Given all that’s going on in the world, and being said in the press you could be mistaken for thinking that my blog this week will make avid reading. I hope not to disappoint but if you are expecting a unique inside track or snippet of gossip maybe you should stop reading now.
19/08/2010
It’s amazing how being away for a couple of weeks can change your perspective. We’ve just come back from a fantastic couple of weeks in Scotland and a few things have struck me since I’ve been back. First, it’s amazing how quickly children adapt to life without TV – the youngest learnt to ride a bike, and the eldest two have become scrabble addicts. Second, we’re having some building work done – and before we went away we were starting to get to the “is it worth it and will it ever finish stage”. Well, it isn’t finished, but the progress was great. We can now see exactly what it will be like when it is and all the old feelings of excitement and anticipation came back.
09/07/2010
The above video is a message from Aviva & Railway Children in response to our 1 Day charity campaign which took place throughout June – for more information, please visit www.aviva.co.uk/1day
25/06/2010
As we enter the final stretch of our 1Day charity initiative, we’ve been staggered by the amazing effort our brokers have made throughout the month.
We’re almost there – nearing our target of £80k.
Don’t forget, as well as 1%* of every sale, you can make a difference to children’s lives by signing up for our Recognition Wall in which we’ll donate £10 to Street to School on your behalf (hurry – just over 100 bricks left!). If you wish, you can also make a personal donation by Clicking here.
11/06/2010
Picture this. The BIBA conference, a hundred or more brokers, late at night in a hotel bar, a great atmosphere and sense of goodwill. Not too difficult an image to conjure up?
Add to that a stand brimming full for 2 whole days, a team that felt like it was on top of its game, a new CEO, listening and talking to brokers and business being done all round.
27/05/2010
To find out more or make a donation, please visit www.aviva.co.uk/1day
Transcript
Janice – “Hi everyone. Just sitting here reflecting on what a difference a year makes, so this time last year we were gearing up to become Aviva. Now it seems we’ve been Aviva forever. I’m just fresh from the BIBA conference, where we had a fantastic time with the buzz around our stand, the feedback from brokers and the way they are feeling about Aviva at the moment is fantastic and again what a difference a year makes.”
18/05/2010
Even as I start this blog I know it has the potential to be somewhat random. I start the week of BIBA a bit bleary eyed, on the 7.10 train from Norwich, after a great weekend. Darrell and I spent Saturday night with John and Jennifer in Southwold, and they were in great form. Although I have to say, spending too much time with someone who constantly reminds you that life free of corporate stress is fantastic could get a bit tiresome, and he did mention it a time or twenty. For the many of you who’ve asked me what he will do next, I can confirm exactly what I’ve said all along, he’ll enjoy life to the full, but never again in a corporate world.
Then on Sunday England won the cricket world cup!!!!
14/05/2010
‘I wanna be elected’ sang Alice Cooper
You may ‘wanna be elected’ but it can’t be easy when you hear conversations along the lines of ‘they’re all the same’, ‘not much difference between them’, ‘difficult to tell them apart these days’. Leaves you wondering what it is that makes people choose?…. but they do. Decisions made on a whole raft of things from the rational to gut feeling. But I wonder if customers … the people who buy insurance products and services… sometimes feel ‘they’re all the same’ when they think about insurers? How would we perform in the equivalent of a ‘ ‘Prime Minister Debate’? Would customers feel ‘they’re all the same’ because they feel we treat them ‘all the same’? Does the owner of body repair business feel we understand what his business really needs or is he seen as ‘another garage’?
11/05/2010
Wow, how good is this! 53 years old and I’ve actually been asked to write a piece for Janice’s Blog!
My name is Alan Drury and I work with the Broker Trading Teams across the North West of England, Nottingham and Northern Ireland. I’ve operated in most markets in the UK but now ‘almost’ feel an honorary Northerner having lived in the North West since 1993. I actually still like Eastenders though rather than “The Street” as my PA calls it..! It helps me keep in touch with my Essex roots.
30/04/2010
I have a confession to make – I find General Elections fascinating. I know this puts me in a small minority of the population but we all have our crosses to bear.
25/03/2010
Is it me or have the Daffodils been a long time coming this year? Over the last week we’ve seen the very first signs of spring after a winter that felt like it would never end.
A bit of sunshine seems to put a smile on most faces, certainly mine as the first daffs appeared in my garden last week. This coming weekend we alter the clocks. Losing an hour of any weekend is hard, but driving home in daylight makes it all worth it.
26/02/2010
**Don’t forget to watch the outtakes!**
Transcript
Brian – Hi everybody – my name is Brian Spinks and I’m Head of Corporate Marketing at Aviva
Tom – I’m Tom Broughton the Editor-in-Chief of Insurance Times
Matt – Matt Stringer – I’m from Bloomfields and the winner of IT Pack 2009
What was your initial reaction when crowned IT Pack member of the year 2009?
08/02/2010
The feedback on the video blog came flooding in, we even made backchat, seems most of you appreciated my willingness to make a fool of myself! I wonder once John has departed will I manage to force myself out of my comfort zone quite so much, in a strange sort of way I hope so, though maybe a purple mermaid costume is a once in a lifetime thing!
I can’t believe it’s the first Friday in Feb, 5 weeks into my new job, with my new boss who is out and about getting to know as many brokers as possible. Like most I spent January trying to exercise, be healthier and cut down my alcohol intake, although sometimes I think I’m in the wrong job for all that, plus the fact I’m far too easily led astray.
14/01/2010
John – We started, we started, sorry I started this blog with a little group of friends about a year ago and to start off the New Year 2010 we thought we’d do a little video blog as a one off, see how it goes and if its popular I think we’ll run it again, but this is the first sort of video blog we have done and we hope you like it.
What were your highlights of 2009?
Janice – One was being asked to dress as a mermaid, one of John’s wonderful ideas, which was Janice should dress as a mermaid for the key partner conference.
John interrupts – sorry Janice we are doing highlights
*Janice laughs and slaps John’s hand*
*Clip of Janice as a mermaid*
Janice – so yeah, one of them was being asked to be a mermaid.
John interrupts – that was – it was very funny
Janice – the highlight…
31/12/2009
B: So George, we get to do the blog this week! How does that feel?
G: Damn, I thought I could have escaped without having to do any blogging. How does it work?
B: Well, you just say what’s going on in your life and hope that people reading it will find it interesting.
G: What about what’s going on in their own lives – wouldn’t that be more interesting?
B: That’s not how it works! So come on, what’s happening, what have you been up to and what are you going to do next year?
17/12/2009
At this time of the year, my job becomes more of a trial of endurance and recovery than the nuts and bolts of everyday trading. Everyone has a party and you can trip from bar to restaurant to bar in the City from noon till midnight, often rubbing shoulders with the same brokers and competitors, all taking their turns to host and be hosted.
10/12/2009
Driving down to Birmingham after attending a family funeral on a wet and dark Friday night last week, I wasn’t really feeling or expecting too much from the evening ahead at the Insurance Times Awards.
30/11/2009
Maybe I should dedicate my first blog in my new role to confirming that Aviva’s broker strategy is unchanged. But I won’t because you’ll hear that lots and lots from Mark and David in the next few weeks and months.
20/11/2009
Cup of tea (two teabags), a slice of Jigsaw shortbread, 6 sugars (sweet tooth, sorry) and I walk to the lifts to go back to my office.
A room on Sienna 2 (formerly known as Life Wing or Fire Wing or Bird Wing, or something).
Anyway, the lift door is about to shut…and it’s pretty full…and a guy I know (in my team) realises its too late for me to get in; shortbread et al.
16/11/2009
I’ve been receiving a lot of feedback recently from a number of places. It started last Sunday on a cool rugby pitch in Norfolk where my son Tom had just finished an under 8’s training session and the coaches came across to me to give me some positive feedback on his progress. To give this some context it’s been a tough start to the season for Tom having moved up two teams, leaving behind his school mates and its fair to say he’s experienced some difficulty staying on the park during matches due to some over-exuberance in the tackle and a desire not just to take the tag (its non-contact until next year) but often the opposing player as well! Roll on next season.
03/11/2009
It’s the last Friday in October, it’s five’ o’clock on a Friday afternoon and it’s dark. I can’t stop yawning, so maybe it’s fast approaching time to go home.
Somebody asked me how I was yesterday and I answered with a really enthusiastic and genuine “I’m great”, which I am, they were completely taken aback, said “there’s not much great around at the minute”, maybe it’s that time of year.
29/10/2009
Take you back 4 weeks…
“Kitson leaves to go fishing” – screamed the papers. (Ok it was shouted, ok whispered and well a few papers- well ok Insurance ones).
“You’re not going fishing are you…that’s a lie…it must be”…came the email traffic.
“You’ll be back anyway…You’ll miss the cut and thrust…if not the money…!”
“Were you sacked? that’s the rumour…”
20/10/2009
Looking back over my old blogs, you might get the impression that I have lots of holidays…….I don’t, just the average amount, I do seem to talk about them a lot, so I’ll apologise upfront as I’m about to do it again.
I just got back from holiday last Wednesday, I normally wait until after the summer rush then sneak off when everyone else is back, it means everywhere is quieter and we can really escape it all.
02/10/2009
“So what will you miss in ‘Brokerland’, John?”
“Don’t you mean who?” I said.
“OK, who…?”
25/09/2009
“John, can you pick up a new role….can you take us back to number 1 for personal lines in the broker market……oh, and do it in 2010 please…..oh, and take the brokers with you by becoming the Aviva face on personal lines” ……..mmmm I thought………another massive personal lines challenge I thought.
21/09/2009
Now it’s been quite a week for one reason and another. Whenever I write the blog I’m always looking for the gem of an idea, something interesting to write about.
Not so last week, as Aviva hits the headlines. Behind every headline there is a story, the story this time isn’t mine it’s John’s. The only thing I can add to the many, many press interviews John has given is from my heart. And that’s just pure and simply how much I’ll miss him. Relationships like ours are a rare thing in business, and like all wonderful things it had to end sometime. We’re still together for another 6 months and I intend to make the most of it. As for the speculation about me, don’t write me off just yet, I intend to be around for a long time to come.
11/09/2009
Over the past few years I’ve met quite a lot of brokers; spoken to quite a few of them; e-mailed thousands of them; been involved in some good things and some not so good …
My time at Aviva is coming to an end … and I thought I’d let you know …
04/09/2009
As my colleagues are all returning from their holidays,
And a wonderful warm dry summer in Norfolk turns to Autumn overnight,
And I get drenched getting off the train at 9 in the evening and drive home in the dark,
27/08/2009
“So what’s happened since I’ve been away … while the cat’s away and everything …”
“Oh lots/loads/heaps/everything … you should have seen … you must read … and that plan to … and the numbers …”
“So nothing much then …”
20/08/2009
Unprecedented economic conditions, thousands of claims going through our Supply Chain every week, bedding in our new Claims processes with our Suppliers and our Centres of Excellence, exciting prospects with our Brokers and changing our Brand – that’s my world at work at the moment!
Now a bit about me……………
13/08/2009
So here I am (at last), 9 months since the birth of the Janice & John blog and 42 ‘posts’ later (see I’ve got the terminology right already, a natural!) it’s finally my turn to blog. Brian Spinks, head of sales & marketing, officially a guest blogger.
07/08/2009
As the world departs for its annual hols you’re stuck with me again, sorry! John is off for a few weeks, and so are many others, and I’m planning to enjoy the peace and quiet.
31/07/2009
There is no doubt that life is full of ups and downs, highs and lows, peaks and troughs. Much as I’d love it to be the case that’s probably no less true now we’re Aviva that it was when we were Norwich Union, or as it has been through most of my career. You’re probably already thinking “what a revelation Janice, have you got nothing better to do with your time than think up such pearls of wisdom”…bear with me there is a point to all this.
23/07/2009
Article 1:
“Aviva clear winners in best product…head and shoulders above…with 53% of brokers saying best range”
Meeting 1:
“Service is the same as last year – good, consistent…Aviva’s still leading…nothing really to discuss John other than the little scheme idea I’ve got.”
23/07/2009
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A few weeks ago I talked about my “Personal Best” on my blog and asked for yours! …Some beautiful stories…(miles better than mine) but I had to pick a winner…Tim Will won…well done…
Read and enjoy.
.
16/07/2009
If there has been one theme running through my life over the last six months, its change – with a capital C!
09/07/2009
It’s mid year appraisal time, as you can imagine appraisals with John are a bit different, mine went something like this
John: Looking back on the last 6 months what are the headlines
Me: Well relationships with consolidators seem to be a continued theme, have we fallen out with them, are we making friends with them, even when nothing’s happening it’s forever in the headlines……
08/07/2009
Brokers have given our new Aviva Broker site the big thumbs up (thanks for all your feedback!). You tell us that it’s great to find everything you need in one place, from product information and the latest news to Fast Trade, our fab new quote-and-buy facility. You also say it’s easy to navigate and you like the improved referral process and being able to get copies of quotes and documents in just two clicks.
03/07/2009
Well, how does the Chief Risk Officer of Aviva get to be writing a column out of John Kitson’s blog? Surfing the net one day, I stumbled accidentally upon Insurance Times and couldn’t miss reading John’s blog. What were my reactions? Shock, horror, followed by praise and admiration and then eventually … disappointment … once I discovered that the blog about “my holiday with my hubby” had been written by our own Janice Deacon. Misguidedly, I thought it merited an e-mail to John and anyway here I am.
24/06/2009
So picture the scene … it’s August 21st 2006 … 1.15pm to be precise.
I’ve been crouching behind a tree for the best part of two hours without touching the water … watching … alert … scanning the surface.
But I’m poised … really poised.
18/06/2009
I’m Brian Wallace, Head of Aviva Risk Management Solutions. I’m spending some time gardening this week to the sound of Jimi Hendrix playing in the background (“Little Wing” what a great song!) and thinking how well Rangers will do in Europe next season…In case you’re wondering I’m actually on holiday this week but I wasn’t going to turn down an opportunity like this was I?! Guest blogging for Janice and John, I’m up for that and the chance to put some thoughts down. Anyway, I like relaxing in the garden, getting away from it all……..but it’s funny how your mind works even when relaxed………….
12/06/2009
On Thursday 2nd April we launched Facility 110*; a new, complementary business-placing facility that’s exclusive to Club 110 members.
It’s great news because members can now look to Facility 110 to provide underwriting solutions for risks that fall outside of Aviva’s remit.
10/06/2009
I joined the company that was last week rechristened Aviva 9 years and 2 months ago, 6 weeks after the CGU, NU merger was announced. You could say I never really belonged to a “legacy company”. As my colleagues swore allegiance to General Accident, CU, NU and L&E, it was really clear to me that people form allegiances to brands over many years and real passion and loyalty underpins these allegiance.
08/06/2009
If you reckon you could beat John Kitson in a penalty shoot out and you fancy a new iPod touch as your latest super-gadget, remember to play Flick It; our celebratory finger footy game!
To celebrate the switch to Aviva, we launched a great new game of finger footy, with a fantastic iPod touch as the prize.
01/06/2009
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In the… day… week… month…… and year ahead…………………
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The yellow and blue bunting will have faded in the sun…
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The yellow balloons will be long popped…………………
.
The yellow cup cakes will be a distant memory………
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The yellow serviettes at the “scattered round the country” barbecues will have been forgotten ………
28/05/2009
Ta-daaaa, www.aviva.co.uk/broker, your new website is here. Take a look around. As you’ll see, it’s all about you. Your needs as a broker, what makes your job easier and which navigation works best for you.
22/05/2009
All those stands …
All those people …
All those badges …
All those half-drunk coffee cups …
22/05/2009
Over 200 years, any insurance company is bound to have a few bizarre claims to investigate. We dug into the archives and found some extraordinary claims.
21/05/2009
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The BIBA conference in Manchester was a huge success. Just imagine – 1,400 brokers under one roof. Awesome.
The aisles were bursting at the seams. There were brokers, insurers and other interested parties all getting the low down on the main events of the year.
20/05/2009
Famous Norwich Union employees. Some surprising colleagues from the archives…
Ever wondered what your regular Norwich Union contacts do outside work? It turns out we’ve got quite a record of celebrity employees.
19/05/2009
Norwich Union’s star-studded customer list. Who’s keeping your customers company on our books?
I discovered a few illustrious policyholders as I dug around in our 200 years’ worth of archives – so your clients are in good company. Churchill was a little worried about getting hurt in the army, and Newton seems to have been very aware of the physics of fire…
18/05/2009
Insurance has been around for a lot longer than your customers might think. I’ve gone back to the start of it all – and picked out a few choice nuggets from Norwich Union’s 212-year history on the way.
14/05/2009
It’s 7 weeks since I wrote my first ever blog, it hasn’t turned me into a blog addict, a ‘Twitterer’ or a ‘Facebook’ regular. I like talking too much to ever do all my communications via virtual means, any of you who’ve met me will know that to be the case.
08/05/2009
“Okay, there’s three weeks to go before you dump the Norwich Union name. How are you feeling?”
“We’re not dumping the name – as you put it … we’re changing the name,” I retort … I don’t remember Bruce saying “sometimes dumping your name is a chance to show the world who you’ve always wanted to be”.
“Okay … change/dump – same thing…How are you feeling?” came the reply snippily.
01/05/2009
My name is Phil Bayles. I look after Broker business in the south of UK as well as National Brokers and London Property Owners. I live in Southampton and support Southampton FC – I get a lot of sympathy from taxi drivers at the moment on that count.
24/04/2009
Quite a few people read this … okay, a few … well, you do!
Well, at least people give me ideas for content … and what to write about …
No, they do really … quite a lot actually …
But if it’s not about Aviva (or sort of related) then it is a no no …
Why?
16/04/2009
I am Alan, son of Sander, father to Fraser, native of Kilmarnock, friend to English Andrew, I am many things to many people but at this moment I am the ‘Johnblogstitute’.
09/04/2009
GUARANTEED RETURN OF PREMIUM IF……?
So this is the context……
A customer rings. It’s urgent.
I always respond quickly…look at all the details…etc…It’s what I’m here for…
It was a Broker’s customer…OK…a rareish event.
02/04/2009
I’m not blogging solely because I have the same initials. That’s just a coincidence! The main and most important reason I’m blogging is because of the role I perform for John and Janice. For those that don’t know me, I have worked for Norwich Union (soon to become Aviva) for 20 years, family man, Norwich born and bred and I love my football.
26/03/2009
“So,” he said “now you’re Aviva, you’re even more big and faceless”.
“Thanks,” I said.
“Now you’re global, you’ll lose touch with your local roots.”
“Of course,” I sighed.
“Big Corporations – don’t give a !*!! about individuals” … (language Timothy….!)
19/03/2009
Is this the most stressful business environment I’ve ever been in …? (not Aviva just the world of commerce!) Generally … and for me at the moment?
That was the thing winging its way around in my head early one morning (as it does) …
04/03/2009
I don’t spend my whole life doing the Aviva rebrand, you know. It may seem like that if you’re one of my blog fans…OK fan. Whilst it’s critical; and we’re really pleased with the progress; it’s not the only thing in my life! …
25/02/2009
Hi I’m Janice.
I’m now doing something I’ve never done before, even in these days of technology, blogs and twitters, it seems like everybody’s at it but me. I’ve managed to survive without ever writing a blog. This week, I’ve decided to get in on the act so I’m writing a guest blog for John.
18/02/2009
“It’s a journey.”
“We’re on a journey.”
“What a journey.”
It’s a sort of must say, de rigueur, must say it phrase nowadays.
On those reality shows, you hear…
“My journey has been fantastic and I don’t want to get off.”
“This is just the start and I’ll be back – you haven’t heard the last of me.”
“My journey is just beginning.”
11/02/2009
One rule of the media I was taught in one of those ‘media training days’, you know the ones where you’re asked to write a press release; you do a mock radio phone-in, you’re given tips and techniques, told how to stand, what shirt to wear (never stripes or checks, which takes out 95% of my shirts. I have one special media shirt – it’s dull!)
02/02/2009
I’ve been thinking about “cut through” a lot this week.
For those not in the know, “cut through” is an advertising term.
It means that in a world of noise, colour, advertising, bill boards, internet, magazines of every shape and size, text messaging and outbound calling, the human brain gets cluttered and full. Therefore if you’ve got a message you want to get across, you have to “cut through” the noise.
21/01/2009
You know what, you think you have a great relationship with the Insurance press.
You make yourself available, you put forward spokespeople, you brief them in advance on big initiatives, strategic “journeys”(!) and you very very occasionally give them an ‘off the record’ snippet/comment. and then you agree to do a running commentary on the biggest financial services rebrand ever in the UK – and you do it in a ‘bloggish’ style to try something new.
19/01/2009
Trying different things isn’t always easy. “New” is not everyone’s cup of tea and this “blog” is one of those things.
I happened to be browsing on another insurance website (as you do) and there was a forum discussing this blog, a bloggers blog so to speak, bit odd but there you go, the wonders of the web. They called me “a fruit bat” and a web Harry Hill look-alike. Talk about not pleasing everyone all of the time!
07/01/2009
3 weeks in and I’ve certainly had some feedback on this, not all positive but as they say in HR, “all feedback is a gift”. So thanks for all your presents, Santa was busy.
It’s fair to say that certainly in the Broker market awareness of the name change is at an all time high (so it should be) and some say “bring it on”, “about time”. Others question the wisdom of the timing.
29/12/2008
Well, it’s started, well it started some time ago but we’ve now moved into fourth gear in terms of communicating more widely that we’re changing our name.
As I ate a brussel sprout, I heard Ringo Starr (nee Richard Starkey) on the television and caught Bruce Willis saying, “would Walter Willis have ever been a leading man?”
18/12/2008
I don’t like the word “blog” so I won’t use it, but that’s what this is supposed to be (at least that’s what the Insurance Times boys tell me).
I hope it’s worthwhile for you, but give it time.
For me it has got to be a regular update on what’s happening to Norwich Union as we change our name to Aviva (no mean feat!).
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