NATIONWIDERS!!!!
A few years ago, I had the pleasure to work for a division of Nationwide Insurance as a Brand Marketing Consultant. I was brought into the Private Client vertical. It was hyper focused on the high net worth market for unique policies to the wealthy. NW Private Client focused in a number of products:
· Property and Casualty
o Home
o Auto
o Articles
o Wildfire
o Travel Insurance
It was a START-UP with in an enterprise company with over a 100 billion in assets. Why does anyone care about this story? Well, it was amazing, and I was able to work with some of the best leaders I have ever been around in my career. Just to name a few:
- Terrance Williams - CMO
- Mark Berven – President
- Henry Hoffer – AVP (Claims)
- Bill Burke – VP of Marketing (P&C)
- Robert Foss – “Brilliant” Digital Marketing Guru
- Brad Barnett – Sports Marketing at the time – never worked with him, but really like him…driven and spoke with great candor…nice cadence to his words…….
It was an honor to be around such a special group of leadership and be part of the Marketing Advisory Board underneath Bill Burke. Bill was exceptional and had a thing for marketing and branding. Brilliant guy! Terrence had a way to command an audience and never make anyone feel inferior…man is he tall! Always wanted to post up on him😊 Henry became my mentor for most of the time I was there. Robert Foss is simply brilliant. Smartest guy I have ever worked along side and learned from. He also had my back all day every day. I can’t thank Robert enough for his leadership and honesty. He was also SUPER tall……confident….nice demeanor…….and so NICE!! What a great guy. I miss the days of working with Robert.
So, what is the point of all of this??? Well, my last year I had an idea that resonated and then was shot down. I spoke up in a marketing advisory board meeting, “Home and Auto are a commodity, why don’t we have an insurance policy for alternative transportation…..for hoverboards…skateboards…..bikes…etc.”. The idea was heard, but never even evaluated to my knowledge. Sure, it was a simple idea, but no idea is that bad. Truth, the idea had flaws that I don’t understand. Other companies have encroached on this idea since then. So, with that said maybe this was a bad idea or introduced to early😊 However, here is where the idea had merit:
- Give the policy away for free – no cost for the first year
- To get the free policy, the consumer has to fill out a profile
- The profile should have questions that answer what your customer or consumer really needs
- Data capture baby!!!!!!
The idea is you now have manufactured predictive analytics you can leverage to target this consumer on the relevant products that hit them right in the chest! You are building a database of far more qualified leads than looking for them.
Well, the reality with most big companies is they can’t act on anything quickly. It is very difficult to move a big ship and rock the big boat. What I can say, Nationwide back then had some of the most talented leaders I have ever been around. Fortune 9 company I believe and filled with top performers. Henry Hoffer brought more to the table than amazing leadership….he is an amazing man.
More companies should find leaders like Nationwide. What a special group! Working with that Robert Foss….amazing vision I miss every day.
Bradley D. Weisman
bweisman@inthesport.net