The days of networking with the chaps and doing deals over a glass of claret (or even at the Lloyd’s Box) are fading into the rear-view mirror. Insurers, now large corporations, rely increasingly on data to make decisions and the evidence for the positive commercial impact of marketing and brand building is driving increases in marketing spends.
Gracechurch has estimated that over £200m is spent on marketing each year in the London Market alone with an increasing amount going to brand building.
Outdoor advertising campaigns are becoming much more prominent and creative with recently, pink ducks floating on the Chicago River and even an Insurer branded pop-up pub in Leadenhall Market.
The science of B2B marketing has come on leaps and bounds in the last five years and the data proves the positive impact that brand building has on the bottom line. The hitherto invisible element of the balance sheet – brand value – is now front-and-centre for insurers.
This has also been driven by a new breed of Insurance Marketing professionals, smart, creative and data-savvy, they are applying B2C marketing principles to the fusty old world of specialty B2B insurance…and the ‘appliance of science’ is working.
So, the Insurindex Insurance Marketing Summit comes at an important moment in time: it is in part a recognition of the importance of marketing but also a chance for the leading professional marketers to swap ideas and learn more about the commercial benefits of marcomms and how to apply the exciting new developments in terms of technology, digital media channels and creative evaluation.
The Insurance Marketing Summit will be the catalyst for the next phase of Insurance Marketing, adding more theory behind the practice and building the ambition and proof to demonstrate to Insurance leaders how marcomms can help improve commercial performance.
The speakers on the day include some of the leading lights (‘legends’) in the Marketing effectiveness space including Les Binet and Jon Lombardo; more proof if it was needed, that the age of Insurance Marketing has truly arrived.