by Kim Penstone. The acquisition of Zurich Insurance by Canadian Fairfax Financial Holdings in December 2016 set in motion a very large, yet surprisingly quiet, rebrand. Despite being touted as one of the largest financial services rebrands over the past couple of years, the change to Bryte Insurance seemed to happen overnight, without virtually a ripple.
That might sound counter-productive to most marketers, but for a company that prides itself on understanding and mitigating risk, it was the perfect outcome.
Change, a risky business
Change, by its very nature, is a risky business. And the primary audience of an insurance business — the brokers — are not big fans of risk.
“We operate in a global environment characterised by ongoing change, and a business’s ability to proactively manage risk and adapt is essential to sustainable growth. During this transition, our priority was to ensure the continuation of top-quality customer service, as well as consistent and regular communication to all our stakeholders about each step of the process,” comments chief marketing officer, Nicholas Francis.
“As a long-standing and trusted short-term insurance provider in the South Africa [sic] and Botswana markets, we reiterated that it would be business as usual and that all polices and contracts would be honoured as before.”
“Approach risk with purpose”
And so it was that, on 16 February 2017, a new name in commercial insurance was revealed to a select market: Bryte, with new tagline “Approach risk with purpose.” The brand identity has been created from the knotting together of two Bs to emphasise the value of the enduring relationship between Bryte and its broker partners, and so, too, between brokers and business.
Despite the initial excitement of the brand reveal, the focus has remained on continuity.
By way of example, as large as the rebrand loomed, it was crucially important that staff and brokers understood implicitly that there would be no disruption in the company’s service. Appropriately, on the morning of the launch, while the new name was being revealed at a formal event executed by Jawbone Brand Experiences, all internal branding was quietly uncovered. Staff returned to their desks to find the new Bryte branding in situ, from signage in reception areas to email signatures and even personal access cards.
Deep understanding
This deep understanding of the brand audience may be attributed to lead agency on the rebrand, Demographica.
“Change, which is appropriately informed and implemented with the best interest of stakeholders in mind, delivers immense value. Zurich had developed a strong legacy of trust and partnership which we recognised, and ensured that it remained the foundation of the business’s transition to Bryte. The process provided a great opportunity to solidify relationships; we designed the brand in a way that resonated louder with stakeholders, created assurance of the aspects that were important to them, and got them excited and enthusiastic about the future of the business,” comments Demographica CEO, Warren Moss.
Demographica prides itself on its ability to deliver marketing solutions based on in-depth understanding of specific audiences, which it achieves through the help of employing several full-time anthropologists.
Anthropologists
“In developing the new Bryte Insurance brand, our anthropologists engaged with the business and its brokers to gain an understanding of the business’s legacy and its relationships with its key stakeholders. The deeper insights into why partners choose Zurich (now Bryte), what was culturally inherent to the business and where opportunities existed for change, were invaluable. These insights informed our overall creative approach but also ensured that we remained cognisant of the elements that were meaningful to these stakeholders, who ultimately needed to trust in and subscribe to the new brand.”
The company’s new name and identity was also informed by this research, and brought to life by Demographica’s long-time creative collaborator, Halo.
Game-changer
Commenting on the new name and identity, Francis says that he — and, by extension, his team at Bryte — firmly believes that the company’s approach to customer risk profile management is a game-changer, and what sets it apart in the insurance field: “We recognise that the global environment is dynamic; it is increasingly competitive, more technologically focused and the risks are constantly evolving. The insurance industry has a vital role to play by helping businesses stay a few steps ahead, using its insights and foresights to proactively mitigate against the many challenges of a dynamically evolving risk landscape. We believe that, while insurance is the solution, understanding and protecting our clients ahead of risk is the opportunity.”
As such, the core idea behind the new name is based around shining a light on risk. It is this focus on risk that empowers Bryte’s customers to make better risk-management decisions that, in turn, help build businesses that endure.
“While customers and partners consider consistency when selecting an insurer, they also want a service provider that can offer proactive risk management and innovative solutions,” says Francis. “To a large degree, this is can only come from effectively understanding, embracing and managing change, which we do very effectively.”
Kim Penstone is a freelance journalist, specialising in marketing, media and advertising. Over the past 15 years, she has worked for a variety of leading marketing industry publications, including Marketing Mix, Marketingweb and Brand Magazine, and in her freelance capacity contributes regularly to specialist titles, such as Brands & Branding, AdFocus and MarkLives. She has recently started a blog, www.runlikeamom.co.za, which is completely unrelated to the marketing industry.
— Sign up now for the MarkLives email newsletter every Monday and Thursday, now including headlines from the Ramify.biz company newsroom service!