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

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.

I also had a school parents evening last week to see how my youngest is settling into Reception (that’s Year 1 for those reading north of the border). “Doing great” is the feedback “very attentive, bright, polite and caring child” was the summary.

I was also out doing the part of my job I really love – meeting and listening to feedback from around 40 brokers within our Broker Independence Group. Feedback was certainly robust in nature, very honest and presented me and I’m sure all of my assembled colleagues plenty of food for thought.

But the best bit of feedback I have received is from you about our campaign supporting brokers as the preferred channel of distribution for commercial insurance. So I thought it only fair to share the results from the first few weeks of the campaign.  I’m impressed and I hope you our brokers are too.

•   Aviva business insurance advert was seen by over 38M people – any Sky Sports fans will have struggled not to have seen it as it ran heavily during most of the big sporting fixtures in October – including Leeds versus Norwich – what were the Norwich keeper and defenders doing?
•   Over 32M people heard the Aviva business insurance radio promotion
•   So far 15M people have seen our online advertising (and its growing daily!)
•   We also ran “visit your broker” advertising in most of the National and Regional press – that’s over 60 individual titles in total. But we didn’t stop there we also targeted specific business trade press appearing in titles from Electronics Weekly to Professional Beauty.
•   Our dedicated website supporting business also received over 25,000 visits – with the main two messages being – find a broker and 5 reasons to use a broker.

All great stuff, all putting our money where our mouth is. And I’ll leave you with one last bit of feedback. Our research shows … the Damien & Jason advert beat Direct Line’s van insurance advert (you know the one featuring that guy from ‘Ground Force’ that’s been around for a while) – in terms of awareness amongst businesses*. And that can only be good for brokers!.

Brian Spinks, Head of Corporate Marketing

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,

And I’m 6 weeks since my last holiday and 4 weeks until my next one,

And my bank holiday weekend was spent with a houseful of friends with kids visiting beaches, zoos and funfairs.

So maybe I’m feeling a touch weary as I head off for an exciting day, to do something I’ve never done before. To see our TV ad being shot and add my twopenneth to the proceedings.

I met the crew, who explained how it all works and what would be happening. Then me being me, I thought I’d slip quietly into the background, not too noticeable with stars and film crews, extras and producers around. Little did I know.

I was introduced to our star, I even managed to make him laugh…..

Then someone suggested we sit around the monitor so we could watch and input into the filming, how exciting.

At some point, as we all sat down, it became obvious that the big purple velvet armchair, conspicuously placed amidst all the foldaway chairs, had been put there especially for me. Worth adding at this point we were under a canopy on a high street in a busy London suburb. So much for slinking into the background!

There I sat, feeling extremely self conscious in my big purple armchair, making my suggestions, sharing my thoughts and ideas, all to the sighs of the long suffering producer, who obviously knew better but humoured me anyway. Comfy as my big purple armchair was, I felt like a lemon, and I’m sure I was a source of amusement to many on the busy high street.

Maybe that’s what all the long days and hard slog is for, to be important enough to get the big purple armchair…..

Never for me!

I’m truely excited about the ad, I loved being part of it and learning and adding to my life experiences, and I hope when I see the first cut next week it’s something me and my team will feel proud of.

In the same way I feel proud of our relationships with brokers and partners, love spending time with my teams, love the fact that I learn something new everyday, love closing a deal or winning some business, love fixing a problem and making a difference. In any surroundings, in any office, in any environment, on any chair, it really doesn’t matter to me.

So what I learnt about myself is that there are so many things that matter to me about being me, but I’m just not a big velvet purple armchair sort of girl.

Janice

I work for Janice, for those of you interested in the order of things but order and the usual run of things have not been high on the agenda of my life of late. In fact it’s all been a bit surreal and has included meeting a swarm of ladybirds, conversations about sonic mnemonics (I’ve had conversations about Sonic the Hedgehog with my 7 year old son, Tom before but that didn’t help), the level and use of prosthetic make-up, as well as my first experience of being a casting director – and yes I was sitting on a couch (we don’t do stereotypes at Aviva – its really not us!)

So let me try to explain. It all started on a quiet Sunday in Norfolk and the family were all packed up and ready early for a trip to the coast (had to be up early to beat the hordes of stay in UK BBQ summer types!). The sun was actually splitting the sky, so with picnic blanket and picnic ready, cricket bat and rugby ball packed, windbreak (essential item on the North Norfolk coast) in the boot we set off to the seaside. However, on arrival not all was quite how it should be. The whole coast had recently become the home to millions (no exaggeration) of ladybirds and other such bugs and all of them seemed rather attracted to the windbreak, the picnic blanket, the picnic and more amusingly the mother-in-law! Bright clothing particularly yellow or white were not the order of the day. A strange start to my week indeed.

Next came work and I was faced with the exciting prospect, after months of hard work and preparation, of  getting to the business-end of producing the TV advert for brokers.[ As a quick update we’ll be filming the broker advert in the first week in September]

“So Brian, we’ve developed this sonic mnemonic for your broker business insurance TV advert, what do you think?” ……said the Producer of the advert

“Sonic what?” said I

“Now for hair and prosthetic make-up… “

“Pathetic what?” said I…..clearly this advertising game is tricky

“Now if we can move on to item 14 on the agenda – casting the extras” – says the Producer…..

I’m faced with a series of pictures of models – sorry actors, sorry extras – Equity and all that have different levels I’m told – “Which ones do you think Brian?”

“Never mind what I think – what will the rest of Janice’s management team think when they find out I’m spending time casting extras, discussing sonics and choosing the right level of make-up”  – I exclaim!

“Do you not know we’re in a recession, trading can be tough out there, brokers are toughing it out but it’s hard. And I’m here doing hair and make-up!”
……….. Silence

I sip my Chai Latte (I’m at a top London creative agency so excuse my drink choice) and compose myself…my mind turns to an editor’s comment in a certain trade press magazine this month (sorry Tom – not yours). And the quotes come flooding back….

Aviva “is putting its money where its mouth is for the sector” – for the sector I chant!

“now its (Aviva) swing back to brokers looks like a real and thoroughly considered strategy……the campaign will underline the main messages the industry has so far failed to say…that expert and individual advice from a regulated local broker is essential if you run a commercial enterprise…..the insurers move has to be applauded”. Has to be applauded I chant!

Suddenly, hair and make-up plus the right choice of sonic and extras seems not too frivolous an activity for the working week but instead a really important piece of work. An activity to support brokers in these difficult times, an activity that is ground-breaking and promotes the whole industry, but also an activity educating businesses across the UK about making the right choice when it comes to insurance.

And based on those thoughts I hope to have many more surreal weeks to come…just without the bugs!

Brian

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.

Over the last many, many weeks of our rebrand, regular readers of this blog will have heard it all…..the biggest and best rebrand ever, how much we are or aren’t spending, the TV ads, the things we’re excited about doing differently like Fast Trade, I could go on and on. So rather than wax lyrical about the next big thing we’re doing, I thought I’d share a story from my holiday.

Last week, me and my long-suffering hubby took my Mum and my in-laws away to Sardinia for a few days (brave I know). My father-in-law is a lovely man, we get on really well, he’s never short of an opinion and neither am I. The sun shone, we all relaxed and one night after dinner and a few glasses of wine, as so often is the case with friends and family these days, he brought up the subject of the rebrand, and specifically the TV ads. The conversation went something like this:

Him: Those ads are really good, you did well to get all those famous people.

Me: They’ve certainly made an impact, everyone you speak to mentions them.

Him: Yeah, pity you couldn’t get the real Bruce Willis though.

Me: What do you mean we couldn’t get the real Bruce Willis?

Him: Well he’s obviously a look-alike.

Me: Of course he’s not a look-alike, he’s the real Bruce Willis!

Him: No he’s not, he doesn’t even look like Bruce Willis, and he certainly doesn’t sound like him.

Me: It is Bruce Willis, we wouldn’t go to all that trouble and get a look-alike!

Him: No it’s not, whoever made those ads is having you on!

…and so it went on.

The conversation lasted for about ten minutes, the one thing you should know about my father-in-law is he’s never wrong. In all the conversations, opinions, jokes, challenges and stuff that I’ve heard about the rebrand this one is my most memorable, I was even doubting myself by the end of it, started to doubt whether we really had the real Bruce Willis in our ads, and to top it all I was on my holidays trying to escape all this.

There is a moral to this story for me, though I struggled to find it for a while. That is love it or hate it very few people haven’t heard about the Aviva rebrand, there is no escape even on your holidays.

So what profound learning did I take from all this? Well never argue with my father-in-law when he’s had a few, for one.

The other thought I had is that the hard work is nearly done but the really hard work is only just beginning. Why? Well there is no doubt that awareness and recognition of the rebrand is high. And as the memory of Bruce and his look-alike fades, the real test of the rebrand begins. Now is when we need to prove that we are different. That Fast Trade really is the best small business package offer in the market. That our new personal lines offer for brokers will really knock your socks off. That our people really see and live the new brand and you feel it when you deal with them. That our life blood is our relationships with brokers of all shapes and sizes and that we listen and respond to what you need as individual brokers.

So if I sum it all up, we aspire to be more than just a look-alike and now is the time to prove it.

Janice Deakin is Corporate Sales Director of Norwich Union

“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.
“Change and dump are not the same…in anyone’s language…and language is very important…”

“Okay, okay, calm down…it’s only a name change…”

“Only a name change…ONLY A NAME CHANGE…! It’s one of the biggest Financial Services rebrands ever undertaken…and I quote from “The Times”…(not the “Norwich Times” but “The Times” – an icon, a paragon of intellectually sharp journalism)…They said, “the slickest corporate rebrand in history”…Yes, history… not this year…not this century…but forever…that is not just a name change…!”

It got a bit more heated…more snippy…it happens…comes with the territory…when you stick your neck out etc.

Jibes …digs …snippy comments…not always grasping the big picture…not always understanding the global jigsaw puzzle that I have in front of me …not knowing the strategising that goes on…not knowing the effort and energy that’s gone into getting that “slickest in history” comment.

But hey…she calmed down and apologised if her comments had been misinterpreted as a dig…we smiled…we were off for lunch. That’s married life for you …

“Sensitive … moi”

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) …

Mind racing; numbers changing; ideas abounding; opportunities slipping; opportunities coming; anxiety mounting; share prices jumping; share prices falling …

… bankers on the dartboards; insurers in the eye line; media feeding frenzy; green shoots scoured for; good news lost; bad news to the fore; soothsayers and pessimists lauded; optimists castigated; bulls locked away; bears prowling the streets …

Short-selling winning?; long term thinking… what’s that?; business on the front page; business on page 3; business on page 4/5/6/7/8 …

It’s tough they say; it’s just tough; things are so tough …

“What are you doing at the weekend?”

“Don’t know, cos it’s so tough” they say.

“What do you do, John?”

“I’m in Financial Services” …

“I’m sorry about that …” whispers the reply.  “Which area of Financial Services, John?” …

“Insurance” I reply.

“Oh well at least you’re not an estate agent or a banker …”

“Yeah, thanks”

“Which company, John?”

“Norwich Union – soon to be Aviva” I replied proudly.  (I find it impossible to say “Norwich Union” without saying “Aviva” now, or “Aviva” without saying “formerly known as Norwich Union”.)

“Oh right … good … fine …” they mumble.  “Aviva … is that the Bruce Willis ad?”

“Yes, it’s the Bruce Willis ad …”

“I like that” they said.

“Good …”  I perk up.

“Good to see you out there rather than your head stuck in the sand …”

“Yes” I agree.

“Is it working?”    A murmur … pre-empting in their tone that they don’t think it is …

“It’s working!  Absolutely working” (my voice gets more confident) … “and whilst it may be tough, it’s working …  I knew it would work and I am doing everything in my power to make it work!”

At times like this, when there’s lots of noise and you get knocked a bit, knocked a lot, etc. it’s important that you do the right thing, stand up straight, keep your head up and keep going … easier said than done …

I was working in Lloyds Bank in 1987 … in Sussex … the weekend of the hurricane and the market crash.  “Black Monday”…

I lost my roof; my chimney; my No Claims Discount …

The shop opposite lost its chimney … its windows … its stock …

And the park next door lost hundreds of trees …

Devastating events took place…

The FTSE fell like a stone and then rose again but was a yo yo … I lost my nerve (for a time) … Confidence got shattered …

“It will never be the same again” came a cry …

“We won’t recover from this” I distinctly remember being shouted around me.

“It’s the end” they said …

“This time it’s different from the early 30s, the early 70s and the late 70s” …

It was a very sombre time.

“Stock markets will never recover themselves” …

They did …

I did …

We did …

Bit philosophical but a time like this … early in the morning …

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.

You have to get your creative execution to rent a space in the brain.  The rental period may not last long but if effective will cut through all the noise and “lodge” in the psyche.

Something I’ve been agonising over, in the context of changing our name to Aviva – what a surprise!

Having spent a few hours the other Thursday thinking about “cut through”, I happened to bump into Andy Homer on Thursday night in darkest Maidstone.  (You know, the Andy Homer who is an ex CU Guru, ex AXA Guru and now a Towergate Guru.)

He was covered in charm as usual (yes, charm I said).  The cheeky smile on his face, his ready wit in his palm, his surrounding team hanging off his every word and twinkle.

And what was the first thing he said to me?  (By the way, I was resplendent in a dinner jacket, black tie – when I say resplendent, actually I was looking a bit pale, white just isn’t my colour and Andy had just been on a glamorous holiday somewhere (using his Guru rewards) so was tanned and relaxed).

Anyway, the first words he said to me were (no it wasn’t about commission, small brokers, consolidation, rating), it was “Blog, you have a blog” (there were then a few expletives about blogs and are they worthwhile, but this is a family blog so I couldn’t possibly repeat the words here).

And then, all that Thursday night, that is what he kept repeating, “you’ve got a blog, I must have a blog (expletive) who else has got a blog?”

Eventually, he told me.

He was very, very, very aware of our advertising/communication (you would hope so as a Guru).

He was obviously reading it (despite his protestations).

His team all knew about it.

He obviously secretly admired the communication but just couldn’t bring himself to say so.

And he wished he’d thought about it.

I subsequently wondered whether to ask him to write a guest little ‘bloggette’ – who knows.

Later that evening, to show how seriously he had taken the name change, he changed the quiz that was being run that evening (yes, I should have explained that there was a quiz going on, we were in teams and the team that I was in obviously was “Norwich Union”).

So Andy went over to the “technical” people with such authority and changed the Norwich Union name to Aviva.

Now that’s what I call “cut through”.

So you see, as hard as the world is today, despite all that’s on Andy’s mind – and I bet he’s got lots on his mind, we managed to rent a small space in Andy’s brain around my blog, the name change, Norwich Union and  Aviva.

Now Andy’s not “A – typical” (you can say that again) but “cut through” has to start somewhere and it has!

John.

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.

Then your blog gets “most read feature” (thanks to the fans out there…all 4 of you) and then you wake up and see an imposing black and white photo of your CEO with a ’snippy’ headline.

Inside, when you read the article it looks as though Ellen and Igal didn’t hit it off.

She starts off with ‘He looks bored’. He’d probably been in a 1 to 1 with me and I’d been chattering away as usual!

But Igal is never bored. His mind is so fast it “whir’s”.

You’d think wouldn’t you, with my blog etc there’d be a bit of “you scratch my back etc”.

You then see a letter on page 19 from NU regarding ‘loaves of bread and NU’’.

Then I receive a torrent of emails on:

1) Why didn’t Ellen and Igal get on?

2) What’s this about commission disclosure (the letter isn’t an official stance, but it makes you think, always a good thing)?

3) It triggers a flurry of emails regarding change / our direct business and free contents /commission – you name it.

Well what triggers the flurry of emails? Your guess is as good as mine.

What it shows though is that:

1) People have seen the name change advertising

2) NU/Aviva provokes (rightly or wrongly) emotions (that’s a really good thing!)

3) Sometimes we get it wrong and the communication to key brokers about Direct Home is missing and there is an explanation (trust me!!) and it does not mean that brokers are not the most important channel.

4) Insurance Times & NU/Aviva have a good healthy relationship and there is no such thing as “you scratch mine, I’ll scratch yours” going on. And neither should there be.

So, three weeks in and my resolve to ignore emails and send less is in tatters.

My resolve to get Aviva talked about is sort of happening and the Insurance Times new format… with extra bite…? well everyone is talking about it.

And when I meet Ellen I’ll smile (not obediently) look excited about the name change plus anything else she wants and I’ll talk until the cows come home!

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.

Let’s hit the timing question head on:

We’ve been planning this since 2002 and no time is absolutely perfect, there’s always a reason why not, a reason to postpone, a trap lurking behind a corner. When you know and you’re confident that your strategy is right (ours is!), your understanding of the challenges is clear (ditto), your planning and marketing insight is good (ditto), you’ve analysed your strengths/weaknesses (we do and constantly have them fed back) , when you’re aware of the risks and mitigate against them (we are, we have), when you’re clear that over the medium to long term your staff/customers/partners/shareholders will benefit from your decision (we are, they will, they will, they will, they will) then execute it and execute well, if not better than well.

The sort of feedback I’ve had ranges from:

“no wonder you’re changing your name – if I was cutting commission and increasing rates like you I’d change my name” (they will remain anonymous)

“Your competitors think you’re distracted and will make hay” (we aren’t, they won’t and see above)

“As market leader, good on you” (no, not from one of my team)

“Can you get me a Bruce Willis vest”

Well, actually, funny you should say that! The person who works for a broker who sends me the pithiest/funniest/clearest piece of feedback on the name change can have a signed Bruce Willis vest – he’s in our TV commercial by the way –
simply e-mail your entry to me at kitsoj1@norwich-union.co.uk
Anyway, we are changing and it’s a whole lot more yes, a whole lot more than a name change you might just see the name change for now but just wait, during 2009/2010/2011 we won’t ever be the same again.