Anything that evokes the phrase “Gone to a better place” might be a poor choice of words for an insurer.
But The Co-operators Insurance Co. is risking it with “Your Better Place,” a newsletter for policyholders that provides tailored content based on multiple variables.
And it’s working — the print newsletter has contributed to increases in customer retention and revenue gains since its 2003 redesign.
“We don’t look for price seekers,” says Maria Ruffini, an in-house marketing consultant for the Canadian firm. “Our model is fair prices and exceptional value through long-term relationships.”
But this strategy is based on understanding the policyholder’s needs, and offering relevant articles and products. And the newsletter design wasn’t an effective vehicle for doing that.
It consisted of a statement stuffer inserted into client renewal notices, and it offered neither variable content nor a personal salutation.
In contrast, the new version looks like a personal communication from the client’s agent. That means there’s a message from the agent — and his or her photo.
“Your Better Place” includes everything from insurance pitches to offers from the firm’s business partners. Each issue may have as many as eight personalized content areas.
For example, one recent edition offered a video documentation service for personal belongings — but only to readers in central and northeastern Ontario. Customers in all other locales were offered a personal paper shredder.
But Ruffini stresses that “the newsletter is a newsletter and not a direct marketing piece.” Thus, it also contains stories about community projects the firm is supporting — like an arena building fund on Prince Edward Island or a Toronto restaurant’s program to help disadvantaged youths.
The newsletter is sent to policyholders twice a year — two months before renewal and four months after. This is done in monthly waves of up to 50,000 copies apiece. Previously, it was annual.
The Co-operators didn’t do all this on its own. It retained Blue North Strategies a few years ago to audit its customer database and reconfigure its communication strategy.
Blue North identified several customer buckets in its initial pass through the database: Single line (those who only carry one type of coverage), be it automobile, home or life insurance; multiple-line commercial clients; farm clients (including those that hold both single and multiple policies); and non-farm multiple-line policyholders.
Additional distinctions were based on age, life stage, wealth, geography and language — English or French.
Blue North then used Dialogue, a personalization program from Exstream Software, to design a matrix. This coordinates appropriate versions of the content to be slotted into customers’ newsletters. A single issue may have 35 variations.
“We could go on forever,” Ruffini says. “That was one of the things we had to watch. What are the benefits of becoming sort of variable vs. highly variable? The workload you create you have to manage as well.”
Blue North also designed relevant content for each grouping. “Single-line auto policyholders over age 50 aren’t going to receive teenage driving safety tips,” Ruffini says. “But we will talk to them about teaching their teenagers to drive.”
Even the photographs are tailored for recipients. “If someone has a condo, as opposed to a [detached] home…we’d show a picture of a woman on the balcony of her condo unit. It shows policyholders that we know who they are.”
The newsletter itself is a trifolded 8-1/2-inch-by-17-inch self-mailer. While it features full color both inside and out, the decision to do so wasn’t made without some agonizing.
“I feared our clients’ reaction,” Ruffini says. “The insurance industry is always under a microscope. If I put out something that looks like it costs a fortune, even if it doesn’t, it will upset clients. They’ll say, ‘Lower my premiums and don’t send me a newsletter.’”
But satisfaction surveys show that customers are happy with the product. Half read it cover to cover.
And for those who complain? Ruffini doesn’t assume that they’re price-sensitive, but she does put them on a do-not-mail list. “We are searching for the relationship-seeker client,” she says. “Someone who sees us as unique because we are one of the industry leaders [in that category]. But not everyone wants that.”
Enough do. The Co-operators has now written some 1.2 million policies. And it sends newsletters to more than 800,000 households, several of which hold multiple policies.
What’s next? Ruffini would like to do a better job of quantifying retention rates that are attributable directly to the newsletter.
And the firm may convert “Your Better Place” into an e-mail newsletter. “Doing so will not only save on printing but will allow [policyholders] to receive the information in whatever way they choose,” Ruffini says.
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