Cologne The digital insurer Wefox relies on pure emotion in the competition for attention. The German-Swiss insurtech signed shirt sponsorship deals with Italian soccer champions AC Milan and Bundesliga club Union Berlin earlier this year. Wefox wants to reach existing and potential customers in the stadium or on TV, where they can experience thrilling duels. In this way, the company combines the rational world of insurance with the great emotions of football.
For the start-up, the appearance in the real world is the foundation for the online campaigns in the area of customer care. Relevant digital campaigns on social media generated traffic in the short term, says Wefox Marketing Manager Alexander Huber. In the long term, however, they would be of little use “if you don’t build brand awareness in the same way”.
More effort in strengthening one’s own brand – in the insurance industry this is the order of the day. Because in economically uncertain times, customer loyalty threatens to dwindle. “Consumers are in austerity mode in the face of high inflation. This should increase the willingness of insurance customers to switch,” says Claus Dethloff, Managing Director of the Cologne analysis institute Servicevalue. “If insurers want to counteract this, they are well advised to choose analogue channels in addition to digital channels for customer care.”
The digital specialist Wefox hits the right note with customer contact and service. The company is number one in the category of digital insurance experts – this is the result of Servicevalue in an online customer survey for the Handelsblatt. Wefox prevailed against 25 competitors in its segment.
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Big brands dominate
Last May, Servicevalue collected more than 120,000 customer reviews for 614 service providers in the insurance industry. The Cologne experts considered a total of 21 categories. The most successful company in the ranking is Allianz, which takes first place in twelve categories – including life insurance, private liability and company health insurance.
According to Dethloff, head of the Servicevalue study, the Munich-based group – number one in Germany and number two in Europe after Axa – is benefiting from its market position. “Allianz is a big and strong brand,” he says. For this reason alone, it appears attractive in the eyes of consumers. According to Dethloff, the leading providers receive a leap of faith over younger or smaller competitors. “A strong brand helps customers be more patient with digital processes such as taking out policies,” says Dethloff.
All results and methodology of the ranking as a PDF in the download.
Of course, insurers are working to ensure that patience is not required at all. Customer contact in the digital space should run smoothly. Allianz researches how people react to online offers with the help of eye trackers, among other things. The devices track how test persons’ eyes search the monitor of a computer or a smartphone display for buttons. The goal is to make the click path through to the digital conclusion of an insurance policy as intuitive as possible.
An interdisciplinary team at Allianz has been researching customer needs for five years. In addition to insurance experts, the team also includes sociologists and psychologists. They collect around half a million opinions from customers every year and evaluate them. The Allianz experts also determine the needs of citizens online and in personal discussions. “We want to know what moves people – also beyond insurance issues. This is the only way we can be there for our customers according to their needs. This cannot be done with digital methods alone,” says Olaf Tidelski, Chief Customer Officer (CCO) at Allianz Germany.
In a video on the Allianz website, CCO Tidelski promotes “shapers of the future”. Those who register should rate the insurer’s ideas and even help design products. “Together we develop, discard and change new services,” promises a second video, which is intended to make the commitment as a shaper of the future palatable.
Impulses for new services
The consumer surveys help Allianz to react quickly to customer problems. Since April of this year, the insurance company has been helping e-car owners to apply for their legally guaranteed greenhouse gas reduction quota (GHG quota). This shows how much CO2 was saved by using an electric car. The insurer helps to get the premium due to the owners. “E-vehicle owners can register for a refund of the premium on the Allianz website, and our partner ADAC will then take care of the processing and payment,” says Tidelski.
The established insurers also enjoy the best reputation among young customers – this is shown by a study by the digital consultancy Senacor. She asked people aged 18 to 29 which providers they would be willing to take out insurance with. 61 percent of young people are most likely to sign with one of the well-known brands such as Axa and Allianz. Direct insurers such as Cosmos and Huk24 are just behind with 54 percent. Digital insurtechs come to eleven percent.
In the Servicevalue ranking, Hepster, an insurtech, is at the top of the e-bike insurers. “Pure digital insurance currently works primarily for property and casualty insurance,” explains CEO Christian Range. “What matters here is that the policy can be taken out quickly and intuitively.” Less than five percent of customers make use of analog hotline services in addition to digital contact. “Image and trust in the market are also essential for us. However, compared to classic insurers, we have less direct and personal contact with the end customer,” says Range.
Hepster regularly achieves sales success without any customer contact via its own homepage or app. The young company from Rostock is opening up new target groups primarily with the help of cooperation on so-called embedded insurance. The insurance is offered as a package with other products or services. For example, the Hepster partner Bikefinder markets a tracking device integrated into the bicycle. This device is sold by Bikefinder on a monthly subscription model – with optional insurance cover against theft by Hepster.
More: Ranking service providers: The best banks.