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Canadian Insurer Takes Charge of Its Brand
Two years ago, a small group of marketing and communication professionals set out to revitalize the brand of the largest Canadian-owned multiline insurance company, The Co-operators. This branding journey marked a turning point in how The Co-operators develops and implements its branding strategy. It's a story with many ups and downs, twists and turns and, ultimately, important lessons.
AUGUST 2002: THINGS ARE NOT GOING WELL
Canada's property and casualty insurance ndustry is experiencing its two worst years in history. Financial losses are piling up for most companies. Some companies become insolvent, while others simply pull out of the market. Insurance premiums have started to rise rapidly, and consumers are not happy. In fact, a veritable "consumer revolt" has governments scrambling to denounce "profit-grabbing" insurance companies. Unfortunately, the coverage in the media is short on facts and long on sensationalism.
Against this backdrop, The Co-operators marketing team has been asked to revitalize its brand advertising program. The current environment of financial weakness and consumer dissatisfaction has many company insiders wondering if this is the right time to advertise. At the same time, we are having ad agency troubles. We're on our second agency in three years, and every idea presented is either not "on strategy" or just too slick for our middle-class audience. As one member of our team stated, "They just don't get us."
Our branding objectives are simple: revitalize a well-known brand by increasing overall awareness and linking that awareness to specific brand attributes.
SEPTEMBER 2002: WE MAKE A LIFE-ALTERING DECISION
Setting aside conventional wisdom, we decide to fire our ad agency and bring the advertising function in-house. Call us crazy (you won't be the first). Here's our rationale. We have seasoned marketing professionals with solid track records leading our team. We have excellent insight into our client base from research and data mining. We have the blind enthusiasm of youth. What we don't have is a top-notch creative director to bring our strategy and concepts to life. Fortunately, we know of one such person who just sold his boutique agency to a large conglomerate. Somehow, we convince him to join the team.
Selling the "internal ad agency" concept to senior management is not difficult. This...