Question

Topic: Advertising/PR

Pr For International Health Insurance Broking Firm

Posted by Anonymous on 11/24/2008 at 5:55 AM ET 250 Points
Hi guru-guys,

I need a bit of creative help on this issue. I am approaching a former employer of mine who is a hard-sell, cold-calling, face2face insurance and investment broking firm from Hongkong with offices in China.

Background: this broker is the best in terms of products quality, reliability and customer service. However, competition is tough and their marketing strategy is exclusively based on cold-calling, networking and referrals(they do have a website but it ranks very poorly and it has very few, remote results in google both by searching the company name and specific terms related to its business).

Could you advise some PR ideas to generate buzz and direct-response? Though insurance is only bought once a year at a specific date, I believe that PR can increase a lot brand awareness and sales for them. For the moment I came up with the following:

Press releases:
News about either the company's news or insurance related topics to media for foreigners in China.

Co-marketing w/:
relocation companies
international schools
international clinics

Expert proposal w/:
chambers of commerce magazines
trade publications
local/foreign media (on/offline)

Events:
Public speaking w/chambers of commerce

Ideas:
1-year policy price-draw

Website
Website optimization
SEO

WEB2.0.
Expert on the laowai(expatriates) blogsphere
Blogsphere monitoring and response

Any input is highly appreciated.

Also, how would you charge such an account? I am pretty confident that engaging in these activities will pull many good leads, but I'm not sure how to approach them on the fee issue. For the moment I thought of a low retainer and a sort of performance-based remuneration based on % increase of leads and commissions from signed contracts. Does it sound reasonable? How could it otherwise be?

I look forward to hearing what you think.

Davide
To continue reading this question and the solution, sign up ... it's free!
SUBSCRIBE
Or, SIGN IN

RESPONSES

  • Posted on 11/24/2008 at 1:59 PM Author
    Thanks Franklyn, I appreciate for the encouragementand advise.

    The reason everything is international for them is because the company targets foreigners living abroad(specifically in china). Local products are designed for local hospitals and coverage does not reach even a 10th of international clinics' bills. Plus, no locals, by law, can buy foreign insurance products (some sort of protectionism we have here). So the company specializes in international medical plans for foreigners.

    Travel agencies is a good idea in my opinion too. But I recall when I was working with this broking firm, that we did not pursue that road because travel insurance premiums, therefore commissions, are very low for the trouble the broking firm has to go through.

    I know the company inside out as I used to work there. I prepared the competitive analysis which is a lot in my favor for the pitch. However, I feel that besides the PR routines I listed above, I need to propose them with more ideas that can generate good leads.
  • Posted by Jay Hamilton-Roth on 11/24/2008 at 4:23 PM Accepted
    People will search out health insurance in general when: their family situation changes, their job changes, or when they are dissatisfied with their existing insurance.

    It sounds like you're targeting job change (Chamber/relocation), but not for the other two needs. You could, for example, look for birth/wedding announcements and remind them of their need for additional health insurance. For dissatisfaction, both look online for complaints, but more importantly honestly compare your potential client's policy vs. the competition.
  • Posted by Chris Blackman on 11/25/2008 at 12:51 AM Accepted
    Davide

    Sounds to me as if you are talking about an integrated marketing approach - not just a PR-based solution.

    Sure, PR is part of, but not the whole of the solution.

    I think you are on the right track with most of your long list of initiatives. I don't know precisely how one reaches the expat population in order to sell them health insurance for China, but in many cases their companies will probably be paying anyway, so it would be helpful to make presentations to key expat employers sending their people to China for lengthy periods.

    I don't want to denigrate a health system I don't know anything about, but I wonder if there are any horror stories about ex-pats who did not have health insurance, then became sick or injured - what then? Perhaps some case studies would be helpful - suppose a female expat or spouse became pregnant and had to stay in China to have the baby - what facilities would she get if uninsured versus fully privately insured?

    In general I suspect health insurance is a problem most expat solve before arriving in China. So you need to find out where they are coming from and under what auspices they arrive, so you can ensure you get the sale before they enter the market.

    Advertising in ex-pat association magazines and speaking at their events will help - again, as Randall says, people buy from people. But they also buy from brands they trust. I'm guessing I'd rather buy a brand I know, e.g. Alliance, CG, Aetna, than something that sounds strange, like Wing On. Most ex-pats will likely feel the same, so it's important they feel comfortable with the underwriter brands your brokerage client represents.

    Hope that helps.

    ChrisB

  • Posted on 11/25/2008 at 11:07 AM Author
    Hi guys, thanks for the valuable input. I'll be pitching early in the morning but I'm leaving the question open a little longer to see if more suggestions come in.

    Davide

  • Posted on 12/2/2008 at 9:29 AM Author
    Hi Guys

    Thank you very much for your advice. I pitch the account and now we're bringing talks forwad as they seem really interested in the digital and press approach to business development.

    Tnx again,
    Davide Pasini
BACK TO TOP

Post a Comment

Related Discussions

Community Info

Top 25 Experts
(Advertising/PR)