Businesses thrive by taking risks to achieve rewards. Any transaction contains an element of uncertainty. Which is why insurance matters so much.
So it is not without irony that insurance businesses tend to be unduly risk-averse when it comes to their branding. Few venture beyond the comfort blanket of benign language and bland imagery. All talk about their size and strength. And most showcase their expertise.
But not many articulate the specific benefits they provide to clients and partners, perhaps because they don’t have the confidence to communicate what makes them special?
In doing so they are missing not just one but two opportunities. Firstly, they’re promoting the insurance category not their own brands. Secondly, they’re marketing only the lower-order benefits of insurance – its role as a safety-net rather than its value as a springboard. In doing so, they are diminishing their strategic value.
Years ago Gary Hamel wrote that ‘to achieve outstanding results, you need an outstanding strategy’. He could have added that to have an outstanding brand, you need to stand out.
Taking a stand – having a distinctive story and unique style – is a risk worth taking. Yes, it will raise a few eyebrows and get people talking. That’s not risk, that’s reward.
