A short-term brand with a difference

Short-term insurer Mutual & Federal has upped the stakes in the battle for customer and broker loyalty. The company recently unveiled a refreshed brand, complete with new logo, and backed by an extensive television, radio, and OOH marketing campaign. Brok

Already among South Africa’s leading short-term insurers, Mutual & Federal embarked on the brand refresh to enhance its recognition among the younger and emerging markets. It was a direct response to research conducted into perceptions of the company’s name and brand identity.

“Perhaps the most important step during the brand refresh was to create a vision that the company, its staff, the broker distribution chain and clients could buy into as we set about crafting and creating a new and improved Mutual & Federal,” said Peter Todd, Managing Director of Mutual & Federal. This vision is: To be the short-term insurer of choice.

The insurer added the payoff line: Protecting what’s important to you, to complement this vision. “It is the ultimate acknowledgement of our promise to our customers, brokers and other stakeholders acknowledging the fact that they all have different individual needs. What’s important to them is important to us,” he says. “The repositioning of the brand reflects our renewed commitment to delivering unrivalled personal advice and service to each and every one of our customers, through fostering close relationships with our strategic partners.”

Short-term insurer of choice

At the outset the company realised that the “short-term insurer of choice” vision had to appeal to each and every industry stakeholder. It was imperative that consumers choose the insurer ahead of its many competitors. Likewise, brokers should choose the brand ahead of its competitors. Success in this area will be measured by policy counts in the broker space as well as how brokers rate the group in various industry surveys.

And the staff should choose the company too! “In our industry there is a huge issue around talent and skill and we want to attract the talent and skills into our business – be a net gainer of people rather than a loser,” opined Todd. And finally, the company had to deliver results for its only shareholder, Old Mutual PLC.

After a few difficult years the parent company is now fully committed to Mutual & Federal Todd explains: “We’ve got very strong support from Old Mutual PLC – there is a new management team in place who come from a short-term insurance background – and they understand our business.”

180-years and counting

Mutual & Federal can trace its history back 180 years, making it one of the oldest – if not the oldest – company in the insurance market. Todd jokes that the group didn’t have a motor book when it was established – simply because its’ 1831 start preceded Hendry Ford’s Model-T by some eight decades! Today Mutual & Federal occupies a top three slot in South Africa’s short-term insurance world.

“We have a track record in terms of being a tenacious business and we want to grow on those foundations and really position ourselves in terms of the value we bring to our customers,” said Todd. The new logo, which is a symbol representing the overall brand, is among the many changes made to drive the company’s vision home. The predominant green colour remains to create affinity with other group companies, while the words “Mutual” and “Federal” now appear in the same font as that used by its parent, Old Mutual.

The background, which depicted Table Mountain, has now been dropped to create a consistent logo for short-term insurance activities throughout Africa. “We have aspirations to grow further into Africa and it is important for us to have a logo and a brand that can transcend boundaries…. We are introducing this logo in Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe too,” said Todd.

Value of advice

The brand repositioning emphasises relationships and trust, particularly where the broker is concerned. Todd elaborates, “Mutual & Federal recognises that the advice given by our brokers has become vitally important in an increasingly crowded insurance market space. Guidance from brokers is essential to help enable our clients to navigate their way through South Africa’s changing insurance landscape. In our logo, we illustrate this broker-centric approach with an accentuated ampersand between ‘Mutual’ and ‘Federal’ to depict our relationship marketing thrust.”

Going forward, the company will draw on the value inherent in its broker-based distribution model to stay ahead of the many new upstarts in the short-term insurance sector. “The proliferation of short-term competition means that the need for advice is probably more important than it ever has been,” continued Todd. “The broker has a massive role to play in our industry, and the challenge will be for the broker to demonstrate the value he/she adds!” Fortunately the value of advice is easily illustrated.

Being insured saves millions of South Africans from financial ruin each year... Short-term insurers exist to protect people, protect assets and safeguard what is important to the end user. This quality is perfectly captured by the group’s advertising campaign which recognises the broker as a critical link between Mutual & Federal and the consumer.

Brokers will love the new campaign, because it applauds and acknowledges the value they contribute to the industry. The message, lifted verbatim from the group’s 30-second television advert: “We all protect the things we value most. That’s why as a broker I am trusted to give you the right advice… And help you to choose the right short-term insurer!”

Already an employer of choice

The buzz around the brand launch had hardly settled when this leading short-term insurer received more good news. On 24 August 2011 Mutual & Federal was awarded a Best Employer certification by the Corporate Research Foundation Institute! The institute identifies top performing companies in the area of human resources and leadership through an intensive and independently audited process.

“Mutual & Federal is thrilled to have been awarded this prestigious certification,” said Basetsana Magano, Executive Group Human Capital at the group. “What makes this certification so valuable is that it is based on an entirely objective, independent assessment of an organisation’s people policies.” The company is following international best practice in human resources strategy as it strives to meet its vision of being the employer of choice in the insurance sector.

“This is the first year that we took part in this audit and we are extremely proud to be certified as a Best Employer on our first attempt,” continued Magano. “The ratings achieved for each aspect of the assessment will be incorporated into our benchmarks going forward.”