Norwich Union - Soon to be Aviva

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!). A sort of “what’s coming up”, “what’s gone well” (lots I hope!) and “what’s not so good” (an extremely short list I hope), plus a few personal touches (so they tell me, if you’re to be a successful blog writer).

Let’s get the personal touches out of the way then.

I am John. I’m the Sales & Marketing Director for Norwich Union (soon to be Aviva) and this is written by me. It hasn’t been delegated! (Apparently that is what some “corporate” blogs do, put a front man on it and get someone else with a better writing flair to write it for them. That’s soooooo not me.)

I’m also a fisherman and a massive Norwich City fan, but I work too hard.

Right, getting straight into it -

Well, 1st June is the day I stop saying “Norwich Union” and start saying “Aviva” – and hasn’t it been a long time in the planning.

Over the last few years, we have constantly been talking to brokers, staff, personal and business customers about the change – their hopes, their dreams and their fears.

Our communication/engagement strategy has been developed around that feedback.

Feedback No 1   “Tell us you are not being taken over”

- We haven’t been taken over and that’s what our communication says.  That should be reassuring. We have changed our name because we have so much more to offer across the world.

2. “Explain how big Aviva is around the world. We never realised it was so global”

- Ever since we began back in 1797, we have been constantly evolving to stay competitive and give our customers what they want. The name change is simply the latest example of how we’ve adapted.

- It’s a great British success story and we now operate in 27 countries across the world and provide investments, savings and insurance to around 45 million customers. We believe that to stay competitive in this global marketplace, we have to have a consistent name, branding and vision across every country we operate in.

- Further details on how big we are across the world are on this site, click on the Word of Cod to have a look.

3. “At the start don’t pretend it has been more than a name change”

- The communications are very clear here. We have a poster and television advertising campaign starting on Boxing Day.  In time watch this blog!

4. “Take your time”

- We have, we will and our transitional logo (shown above) will help.

5. “Start to define yourselves and what you stand for before you change on 1st June”

- We will. Don’t worry. Starts late February.

6. “Make sure people are aware that you are changing, e.g. don’t keep your light under a bushel (anyone who knows me, knows I don’t do lights under bushels!) PS do you think you should keep the logo?”

- Don’t worry, we will make people aware we are changing – our staff, brokers, our customers, your customers and because our logo is a link with our heritage, we will be keeping it.

7. Finally, from brokers:-

“Minimise disruption please”
“Don’t sent me lorry loads of new shiny documentation”
“Help me get rid of documentation we already have”

- We will minimise disruption and I promise no lorry loads of paper but, if you see a lorry, e-mail me (kitsoj1@norwich-union.co.uk) and help will be on its way re existing stock.  We are already starting to manage that.

I could go on forever because there is so much to say. A blog (and this isn’t one) is supposed to be short and punchy (which this isn’t) but I should stop now until next week.

John