Capitalizing on a unique history: the Co-operators' successful Heritage Brand Campaign lifted the company to No. 1 among Canadian insurers.

Prior to 2003, the Canadian insurance industry experienced the worst period in its history. A rising tide of claims, generous court settlements and inadequate pricing due to intense competition had caused billions of dollars in losses. Many small and midsize companies became insolvent; most dramatically increased rates in an attempt to return to profitability. Consumers were extremely unhappy, and the media was quick to target the insurance industry as greedy, insensitive and lacking integrity.

The Co-operators is the largest Canadian-owned multi-product insurance company. Its main competitors are huge multinational insurance conglomerates. The race for market share had produced irrational pricing strategies and market behavior that was anything but client-focused. Although The Co-operators had a positive public image, it was being tainted by its competitors' poor behavior, and it was facing client complaints and financial losses. At the time, awareness of The Co-operators, its values and its product offerings was at a five-year low. Staff morale was slipping along with market share.

Against this negative backdrop, The Co-operators sought to differentiate itself from the rest of the industry and reestablish itself as the first choice for value, integrity and trustworthiness.

Objectives

The Co-operators devised the Heritage Brand Campaign to alert the media and the public about its stance on understanding the needs of the insured. The campaign had four strategic objectives. Prior to the launch, specific measurements for success were established for each objective through benchmarking. The overall goal was to see a statistically significant increase in each of these objectives, with specific targets set for each:

1. Significantly increase staff pride. The Co-operators conducts an annual employee engagement survey that measures the percentage of staff that is personally committed to helping the organization achieve its goals. There are also specific measures associated with "say, stay and strive" criteria as defined below. The precampaign benchmarks were:

* Overall engagement: 68 percent.

* Say ("I tell others great things about working at The Cooperators"): 63 percent.

* Stay ("I hardly ever think about leaving this organization"): 64 percent.

* Strive ("This organization inspires me to my best work every day"): 61 percent.

2. Increase unaided brand awareness of The Co-operators to 15 percent, and be ranked among Canada's top three companies. Unaided awareness measures the response of the insurance-buying public to the question "Name a leading insurance company in Canada." The first company mentioned is evidence of top-of-mind awareness and indicates the consumer will likely consider the company when shopping. The Co-operators' pre-campaign unaided awareness was 10 percent, and its research found that the top three companies were State Farm, Clarica Life Insurance and Allstate.

3. Achieve total advertising awareness of 35 percent. Advertising awareness measures the percentage of the target audience that has seen and can describe your advertising campaign (TV, print, online, etc.). Pre-campaign advertising awareness was 21 percent.

4. Differentiate the company from competitors by providing clients with compelling non-monetary reasons to choose The Cooperators. Insurance products are all very similar, usually due to government regulation. To stand out from the crowd, a company must differentiate itself beyond price and product features. The Co-operators has always promoted its core values to differentiate itself from competitors. The goal was to increase the percentage of respondents that scored The Co-operators as 8 or higher out of 10 on the following brand attributes: friendly (benchmark: 48 percent), caring (40 percent), honest (47 percent), respectful (47 percent), knowledgeable (52 percent), hardworking (41 percent), and community-minded (35 percent).

Solution and implementation

Research conducted by The Co-operators suggested that traditional advertising in the insurance category was doing more harm than good. Respondents in both qualitative and quantitative studies said that traditional ads were "not believable" and "self-serving." Furthermore, the research suggested that these ads were making consumers increasingly cynical about the industry.

So what type of message would ring true with both the target client audience and staff? The communication team held focus groups in which they provided information about the history of the company: The Co-operators was formed in 1945 by a group of prairie farmers who could not get insurance from the existing companies. They formed a cooperative insurance association that prioritized people over profits. The project proved so popular that the cooperative became a major regional, then national, insurance company. Other cooperatives, such as credit unions and agricultural unions, invested in The Co-operators until it became one of Canada's leading insurers. Although the organization has grown tremendously, the values and culture that were present at its founding are still evident in its business practices today.

The focus groups revealed that The Co-operators had a unique story to tell with an "authentic voice" that was engaging, believable and unique. However, consumers weren't aware of the company's distinct history, values and organizational structure. The solution: Tell the company's story in an honest, entertaining way. In an industry where product and price are commoditized, the image of a friendly, honest, knowledgeable, hardworking, community-minded entity would set The Co-operators apart from the current negativity, and provide a value not tied to products or prices.

The company also wanted staff to fully understand the strategy and be able to "live the brand" in their daily activities. To this end, it arranged launch events for both senior managers as well as staff, a special branding insert in the company magazine, and regular updates on the company intranet. TV and print ads were also posted on the Internet.

To launch the brand externally, the communication team worked with a very modest media budget (less than CDN$3 million). The team carefully targeted spending for maximum impact by placing television ads on specialty channels and programs that matched the target demographic, and by choosing a limited number of magazines for print ads. Keyword programs on Internet search engines drove traffic to the company's web site. The team also worked with public affairs to generate positive media coverage.

Measurement and evaluation

The Heritage Brand Campaign achieved each of its measurable goals and greatly exceeded the expectations of senior management, staff and agents. Some of the highlights were:

* An increase of 11 percentage points in overall employee engagement ratings, to 79 percent. This score was high enough for Hewitt Associates to rank The Co-operators as one of the "50 Best Employers in Canada."

* An increase in unaided brand awareness of 6 points, to No. 1 in all of Canada: When asked to name a leading insurance company in Canada, more respondents name The Co-operators first than any other company. For the "say" criterion ("I tell others great things about working at The Co-operators"), positive response was up 13 points, to 76 percent.

* The increase in total advertising awareness exceeded all expectations. As of late 2005, more than two-thirds of all insurance-buying Canadians recall the Heritage Brand Campaign, an increase of 47 percentage points.

* In differentiating itself from competitors, The Co-operators increased its ratings for each of the desirable brand attributes and is now ranked No. 1 in Canada for being honest, hardworking and community-minded.

This multimedia brand campaign broke the conventions of the financial services category and revitalized Canada's premier insurance brand. The campaign was developed from the inside out, relying heavily on staff and client research. The ultimate result was a return to the No. 1 position in terms of unaided brand awareness and overall advertising recall. Today, 68 percent of Canadians recall seeing the ads, and most can identify the key brand attributes and messages.

Paul Mlodzik, ABC, MC, is vice president of marketing and sales for The Co-operators in Guelph, Ontario.