Marketing Australia – February-March 2019

80 CASE STUDY

marketingmag.com.au

MARKETING 2019

Background: The motorcycle
insurance industry in Australia
is highly competitive, with more
than 25 brands servicing 849,296
riders in the country. For more than
50 years, Swann Insurance has
provided motorcycle insurance to
loyal customers. In 2017, however,
the company was faced with
several big challenges. General
insurers began entering the market
with lowered prices and offering
motorcycle insurance as part of their
broader policies such as car, home
and motorcycle rolled into easy-
to-purchase packages. In addition,
other economic factors such as
rising costs of living meant that
Australian riders were now
choosing insurance products
based on price rather than
speciality or brand loyalty.
Another challenge was the
market in general. Only one in four
Australians trusted insurers
to do the right thing when it
counted – the second lowest in
the Western world.

In the past, Swann Insurance had

been able to build its brand around

the rational benefi ts of its products

and a strong offer of protection and

value to its riders. Brand awareness

had never been an issue before;

however, with an existing positioning

and brand platform in market for

more than fi ve years, the brand was

also tired.

So with trust at an all-time

low, the entry of these new

players to the market and an out

of date positioning, the business

had to reassert itself as one of

Australia’s long-standing motorcycle

insurers or risk losing relevance

and market share.

Objectives: CHE Proximity was

briefed to reshape and reposition

the brand in the hearts and minds

of Australian motorcyclists, forging

a deeper emotional connection with

them within this new competitive

landscape. Moving away from the

rational dynamics of the category,

the agency was tasked with creating

an inspiring and compelling,

multifaceted campaign that

would increase brand relevance,

generate leads, encourage proactive

participation and drive direct

acquisitions. Targets were set in

three categories: increase fi scal year

policies by 10 percent across the

campaign period, increase fi scal

year written premium by more than

fi ve percent (the industry average

was three percent) and actively

engage the motorcycling community,

including across digital channels.

Strategy: Quantitative research

revealed that as motorcyclists grow

older, they struggle to fi nd the

time to go out and ride their bikes.

Digging deeper into qualitative

research, CHE Proximity discovered

that this isn’t down to a lack of

passion, it is simply because life gets

in the way.

These insights also revealed that

the iconic motorcycle subculture

in Australia is centred on freedom,

passion for riding and belonging.

The art of

inconvenience

Campaign

Inconvenience Stores

Client

Swann Insurance

Agency

CHE Proximity