Insurance firms try to sustain brand value in challenging times
By Ng Baoying,
SINGAPORE: Insurance companies are coming up with novel ways to attract new customers.
Women who spend S$20 at the Guardian Pharmacy can get a 90-day accident protection coverage worth S$100,000 from American International Assurance (AIA), a subsidiary of American International Group (AIG).
The promotion was launched in late August and is scheduled to run for about three months. Once the offer period expires, customers are encouraged to sign on for normal plans. AIA said it has gained about 1,000 new customers to date.
Customers whom Channel NewsAsia spoke to were mostly surprised to be offered insurance in a pharmacy.
AIA said the campaign hopes to tap the strong link between its insurance products and Guardian Pharmacy, which is in the health protection business. The company said it has no specific targets in terms of customer numbers as this is a pilot project.
The insurance company added that the campaign is not a direct response to the global financial turmoil. However, experts said it comes at a time when protecting brand value is especially important.
Graham Hitchmough, client service director, The Brand Union, said: “It’s a challenging time for a number of organisations and sectors. Financial organisations, in particular, are going to find this a difficult period.
“I think obviously budgets are going to be under scrutiny. There’s an issue with consumer confidence that needs to be rebuilt.”
One way is for companies to show sensitivity to these issues when offering their products.
“I think organisations also have to demonstrate that long-term view, so as not to be seen as too tactical or opportunistic. It’s a challenging time at the moment, but it will pass and companies need to look to the future and make sure that any actions that they take now will not undermine the value of their brand in the long term,” Hitchmough said.
Unlike AIA, fellow insurer Prudential is sticking to more traditional methods.
Hitesh Shah, chief marketing officer, Prudential Assurance Company Singapore, said: “In the current environment, people are a little more cautious about investments, which is fine.
“But to do investment work, we have a distribution (network) which meets with customers on a face-to-face level, and they talk about needs. So that’s where we start – know your customer.”
Rather than aggressive customer acquisition, the company is offering special deals on its products.
Source : Channel NewsAsia - 31 Oct 2008
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