Category Archives: Financial Services

Can Monstrous Life Insurance Companies be reborn as Fluffy and Cuddly?

Financial Services, Marketing, , , , , , , ,

I like it.

The new Beagle Street life insurance TV advert taps into the perception many people have about life insurance companies.

That they are monstrous. Difficult to deal with and “a bit of a nightmare”.

But Beagle Street’s ugly Gremlin is reborn into a fluffy cuddly Mogwai look-alike offering a back rub.

Effectively saying, “We’re different,” Beagle Street hits the spot for me. It’s short, funny and to the point.

But here’s a thought.

In the original Gremlins movie they cited 3 rules to prevent the cute, fluffy, cuddly Mogwai from transforming into evil, ugly Gremlins. Don’t expose them to sunlight. Don’t get them wet. And how ever much they cry don’t feed them after midnight.

Life insurance has rules as well. Such as disclosing all relevant information during the application process. Time will tell whether Beagle Street’s fluffy approach will revert to hideous Gremlin many years down the line.

I hope not. In the meantime if you haven’t seen the advert here it is.

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Now it’s your turn:

What do you think of the Beagle Street life insurance TV advert? Is it more successful that recent financial services campaigns? Please leave a comment below and share your thoughts.

And click here to check out other classic Life Insurance adverts.

18 Protection Insurance Ideas and Insights from Financial Services Expo 2014

Content & Social, Financial Services, , , , , , , , , , ,

Seven great speakers. Over 800 attendees. Loads of business ideas.

I enjoyed curating and chairing the Protection Stream at the Financial Services Expo 2014 in London.

Focussing on the future of the protection market my speakers covered innovation, mobile technology, critical illness cover evolution, social media and content marketing.

And some good old-fashioned sales ideas.

18 Protection Insurance Ideas and Insights from Financial Services Expo 2014

Here are some bite sized ideas and insights from the speakers.

Johnny Timpson – Scottish Widows

1. Johnny, 2014’s Protection Personality of the Year at the Protection Review Awards asked whether work-site marketing might be the future of protection? Should we be creating deeper relationships with SME’s?

2. Given that first time buyers are becoming older as they struggle to get mortgages, talking about rent protection is just is just as important as mortgage protection.

3. Talking about how the protection industry is still price driven, Johnny reminded me of an old Scottish Provident marketing campaign from the 1990s.

“Advice not Price.”

Jonathan Hughes – RGA

4. Jonathan described his vision of the future. There’s be no growth in the protection market without growth in protection advice. We won’t see Apple or Google coming into protection. It’s too small. Too regulated and has low margins.

5. Discussing complex language and jargon, Jonathan came up with the quote of the day. It really makes you think about the words we use in protection.

“Doesn’t premium mean expensive? Isn’t policy something Governments do? Isn’t protection something I need if I’m sleeping around?”

6. When developing any future propositions we should build the mobile version first and then move to more traditional web solutions. How many protection providers are thinking like this?

Alan Lakey – CI Expert/Highclere FS

7. Alan argued that critical illness cover is too convoluted for consumers.  And that it’s too confusing for advisers because they are not doctors. Technical guides range from 60 to 120 pages. Does anyone read these?

8. Asking how we can keep high quality plans but make them much simpler, Alan suggested combining similar conditions into categories. So if one category included 15 current critical illnesses that would be simpler.

“Would this work or do “long lists” work better?”

9. Expect to see critical illness plans covering Lorenzo’s Oil Disease before long.

Hear Alan talk about CI Expert on the MPAF Podcast.

Phil Jeynes – Pru Protect

10. Phil asked, “If we built CI from scratch today, would we end up with what we have?” Or would we have developed the “partial payment” model used by Pru Protect?

11. Using analogies of house insurance Phil said no one who spills red wine on their carpet would expect a replacement house. Why should critical illness be about all or nothing?

12. Phil wondered whether anyone had ever researched what people spend their critical illness payouts on. After paying off mortgages I am sure it’s holidays next.

Hear Phil talk about Serious Illness Cover on the MPAF Podcast.

18 Protection Insurance Ideas and Insights from Financial Services Expo 2014

Derek Bradley – Panacea Adviser

13. Derek asserted that financial advisers couldn’t afford to avoid social media. Social Media has replaced the Yellow Pages.

14. Don’t be concerned about compliance, but do be careful what you say. Derek used an example where he’d complained about a hotel on Twitter. He mentioned sleeping pills in the context of noise. Soon the police arrived concerned about what he might use his sleeping pills for.

Hear Derek talking about Adviser Communities on the MPAF Podcast.

Simon Ryan – Social Adviser

14. Continuing the discussion about social media, Simon said there are three truths about social media.

“It’s for everyone. It gets results. And it’s easy.”

15. Social media is about PIE. People. Information and Entertainment. I like the tie in to Pete Matthew’s podcast interview where he asserts that modern marketing is all about education.

16. Simon showed how leads in social media come from a dialogue with clients and that sometimes leads are hidden in the conversation.

Hear Simon talk about Online Marketing for Advisers on the MPAF Podcast.

Alan Cole – Bright Grey

17. Alan is a past master at getting sales ideas across. Some are obvious but we often forget them. Such as the price of two single life plans only costing pennies more than a joint life plan. Two potential payouts. Nearly the same price.

18. Talking about objection handling, Alan explained how he responds to, “Protection is too expensive.”

“Compared to what?” he asks. A full Sky TV package at £80. A make over in a beauty salon?

Now it’s your turn:

Were you at Financial Services Expo 2014 in London? Did you pick up any more protection insurance ideas and insights? Please share them. Add a comment below or give us a link to your own blog.

And if you know anyone who would enjoy this article please share it with them.

Ideas Inspired by Ranting – the New Way of Thinking Outside the Box.

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I love a good rant don’t you?

People who don’t use their indicators, politicians who never answer questions or newspapers that misuse statistics, it’s calming to get things off your chest.

I found an interesting thread on an Internet discussion board called simply ‘The Rant Forum’. Here people pour their hearts out about the things that really annoy them.

Ideas Inspired by Ranting

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Shortly after, I attended a seminar where a motivational speaker encouraged us to look outside our own industries for inspiration on ways to innovate. He gave the example of a British airline taking inspiration from Disney.  Having trouble with its queuing systems they looked to a company specialising in herding thousands through its gates every year.

I thought it would be interesting to combine “Ranting Subjects” with this way of thinking differently about issues in our industry.

So, here are the four ‘things’ that I’ve ranted about recently. Mainly to my family.  And my suggestions on which lessons we could bring into the protection market:

People who think adding a jet engine-sized exhaust pipe on their clapped-out early 90s Vauxhall turns it into a dream car people will admire and drool over.

In the protection industry innovation often means adding little extras simply to create a perceived advantage over competitors. We’ve all added rare critical illness definitions to our products and continue to do so.

But do these add any customer value? Or do they see more complexity that puts them off?

What would make them interested? Simpler definitions? Are we in danger of the exhaust becoming bigger than the car?

People ‘forgetting’ to remove their coats and show their liquids at airport security – despite the signs they walk past telling them to do so – thus holding up everyone else.

In Financial Services, we drown ourselves in policy conditions, exclusions, and compliance blurb. The public lack understanding of the finer mechanics of protection products.

If people don’t read signs that are as tall as them why would they read pages full of “business jargon”?

Make Literature clear, short, snappy and easy to digest. Even so, some won’t understand or even read what we tell them.

How can we overcome this communication gap? Should we film video policies? What about a “policy podcast”?

Pre-recorded station announcements.

There is nothing more de-humanising than hearing a pre-recorded announcement or talking to an automatic phone answering service.

People want to deal with real people who a can meet their needs and not robots that stick to scripts. Protection needs a personal touch when we’re dealing with illness or death.

Is a soulless IVR what a grieving widow wants to hear?

Christmas getting earlier every year – I saw the first decorations in a department store this weekend – the middle of August.

Last year I went to a Christmas night on 12 November. Why? Because they left it too late to book and all the best venues had already been filled for December.

Poor planning not only interferes with your social plans, it can also cost you money as well. Plan ahead and you can get cheaper holidays. Take out life cover today,  not next year and you can save on your premium rates.

The App and Android Stores are full of planning tools. As well as birthdays and anniversaries perhaps they should include financial planning reminders.

And a final rant? Don’t get me started on people who use clichéd phrases like, “Thinking outside the box”.

Now it’s your turn:

What did you rant about last? Write it down and then think of a financial services solution. Then share it below in the comments or share it on social media. I’d be interested to hear your ideas inspired by ranting.