Back in June 2012, an upstart insurance company exploded onto the South African landscape. Cheeky and in-your-face from the word go, they introduced a radical world-first business model to the market: Decreasing your insurance premium monthly in line with the depreciating value of your car. The industry didn’t give them a chance.
It’s 7 years later, and it’s safe to say that King Price hasn’t just proved their detractors wrong, they’re also a breath of fresh air in the local insurance sector. From a start-up with a dream of doing insurance differently and R100 million in venture capital, the company’s grown into an 850-person, R3.3 billion entity that’s sold more than 400,000 policies. And they’re not done yet.
We asked King Price’s CEO, Gideon Galloway, to choose his favourite 7 moments from the past 7 years.
Launching
‘We launched on my 35th birthday, which is the best present I could ever have given myself. And, no one saw us coming. We blew the socks off the industry. People said our decreasing premium model wasn’t sustainable, and that we wouldn’t last 3 months. 7 years later, we’re still blowing the socks off the industry,’ he says.
‘Insurance has always been a grudge purchase. A lot of things just didn’t make sense. Why would you pay more every month to insure something that’s worth less every month? Why compete only on price, when we know that what people also want is an easy, hassle-free experience? How do you change the way people think about insurance? These are the things we built our business on. And our clients definitely approve.’
R1 insurance
Back in August 2013, King Price launched another industry-first: R1 insurance for items like Apple Watches, bicycles and golf clubs, if you have comprehensive car insurance. And no, that’s not a typo! This has since been extended to comprehensively-insured bikers, who can insure their motorbike gear (including their helmets, boots and jackets) for an extra R1 per month.
The introduction of Obelix
From the start, King Price’s big bet on doing insurance differently was premised on the notion that tech and data will increasingly be key differentiators in the insurance market. An internally-developed system called Obelix is the first generation of the company’s data and analytics backbone, which shapes the business and enables it to craft products for specific audiences and risks.
‘Our cover’s light years away from the 1-size-fits-all products that many insurers still offer. We use data and analytics every day to further refine our ratings engine and deliver insurance that’s fair and logical, the way we think it should be done,’ says Galloway.
Turning the corner
‘Make no mistake, our first 5 years were tough,’ Galloway remembers. ‘It took huge investments in people, technology and marketing to get us to where we are today. For me, December 2017 will always be special: It was the month we officially ‘turned’ and started making a consistent profit. It was a massive moment for the business. And since then, we’ve just gathered momentum.’
*Those* TV ads
And, of course, there are those classic TV ads. The farmer wanting to ‘do something sexy to a tractor’. The young man paying lobola with ‘kettle’. The motorist and the traffic cop having a conversation around ‘braaaai day’. And most recently, the lady rebuffing her man because she’s ‘on her cycle’.
‘They’re all part of our ‘when others don’t make sense, we do’ ethos. It just doesn’t make sense to pay the same car premium every month! Our ads also reflect that South Africans are able to celebrate differences and cultural diversity with a good dose of humour,’ says Galloway.
SA’s most innovative insurer
In October 2018, King Price won a Global Brands award for being the most innovative insurer in SA. And it’s a huge deal, says Galloway. ‘Our business is all about innovation and doing things differently. To be recognised for that means the world to us.’
Turning 7
‘Who’d have thought we’d ever get here? This month, we celebrate our seventh birthday, and we’re so proud that we’ve saved our clients R150 million in decreasing premiums.’
What’s next? Suffice to say, there’s no space for complacency. The company has big plans to build on their offerings locally, and there are bold global expansion plans in the pipeline. ‘We like to stay busy,’ grins Galloway. ‘It makes life interesting.’
Here's to the next 7 years! We know they won’t be boring.
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