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MARKETING
This does seem a logical place to start. Insurers have a service to sell and this must be marketed in such a way as to attract consumers or potential consumers. Over the last couple of decades there has been a substantial increase in the level of publicity undertaken by insurers and brokers. Insurers, in particular, have embraced modern concepts in marketing and some of their advertisements are regarded as ‘classics’ in their own right. You may be familiar with the many television advertisements, for example, which appear regularly, promoting the products available from insurance companies.
The Commercial Union. ‘…We won’t make a drama out of a crisis.’ And the Prudential’s, ‘…I want to be…’ campaigns are excellent examples of the modem approach to insurance advertising which we have witnessed over recent years.
Advertising and the marketing of products is not limited to television. Insurers make substantial use of a whole range of techniques. Marketing plays a vital role in the transaction of insurance today.
At some point, the potential consumer has to be provided with an idea of the product being offered. The television advertisements, bill-boards, sports sponsorship etc. may all generate interest, but at some stage the proposer will want something to read which he can understand and which will indicate what the insurer can offer by way of protection.
This has always represented something of a problem for insurers. They are in the business of providing a service and cannot offer the proposer the opportunity to see and touch the product. There is no possibility of testing the product. In fact it would be true to say that in many cases the proposer hopes that he will never have to use the service of the insurer. This places the insurer in a rather unique position. It is quite unlike the seller of a physical product such as a car or an item of clothing.
In the past it may be fair to say that insurers presented a rather austere image to potential consumers. There was a certain mystery about the product and the marketing message was not always clear. Often the only printed publicity material which was available came in the shape of the proposal form. This is a generalization and of course there have always been insurers who have been excellent in their marketing.