Christie’s tenure from 2002 through 2008, the U.S. Attorney’s office won convictions or pleas of guilty from 130 public officials (state, county and local), both Democratic and Republican — without losing a single case.

Among the convicts: County executives for bribery and corruption, a former state senate president for mail fraud and tax evasion, and a former mayor of one of the state’s largest cities for fraud.

Christie swept through the New Jersey political world like a nor’easter storm. He put public corruption in the prosecutorial cross-hairs (although many believe that money still plays an outsized role in Jersey politics, but that’s another story).

In the runup to the 2012 presidential election,Christie is campaigning nationally for former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, after passing up his own campaign for the Republican nomination.

Putting aside whether you, politically speaking, flock to or flee from the New Jersey governor’s positions and record (and Republicans in general and Romney in particular), Chris Christie offers an object lesson in branding:

Playing to your stereotype can work.

Case in point: The Star-Ledger, the state’s largest newspaper, reported that the governor stumped for Romney before the Iowa Republican caucuses on New Year’s Eve, telling the crowd of voters:

“If you don’t do what you’re supposed to do for Mitt Romney on Tuesday [Jan. 3, 2012, the day of the caucuses],” Christie said, defiant in only a suit jacket against the biting cold and wind-whipped rain, “I will be back, Jersey-style, people. I will be back.“

A few hours later in Cedar Rapids, Christie was unrelenting in an interview: “I hope they’ve taken me seriously because I will come back here plenty angry if they don’t do the right thing on Tuesday night. So they don’t want that. They’ve seen that. It’s not good.” [bold type added]

“Jersey style” indeed.

If there’s anything more stereotypical about New Jersey than hinting at rearranging kneecaps, it’s probably only comments about toxic waste, oil refineries and traffic. (Of course, having lived here since age 5, among my favorite stereotypes about the Garden State are the Appalachian Trail, the Battle of Trenton in the Revolutionary War, the Pine Barrens (at 1.1 million acres, it makes up 22 percent of New Jersey’s land mass), my alma mater Rutgers, and 127 miles of ocean beaches. And great pizza in every town. But I digress.)

It’s not just a brash tone and combative stance against critics that Christie brings to his personal branding effort. Like him or not, Christie brings a track record to back up the trash talk. U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt took a policy stance of “Speak softly and carry a big stick.” Christie’s stance might be described as speaking bluntly and smacking a big proverbial stick against his hand.

The outspoken governor of the ninth-largest state attracts a lot more media attention, of course, than an independent agent, a mid-sized insurance carrier, or an insurance trade association. And underlying any of Christie’s words is plenty of political calculation, to be sure. But there’s little doubt he plays to his own stereotype. Insurance marketing decision-makers might put aside the political elements and consider the following:

1. Do well at what you do. Christie batted a thousand in public corruption cases; that gave him credibility. Lesson: Don’t shy away from talking about what you do well just because others do something similar. And don’t take it for granted. What have you excelled at? Do you pay claims faster than others in the industry? Is your service measurably better than the competition? Are you good at handling specialized risks of some type?

2. Consult the team. Christie is reported to have developed a cadre of loyal advisers that bridge his various political jobs, and to reach out to them for insights and perspectives before making decisions. Lesson: Listen to people smarter than you. Who do you ask for advice? Are you doing something for them?

3. Stick to your guns. Maybe guns is a, er, loaded term But you get the point. Lesson: Stick to what you believe, because the going’s going to get rough. What challenges are likely to come your way? Maybe you’ve experienced fussy claimants, balky prospects and reluctant business partners. What can you learn and share about these business developments?

4. Say it. Tell it like you are. Lesson: If you’re doing what you believe in, be willing to talk about it. What would you say about yourself if you were in front of a group of people that know you but maybe don’t really know what you do and what you’ve done?

At Aartrijk, one of our Jersey-based clients is American Collectors Insurance, which in its brand audit several years ago discovered one of the valued capabilities it offered its customers and agent partners is that its employees (which it calls “brand ambassadors”) are always available via phone. That’s right, they’re fighting phone-tree hell. It sounded trite at first, but the company’s leaders realized that availability mattered. So the brand developed a “real person guarantee” and promised that callers to its hotline could always push “0″ on the telephone keypad to get a “real person” without waiting long. Goodbye, phone tree. Hello, answers from a live person.

 What’s your stereotype? How can it work for you?

What a great term—Digital Darwinism—to describe the fear many agencies and carriers feel as they struggle at make sense of the many challenges they face in today’s rapidly evolving environment.

Mobile, cloud, and social technologies are evolving faster than ever. These technologies are also transforming our society and giving rise to a new empowered and connected consumer. The reference to Darwin suggests that failure to adapt eventually will lead to the demise of the business of insurance, as we know it.

I believe that the challenge facing our industry is not just about making sure agents have blogs, Facebook pages, Twitter accounts and are using Pinterest to curate relevant business information. Yes, it is important to learn how to effectively use new technology.

But it is critical to pay close attention to the evolution of consumer behavior and ultimately understand how to engage with the new connected consumer.

The technologies that are fueling all the disruption can, when effectively used, provide a window into the psyche of the consumer and provide the means to connect and engage. But real success will require an organization to change its work and evolve its brand. That is, become a social business. For example, engaging in social technologies must become more than a marketing department project. Today, consumers are demanding that their business partners be transparent, accessible, open, socially responsible, and honest. They want to feel that they know their favorite brands on a personal or personalized level. These traits become woven into the fabric of the agency—and every employee plays a part.

Keeping up and adapting to new technology and the changing demands of customers and prospects has always been a challenge. What is different today is that advancements in technology and changes in consumer behavior are happening “scary” fast.

Future success isn’t just about the latest technology. Rather, it’s about cultural transformation and market disruption. How an organization recognizes and adapts to new opportunities will determine its future viability. How are you learning to adapt?

But they’re doing so without spending more. In fact, the data show they’re spending less.

That’s according to Shirley Lukens, AAI, principal of Reagan Consulting, who shepherds the annual Best Practices Study, a joint project of Reagan and the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (Big “I”). Formerly the head of industry affairs for Big “I”, Shirley was a mover behind launching the Best Practices initiative in 1993.

Speaking at the ASCnet TENCon industry event in September, Lukens noted that the most recent 2011 Best Practices research showed that agencies in the study “really stepped up their marketing advertising. They really aggressively advertised and marketed in ways that they hadn’t done in years past.”

But the agencies were not increasing their outlay for marketing; they were keeping it level or even reducing it in some cases, according to the financial data in the Best Practices research. Lukens looked more closely and even spoke to a few of the agency principals. She reported:

“What we found is that they are using much lower-cost technologies to accomplish the same things: Social media…. Those expensive advertising [and] marketing things that we used to do — we aren’t spending the dollars there any more because better technologies are enabling us to do things that we used to accomplish in a much more expensive way.”

Shirley Lukens’s comments on the issue begin at about the 6:00 mark in the ASCnet TENCon video pasted below.

The agencies that the Best Practices study includes are among the most successful in terms of revenue per employee, across a spectrum of agency sizes. Thus, the trend that Lukens spots — being more effective with the same or less advertising/marketing budget — is compelling.

What’s also happening is that effective insurance producers and agency principals are using social networking tools not just to “advertise” or “market,” but to (more importantly) engage and correspond with customers and prospects.

Having said that, I sense that agencies are just starting to scratch the surface of the usefulness of social networking in their businesses. What do you think?

“It’s like a gift card in a big store.”

Recently a client made that statement at the conclusion of a discussion about a new branding initiative for his insurance firm. The client was delighted about having a range of choices in the creative materials we had developed. But he also was a bit torn and forlorn about having to only choose one approach from more than one choice.

Ah, there’s the rub, as Shakespeare once said.

With a marketing budget, or any budget for that matter, insurance brands need to make choices. Examples of some of the age-old choices are:

• Should I develop an email campaign to put my brand back in touch with those new contacts that stopped by the trade show booth recently? Or should I spend the budget to reach out to make a follow-up phone call to prospects we met last year?
• Is it a better idea to write up and design a case study or white paper to send to prospects, or to create a new ad campaign?
• And so on.

In 1960 (around about the time of the setting of the current TV hit MadMen) Jerome McCarthey presented the idea of the “4 Ps” to the marketing world: product, price, place, promotion. Philip Kotler later talked about making marketing decisions in the context of the “4 Cs” of the marketing mix:

• Product = Customer Benefits
• Price = Cost to Customer
• Place = Convenience
• Promotion = Communications

Insurance brands today have another wrinkle in their marketing decision-making. Whether you want to call it a “P” (for personalization or personal contact) or “C” (contact or customer contact or customization), the social Web gives marketers a chance to interact more personally, one-on-one, with prospects and clients. The social web is a new “place” (in McCarthey’s terminology) or a new “convenient” location to meet (in Kotler’s terminology). It’s in the mix.

How do you see insurance brands spending their gift cards, in light of the new choices the social Web provides?

Since that post, much of the East Coast has suffered significant flooding from both Irene and Tropical Storm Lee—and the companies mentioned in my earlier post along with many other firms continued to make effective use of social networking to stay in touch with their customers.

They used everything from e-newsletter and blogs to Twitter and YouTube to post information on how to contact carriers, storm updates, emergency shelters locations, road closings, office hours, FEMA info, tips on cleaning, preparing a disaster supply kit, storm surge maps, “thank you’s” to emergency responders, photos of local flooding, and insurance policy coverage information.

Carol Reese, CIC, CRM, from the Henry D. Young Insurance Agency, sums up much of the rational behind the use of social networking under this type of circumstance: “I feel that social media is a great way to get information out to many people immediately to help them deal with disasters and their aftermath. It also shows the community that we care about what may be happening to them and are here to help them get through the claim process and disaster recovery.”

Yes, these firms provided a valuable service to their customers. Yet, I think we can—really, must—do more. I would like to see our industry develop a single resource, or clearinghouse of up-to-date information, as well as, a comprehensive industry-wide social media response plan.

In the recent East Coast disasters, most agents had to come up with their own content and find relevant resources. Without sacrificing the significance of local community information, I think there would be great value in our industry creating a single and centralized repository of information. Not only would this give agents access to event relevant content but populate the social space with a strong unified and consistent message. For example, if IIABA or a carrier created a video about disaster planning, agents across the country could access, share, and link to that resource.

The communication plan would be designed to enable our industry to deliver a cohesive message and leverage the local presence of the 25,000 independent agents. Thus, the plan would define and model the process of moving a timely communication from the national association level to a local agency.

In my opinion, creating a single resource and communication plan would allow us to take control of our message and offset the typical popular media stories about increased premiums and uncovered losses. Implementation of this model would give us the means to demonstrate the value of the Independent Agency System. What do you think?

As part of the ACT meeting held later that day, McQuivey answered audience questions for an hour or so. One line he shared during this follow-up Q&A exchange caught my attention. He said, “You need to show this technology has people in it.”

“Online search” is one way to do this. Independent agents need to find ways to increase their ranking in search results. The Consumer Access Portal initiative unveiled at the IIABA meetings should help agents do this. Incorporating local presence will, as McQuivey said, “add the trust to the web experience.”

The hybrid digital/personal customer relationship plays an important role after the sale is made—and not just 10 or 11 months after, either. Ongoing communication and interaction, online and in person, reinforces the connection, leads to new sales opportunities, and builds customer loyalty.

This hybrid relationship can actually start before the sale. Social networking—Facebook and YouTube, in particular—is ready-made for such connections. “Introduce your business on Facebook, ask people to like it, and tell them if they do you’ll periodically post things about how to handle a car accident or other issues when you learn them,” McQuivey suggested. “At least the customer will have your contact info.” This is especially important with younger customers, many of whom prefer Facebook communication over other forms—including email.

McQuivey cited our friend, Lisa Parry Becker, who chose not to attend the meeting so she could stay home and help customers with flood claims, as a prime example of how to tie digital and personal. “Share the news of Lisa staying away from this meeting to help clients,” he said. “You as agents have always been personal. You’re connecting to human beings who live in your community. You just need to let people know that.”

Have you found success building out hybrid digital/personal customer relationships? Are you too focused on one or the other? How do you find balance? Are some agents or other businesses doing a really good job of combing the technology and people? If so, what’s making a difference?

Today more than ever brand is being defined by consumers and what they think is more important or has more influence than your brand messaging. Interestingly enough, even if you are not engaged in social networking it is having an impact on your brand. In fact, not engaging in social networking may be doing great harm to your brand.

When you search for a business on Google are you more likely to click on and follow-up if the business has a website link? What impression are you leaving with potential customers if they can’t find you on Linkedin or if your profile is poorly done and incomplete? If Facebook and other social sites have replaced the yellow pages, what damage to your brand is taking place if you can’t be found? How do you think consumers feel about an inactive Twitter account or a Facebook page that has not been updated for several months?

Social networking is not a project. Rather, it is about being a social business and has a great deal to say about who you are and what you do.

Are you using the new tools of social networking to help position your brand in a positive way?

Why? Baby Boomer principals are looking to fund their retirements, benefits brokers are eager for P&C partners to relieve them of  the uncertainty of healthcare legislation and, quite simply, bigger fish are just eating smaller fish. Agents, brokers, companies, vendors…no one in our space is immune.  And among those left standing, there is a profound need to embrace their new family members and prove their relevance in a highly competitive marketplace. Add to that the number of organizations that simply need to shake off tired brand identities and touch points, and you’ve got a host of entities debuting new looks.

So, it should be no surprise that over the last two years Aartrijk has been involved in the rebranding of several industry organizations—providing brand research, naming, tagline and logo development, trademarking, rollout and sometimes all  of the above. And while every rebrand is inherently different, I’ve noticed a few common misperceptions and lessons learned. For those even considering rebranding, some words to the wise….A brand identity is not a brand. While this may be a given for some of you, I expect it will be a revelation to many others: Your brand is your reputation; your brand identity is the combination of your name, logo and tagline. A brand is something you earn, a brand identity is a way of expressing how you want to be viewed. A “rebrand,” therefore, creates a new identity in the hope of eventually influencing the reputation.

The research matters. The smartest path an organization can take when considering a new identity is the undertaking of some stakeholder research to better understand the current brand value—the aggregate feedback from your customers, employees, business partners and others who know you. If you don’t know where you are, it’s hard to plan where you’re going.

Committees are a double-edged sword. By nature I’m a loner, a social but introverted only child. So it may be counterintuitive that I like working with a branding task forces. Sure, creative-by-committee has its challenges, but getting input from your key constituents before your debut is waaaay better than hearing from them after your launch. (And you will hear from them, especially if they don’t like something.)

Give yourself time. While there can be value in launching a new identity at a major event or on a significant date, rushing to meet a false deadline can kill a half-baked rebrand. Give yourself time to get your employees onboard, to adequately vet the new name, to test the tagline or create the style guide. And with so many touch points to synchronize—Web site, collateral, press releases, signage, to name a few—avoid having them all finalized the same week. You only get one chance to debut, so make sure you’re ready to go, and give your team enough time to enjoy it.

A new brand identity can infuse an organization with energy and create buzz with stakeholders, and ultimately it should give you an opportunity to reinvent who you are and where you’re going. But remember that you still have to earn the brand itself.