Best B2B public relations campaign
Runner up: Imarket
Agency: Cameron Wells Communications
Campaign: Raising Imarket’s profile
The marketing strategy was clear: communicate, educate and reassure. Cameron Wells needed to:
– Turn around negative media perceptions
– Position Imarket as the way to trade commercial business and as an essential route to new business
– Overcome misconceptions
– Encourage registered brokers to return to Imarket
– Persuade non-registered brokers to register
– Encourage more insurers to join
– Reassure brokers that Imarket would listen to their concerns and that improvements had been made.
The target audience was the trade media, registered but dissatisfied brokers, brokers yet to register, prospective insurers, employees of member insurers and trade bodies and associations such as the British Insurance Broking Association (BIBA), the Association of British Insurers (ABI), and the Chartered Institute of Insurance (CII). Imarket promised always to be open and honest about mistakes made in the past, lessons learned and improvements which had been made as a result.
An intensive media relations campaign was undertaken with key broker and insurer titles such as Insurance Times, Professional Broking, Post, Insurance Age, Insurance Brokers’ Monthly and The Broker. To make Imarket as journalist-friendly as possible, a media centre was created on the website populated with useful tools such as the latest press releases, case studies, photography and spokespeople.
Regular press releases containing information about new products, insurers and software houses as well as improvements to functionality were regularly sent to the trade media. Demonstrations were set up for journalists to see first-hand how the system worked and to showcase improvements. One-to-one interviews were set up with key spokespeople from Imarket and exclusives were placed with key journals to forge relationships.
Timelines with fast facts illustrated progress since inception while case studies focusing on brokers using Imarket were drafted with illustrations of time and cost savings alongside soundbite testimonials.
Scheduled features and supplements were targeted to include information about Imarket, each of which focused on a key area such as commercial lines, technology and electronic trading. Articles on the future of electronic trading and what this would mean for brokers were commissioned from recognised experts and placed in magazines. Cameron Wells also negotiated places for key spokespeople at journal roundtables as well as columns for guest comments.
The magazines were closely monitored and where there was an opportunity to clear up any misconceptions or provide an opinion, the agency would draft material for a letter to the editor.
As relationships with key monthly journal, Professional Broking, flourished, a special 13th edition was negotiated. This edition focused entirely on Imarket and contained top tips on how to use it and charts outlining which products and services were available through which insurer and software house. In addition advisory articles from each member insurer centred on why they were involved and what they thought the future would hold for them and the brokers alike.
An overview of technology in the industry was drafted to help maintain Imarket’s position at the forefront of the industry. This became the introductory feature in the ABI yearbook, which is considered to be the definitive guide to the industry among the broker community.
After 13 months of positive PR over £110,000 of positive media coverage was generated and the media has overcome scepticism of Imarket. Professional Broking championed it and Insurance Times, which had previously been very negative, now published positive angles and glowing testimonials.
Around 2600 brokers – approximately 70 per cent of those in the UK – have now registered with Imarket and the platform has experienced an 80 per cent increase in transactions per month. Three new insurers and two underwriting agencies have also joined which means that Imarket has access to over 80 per cent of the UK commercial insurance market.
Peter Knowles, strategy and marketing director of Imarket is delighted. “Our relationship with brokers wasn’t a healthy one and the media had become extremely sceptical, often reporting only the negative aspects of Imarket. Some of this was deserved, others reflected a misunderstanding about aspects which hadn’t been communicated properly. Since Cameron Wells has been handling all media relations, brokers and journalists have a much better understanding of the system and what it can do. The press coverage has improved dramatically in quantity, frequency and quality. Previously cynical editors are now rallying brokers to use the system. Doesn’t get much better than that, does it?”
