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.”

“I also spent alot of time with brokers talking to me about what we could do more with 110 and how we can take 110 forward and there is a real huge interest from our broker community around doing something for charity. One broker even suggested that every 110 broker cycles around all the different offices of our brokers. The timing of that seems fantastic when we are just launching and working on our Street to School initiative and I did just see the videos that the corporate social responsibility team have been working on to promote the Street to School initiative and I have to say I can’t watch those videos without becoming tearful and to me that shows what a hugely fantastic thing this is to support and I don’t think there is anything we can be doing better with our brand to celebrate a year of being Aviva than supporting the Street to School initiative… I just love everything about it and if we can gear up the power we have got in our broker community that would be fantastic….fantastic support, so we’re working on ideas of how we harness all the broker support we have got and all the different charity work our brokers do to help support the Street to School initiative.”

“To celebrate a year of Aviva, and kick start our efforts for Street to School, for every piece of renewal business or new business you place with us in June through our brokers, we will be donating money to the Street to School charity, in support of the Railway Children*. I’m now going to handover to Heather Smith, whose going to tell you more about what we’re doing for this fabulous cause. Thankyou.”

Heather – “Thanks Janice. I’m Heather Smith, Head of Sponsorship and Corporate Responsibility, here in the UK and I’d like to talk to you about our Aviva Street to School initiative as Janice has been talking about. Well first of all it’s a global initiative impacting across our 26 countries worldwide and by collecting together as ‘One Aviva’, we believe we can make a difference to the 500,000 kids around the world who are homeless and at risk. But it’s not just a global issue, it exists here in our own backyard in the UK and it’s a hidden issue most times. About 100,000 children run away from home or care every year in the UK, in which about 1 in 6 will sleep rough and find themselves in horrible situations, so that’s why Aviva Street to School exists. We believe that by supporting them over the next 3 years, we can make a real difference.”

“So your help and your support can make a difference because you’re out there in the market, you network with lots of people and ultimately if you want to get involved in volunteering and fundraising, we’d be delighted and we can help you.”

“So here’s the film to set the scene and really show you what the cause is all about and the difference you can make by being a part of it. Thanks”

<Aviva/Railway Children promotional video plays>

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…Key Partner Conference and 110 Conference were great highlights for me, I just think they, in the toughest of years with our brokers they highlighted the strengths of the relationships are still there and that those relationships are still working for us and that we have come through some really tough times together and those relationships are stronger than ever.

John – Highlight has to be the re-brand obviously we re-branded and if anybody, if anybody watching this blog doesn’t know…we’re Aviva and we changed our name from Norwich Union, well shame on you really! Shame on the audience, if you’re watching audience, shame on you!  And actually I think, you can sense that the whole of the UK population knows we’re Aviva and Norwich Union is packed into the history of insurance companies.

What was the funniest moment of 2009?

Janice – Mine was the ‘Gingergate episode’ at the 110 conference that was my funniest moment of all the things and all the videos.

John – I do remember that actually…gingergate!

Janice – and that actually…(laughs) Gingergate!

*Clip of Gingergate episode from 110 Conference*

What are your biggest hopes for 2010?

John – My biggest hope for 2010 is that Aviva recovers from my departure

*Janice laughs*

John – and can carry on being the thrusting successful organisation that it has become in the last year since it was re-branded. That’s definitely my hope for 2010.

Janice – My biggest hope for 2010 is that the optimism I feel now, the first week in January, sort of comes to fruition, not just for Aviva but actually for generally in the world outside and the economy and that we start to see some real traction and improvement, because that effects lots of peoples lives and I love this time of year its actually a time of optimism, part of the year where you can be optimistic around the rest of the year so that’s what I’m hoping for and obviously that we recover from Johns departure.

*Janice laughs*

John – because yours was a really serious hope wasn’t it – really quite deep and profound about optimism and world recovery! Mine was a little glib comment about…

Janice interrupts – that’s because I’m staying and you’re going!

John – true true true true.

What can brokers expect from Aviva in 2010?

Janice – it won’t be quite so colourful with John not around but I think pretty much brokers can expect that the most important thing is our relationship and that will just continue, there’s no doubt that 2009 was a tough year, 2010 might be tough as well, but we are in it together and that’s what they will see in 2010. I don’t see that changing I see, more of you know, the same working together to get through the tough times and hopefully that’s what they’ll say they have seen this year.

Janice, what will you miss the most and least about John?

Janice – What I’ll miss most is that fact that he makes me laugh so much when bad days are bad can always have 5 minutes therapy and always make me laugh.

John interrupts – and you have had lots of bad days!

Janice – what I’ll miss least. What will I miss least?

John Interrupts – there isn’t anything can we cut this out!? There won’t be anything to say!

*Janice laughs*

John – I do annoy her when I chase her up on stuff – she hates being chased up..so whoevers..Yeah..She hates being chased up on stuff..”so how you doing with that”?  ”ill tell you when I tell you!!!”..

Janice – mmm I do yeah..its email traffic generation aswell – you generate a lot of traffic…laughs….thanks I don’t sound like that!?

John – no no – a bit deeper!

*Janice Laughs*

John, What will you miss the most about Janice?

John – About Janice? …..*Long pause*

3 hours later

*longer pause…Janice laughs*

John – I think I’ll definitely miss the friendship actually because whilst we work together, I don’t think, we don’t work together as, I tend to be like that anyway but I can be like that more with Janice than anybody else, we tend not to work, although she’s effectively in my team or whatever or as I was the Sales and Marketing… its not like that – it is just as the blog says – its Janice and John

…and what will you miss about the broker world?

John – I’ll miss the gossip and in the insurance world in the broker world I love (as I was new to it in 2006) love the little bits of gossip and you get Insurance Times ringing me up or Post Mag ringing me up for some off the record gossip or I ring them and give them off the record gossip or the press office and individual brokers ring me up and say “have you heard about this?. What about that? What do you think?” I like that stuff…

Janice interrupts – yeah probably more in the broker world than any other world.

John – I do like to. Oh its fantastic in the broker world – its all about personality and individuals so there is always some little tittle tattle thing going on (Janice laughs and agrees) either at me or Janice or Igal or David or Towergate or small broker, big broker or all those things – I’ll miss that..I’ll miss that definitely.

Any New Year’s resolutions?

Janice – No I never make new years resolutions

John interrupts– really don’t you? Why not, need to give you some!

Janice – No never I just find them so repetitive…

John – Hello..I mean look at your appraisal – you have loads of things to be doing!

*Janice laughs*

John – I would always make one or two and they I would always..if I make one I do it otherwise what’s the point? And my central resolution this year is simply make the most of the opportunity in front of me because, I’ve never not worked and I’m not going to work I’m going to write and fish and ‘stuff’ yeah..so just make the most of it – don’t sit in front of the telly watching the Jeremy Kyle show because that is such a waste of a life and I’ll be really angry with myself if that’s what I do…

Anything else you would like to add?

John – yes I think that this is the last time that I’m going to be doing a blog anymore, I wont be doing the next video blog and I think it’s the apt time to handover the legacy…laughs..the apt time to say the baton has changed from me to Janice

*John hands Janice a notebook…*

Janice – Thank you *laughs*

John – There’s nothing in it!

Janice – I know! I’m used to that

John – There’s no wise words of wisdom

Janice – I wasn’t expecting any!

John – It just says in there its bloody hard work! So good luck

Janice – Thanks – So that’s it for now – this is the last time that John and I will be doing the first and last video blog together and if you have got any questions/comments – you liked it/hated it – then you know drop us a line or give us a call.

John – I liked it actually, I liked it..

Janice – you liked what?

John – I liked it, thought it was very good

Janice – right. *laughs*

John – that’s my comment! *laughs*

Janice – thanks…forever he has to get the last word!

John – Cheerio…bye bye *laughs*

Janice – Bye *laughs*

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. On one level, this all seems a bit old-school and somewhat removed from these straightened times but on another level it meets that deep psychological need to draw the line under one year and start preparing for the one to come.

Someone once said that success is when preparation meets opportunity and we are certainly well prepared for 2010. You know when you have market momentum and we are in that happy position on a number of fronts – Corporate Risks, Personal Lines, Fast Trade, Independent Brokers and open market trading. This time last year, the recession was just hitting us – clients/brokers/insurers were reeling but this year we know what it means and are trading through it alongside our broker partners. So when at the XV Club Dinner last week, I had the opportunity to ‘drink from the loving cup’ with august colleagues from the industry, it wasn’t just a cold that I caught, it was the whiff of better times ahead for us and our brokers – you may think I’ve had a little too much Christmas cheer on my rounds in the City but just try a little optimism this New Year, it might – like the loving cup – prove contagious.

Best regs,

Phil Bayles (Broker & Key Partners Director)

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.

After rapidly checking in and quickly swapping my black suit and tie for a black DJ and bow tie, I darted to the Aviva branded bar area to press the flesh, hook up with members of my brilliant marketing team and play host to the finalists from the IT pack…Oh yes and get that much deserved and eagerly awaited drink!

At the bar I quickly remembered how important the Insurance Times awards are. It’s our moment (our being the industry at large) to be recognised for our achievements, a chance to bask in the glory as a winner, even if only for a brief moment and of course the opportunity to meet our broker friends and even our competitors. Soon we had all taken our seats for dinner, the gold shower curtain (you had to be there) had fallen to the floor and all eyes were lifted heaven-ward to the imposing if rather high stage. The awards began to flow, as did the wine, as did the chat and on stage our industry talent was recognised.

One award Aviva had entered this year was especially close to my heart. The Industry Communications Strategy of the Year encompassed everything my marketing team had worked so hard on this year. Ensuring that our brokers, were completely engaged and informed as we moved from Norwich Union to Aviva here in the UK.  

As I sat at the dinner table I started thinking about the variety of work undertaken to ensure that brokers were happy with the way we had communicated the change to Aviva. This blog,  the e-zines, BIBA conference, the heritage supplement and our TV advert promoting brokers as the right choice for business insurance – all playing a part in ensuring that 9 out of 10 brokers were happy with the manner we had communicated the change to Aviva.

And for me that’s the real prize, so as the winners were being read out (well done Matthew Stringer on winning the IT Pack – well deserved!), I felt a real sense of pride. Even if we didn’t win the award we had still achieved a lot this year…But we did win!

And it’s great to have been recognised externally by experts in the industry for a great job done and have the opportunity to receive the award and walk around post ceremony showing off our very own gold bar all to the sounds of Tony Hadley…

Brian Spinks, Head of Corporate Marketing

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……

John: Mmmm, wasn’t quite what I meant by headlines but as we’re on that theme, we got good some good coverage on the rebrand

Me: We did and 110 club and our launch of broker independence group made a splash…. anything that has the words Aviva, love and brokers in it will always get my vote

John: You have to take the rough with the smooth though, a few weeks ago ‘Kitson slams claims farming’ was a tad over zealous

Me: Yeah but I quite liked ‘the Awakening Giant’, do you think we’d be classed as wide awake by now?

John: Don’t get carried away with you’re own PR love, but if we’re reminiscing I did like me and you being described as ‘Strike Force’

Me: Yeah but some might say more like ‘left back in the dressing room’

John: Very funny!  There’s always the question about who we love the most big, small, BIG who happen to be small!

Me: True but the headlines won’t determine whether brokers feel loved or not, that’s more about what we do everyday

John: That’s true, so if you could choose a headline that marks the next 6 months what would it be?

Me: If only I got to choose the headlines! What about ‘Aviva loves brokers of all shapes and sizes’

John: Well I like it but it’s not really controversial enough to make the headlines

Me: How about ‘John and Janice’ what a couple

John: A couple of what?

Me: You’ve got an answer for everything, seriously though if I could really choose a headline that marks the next 6 months it would be what I said to the team last week.

John: What was that then?

Me: I told them that ‘July will be the month that the competition gets worried about Aviva’.

John: Great headline, what’s the story?

Me: We’ve been making lives a bit too easy for the first half of the year, not anymore.

John: Here’s to writing your own headlines!

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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…………………

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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 ………

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The yellow and green party poppers will have long been swept into the bin…………
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The Norwich Union creased flags and rusty signs will be gathering dust…………
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The Norwich Union headed paper will have long been recycled alongside thousands and thousands of brochures………
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The Norwich Union Antiques Roadshow will have long finished its tour and the 1857 policy wording and the 1935 lollipop will be lovingly stored in the vaults………………………
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The Norwich Union adverts in the press will be no more………
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The Norwich Union “Quote me happy” advertising will be consigned to the history books ……………………
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The Norwich Union email addresses will take you to nowhere………………………
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The great things about Norwich Union have to live on………………
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And the great new things that rise out of Aviva have to breathe new life into us ………
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Today, as Aviva in the UK jumps officially over the starting line ………
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………………its a new day………its a new dawn……its a new life ………for us ……
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……………………………………and we’re feeling good …………

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.

These were my favourites – and clients love these stories of the more colourful side of insurance, too.

A racing pigeon had to be retired after being involved in a road accident, leading to a payout of £250 – for emotional distress! The poor bird just wasn’t itself after the truck carrying it ran into an estate car from behind, and never raced again…

One policyholder severed his own toes and then claimed they’d been crushed in an accident – needless to say we didn’t pay his claim (and nor did the 5 other insurers involved!). It turned out he’d also lopped off 3 fingers in an earlier attempt at fraud…

Board members at a building society’s new head office were mystified by rattling teacups in the top-floor boardroom. It turned out that the building’s deep steel foundations were vibrating like tuning forks as trains from a local quarry passed nearby…

Test your knowledge

English law dictates that a pigeon fancier must wear a flat cap. True or false?

If you think you know the answer comment below.

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.

Past Norwich Union staffers who turned up in my research included Olympic ice dance champion Jayne Torvill, artist LS Lowry, and a pair of TV comedians: Leonard Rossiter and Cyril Fletcher of the BBC’s ‘That’s Life’.

Admittedly we did at one point employ John George Haigh, the notorious “Acid Bath Murderer” of the 1940s – but we sacked him for embezzlement.

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…

John F Kennedy
General Accident (later to merge with Commercial Union) provided motor insurance for the Kennedy family until 1972, including US President John F Kennedy.

Sir Robert Walpole
The Hand-in-Hand Fire and Life Insurance Society (later to become part of Commercial Union) insured the house of Robert Walpole in 1710. Walpole went on to become Britain’s first prime minister (although the term didn’t exist back then).

Sir Isaac Newton
The Hand-in-Hand Fire and Life Insurance Society insured a house belonging to the famous mathematician and physicist in 1717.

Sir Walter Scott
Our archive includes an 1824 policy on the life of this famous novelist, taken out with the Edinburgh Life Assurance Company (later acquired by the Commercial Union Assurance Company).

Sir Winston Churchill
In 1896, as a young officer in the 4th Queen’s Own Hussars, Churchill took out a personal accident policy with the Accident Insurance Company (later acquired by Commercial Union).

Freddie Mercury
Insured by the Norwich Union Life Insurance Society Ltd in the 1980s.

Agatha Christie
In the 1950s the Norwich Union Life Insurance Company Ltd insured the crime writer under her married name of Agatha Mallowen.

Test your knowledge:

Which Englishman was a pioneer of photography?

A: Fox Talbot
B: Hound Talbot
C: Port Talbot

If you think you know the answer comment it below.

It all began with marine insurance, which can be traced back to 13th-century Genoa and Palermo.

In 1797, when Thomas Bignold founded the Norwich Union Society for the Insurance of Houses, Stock and Merchandise from Fire, the business of fire insurance was already over a century old.

The life insurance business got off the ground in 1699 with the establishment of the Society of Assurance for Widows and Orphans. The Amicable Society, which was later acquired by the Norwich Union Life Insurance Society, was formed in 1706.

One popular type of policy in the mid-19th century was steam boiler insurance. This protected steam boiler owners against loss caused by boilers exploding.

Motor insurance has also changed a bit since the early days when it was based on policies used for horse-drawn vehicles.

What’s the connection between insurance and fire brigades?

The first fire brigades were organised by insurance companies (or “Fire Societies”) – in fact, Norwich Union ran a fire brigade in Worcester until 1929.

For quick identification of the properties they insured, each company produced “fire marks” – metal or ceramic plaques that were fixed to the wall of a policyholder’s property.

With the development of a modern postal service, street addresses became much more reliable and fire marks fell out of use – but became eminently collectable.

The pictures above come from Roy Addis, owner of probably the largest collection ever. Check out his fire marks website.

Take a look at today’s equivalent of the fire mark: electronic online documentation for brokers

Test your knowledge

In which year was the penny postal system introduced?

If you think you know the answer comment it below.