15th August 2022
What’s culture got to do with insurance?
We've been talking and working with lots of underwriters and brokers over the last twelve months. We've found a common thread that connects those that have thrived - it’s the drive to maximise brand experience by audiences, at a micro level.
Each week over the next few weeks, we’ll be sharing a key aspect that several insurance businesses have been leveraging well over the last twelve months, and importantly, how that aspect is supported by brand. This week it’s culture.
The value of culture
A real culture can’t be replicated, in fact it’s what you celebrate and tolerate. It shouldn’t be confused with company perks either. Insurance businesses that have thrived realise this and consider “what does good look like” and celebrate it, encouraging employees to embody this sentiment through their daily working activities. They also consider what can be tolerated, i.e. “what are the worst behaviours we’d accept?” and encourage positive behaviours that become part of the fabric of working life so that by default, employees distance themselves from behaviour that is counter productive.
Each of these considerations have been studied under a microscope within many businesses in terms of how their brands live and breathe within their cultures; but it takes a sustained commitment to create an authentic culture and attract people that share an organisation’s values.
Culture creating an asset
As a vehicle for your brand, culture can also be your greatest asset or your greatest vulnerability, why? Culture shapes your product, how you hire people and the way you do business (not just how). But it can also be a vulnerability if you adopt an inconsistent approach and deliver a disjointed experience, allowing competitors to step into gaps that you leave exposed.
We have seen insurance businesses navigate this area well, especially when selling in a market that can be considered in some aspects to be largely homogeneous in price and services offered. As culture drives the way we sell, the point of difference turns upon the interactions with potential buyers during the process. We have observed businesses looking at each of these interactions or moments and executing them in the spirit of their values, in essence branding each moment of the journey.
The potency comes from sequencing these ‘brandable moments’ together in a way that is distinctly owned by that business either at a conscious or subliminal level with their audience, thereby sharing culture to create desire. Branding an isolated moment is interesting, but a journey where each moment is interconnected to create something more visceral and brand led is compelling. It’s about perfecting each experience during the buyer journey, from the minutiae of the way meetings are booked and entertainment considered, to how culture is reflected in presentations, proposals and communications.
Getting personal to train
We also found insurance businesses tackling the intersection of culture and training. The easiest option is to utilise e-learning courses as one can readily roll them out and track participation. But this doesn’t measure the softer side of how engaged the participants are.
It was great to observe a desire for training to be more ‘sticky’. To achieve this you need more of a personal interaction and the ability for people to recount their experience, a distinct element that we have witnessed in many insurance business cultures. There was an understanding from leadership to those responsible for training that culture isn’t best served by an impersonal set of tasks on screen. Humans are born to communicate and have a far more enriching experience when learning from others.
Summing up
If we were to deconstruct a company’s culture, the process would reveal the attitudes of people; what the brand stands for and even the user experience of any technology put in place. Lets not forget that it’s important to also consider how all of these elements play together. An even closer look shows that we can leverage brand via the individual elements to create a positive culture that drives the good will of employees and clients and ultimately, business progress.
For insurance a strong culture is a no-brainer. It helps create a point of difference in a largely homogenised market, to attract the right employees and clients, this is why it warrants the attention and investment demonstrated by some of the top players within the market.
Have any questions? Send an email to: ajay@pangaeacreative.co.uk
Pangaea is an independent design consultancy that grew out of Formula1. We thrived in this cutting edge, fast-moving environment and now bring our experience of designing in F1 to clients and brands seeking to gain an edge over their competitors in any market.
