General and health insurance, social business, digital economy report

Social Business General & Health Insurance Industry

Social Business - General and Health Insurance Industry www.ahaingroup.com

Page | 1

Contents: i. Executive Summary ii. Current Situation iii. Social Business through the Value Chain iv. Health Insurance Industry v. Engagement Case Study vi. Conclusions i. Executive Summary David Williams of Axa Insurance UK was recently quoted as saying that the UK Insurance Industry was “traditionally known as not being the most responsive to change.” 1 This comment could be applied in a general sense to many Insurance Companies throughout the globe. Traditionally, Insurance Companies have focussed on customer acquisition, customer service and renewal, claims handling and product development. A consumer would typically have two touch points with their Insurance Company: at the time of acquiring a policy and again at the time of renewal of the policy. Other touch points would, in the main, be instigated by the Consumer, the most common being informing the company of a change in circumstance or instigating a claim. The social business model is rapidly evolving into social business strategy and Insurance companies are now aware that, to manage the online conversation about their brand, they have to interact and respond to the Consumer to Consumer about Business (C2CaB) community. Online activity is instant and whilst Insurance companies have, in the past, adhered to caution when addressing a query and have had the time to format a reply under regulatory guidelines, they now have to find a way to respond in real time whilst ensuring that the compliance requirements of the industry are met. This challenge is huge for, as David Williams notes above, these Companies are not traditionally responsive to change. So how can it be managed and what are they doing to interact and to retain/enhance the traditional brand recognition they have painstakingly worked to achieve? The approach to social business involvement has been varied amongst Insurance companies globally. Nick Smith of Accenture UK reasons that some companies are still pondering the 'Why get involved stage' whilst others are immersed in the ’How do we get involved stage'. As a panellist on a recent Market force Webinar2 he agreed that companies need to make a clear commitment to social business and define their goals and objectives with a concise strategy.

1http://marketforce.eu.com/Conferences/socialmediainsurance12/

2http://marketforce.eu.com/Conferences/socialmediainsurance12/

http://marketforce.eu.com/Conferences/socialmediainsurance12/


Page | 2

The Health Insurance industry is mindful of combining the need to be accessible and engage with the Consumer with current regulatory requirements that are fragmented by Country/Region. The personal nature of the Industry, i.e. peoples’ health makes providers ever more cautious when engaging on social platforms. The social business potential is huge, however CBO3 estimates, for example, that there are about 150 million Americans under the age of 65 who currently have an employment-based health insurance plan as their primary source of cover. They also estimate another 13 million people have primary health insurance cover purchased directly from an insurer. PWC take this further in their Healthcare Report4 where they state “Health insurers understand that focusing on the individual population will be key as more partnerships in population health are formed and insurance exchanges bring in 12 million newly-insured individuals in 2014 and up to 28 million by 2019.” This Paper sets out findings and observations arising from a review of the areas of the social Business Model that can add value to Insurance companies. It also looks at existing strategy and how it is administered in Countries such as Australia, Ireland, U.K. and the U.S. ii. Current Situation Ernst & Young identified the global insurance outlook for 2012 as: 5“The general outlook for the global insurance industry is mixed, a consequence of persistently challenging economic, market and regulatory circumstances. Other than Asia Pacific, where continued growth is expected in 2012, the rest of the world is mired in economic instability.” From a European perspective they found that: 6“Consumer needs and expectations are rapidly changing. These forces are combining to create considerable challenges for insurers seeking to improve both top- and bottom-line performance. Those companies that have a deep understanding of these challenges, and respond with strategic solutions, will outperform their peers.” They also commented that, in the US:

3 http://www.cbo.gov/budget/factsheets/2011b/HealthInsuranceExchanges.pdf

4 http://www.pwc.com/us/en/health-industries/index.jhtml

5 http://www.ey.com/GL/en/Industries/Financial-Services/Insurance/Global-insurance-outlook-for-2012---

Overview 6 http://www.ey.com/GL/en/Industries/Financial-Services/Insurance/Global-insurance-outlook-for-2012---

Europe-insurance-outlook


Page | 3

7“The scale and efficiency of insurer operating structures are eroding the ability of many companies to respond to emerging opportunities. As the US property-casualty industry confronts these macroeconomic conditions, it is also challenged by regulation, and an uncertain governance and compliance agenda.” As it is less within the control of companies to manage the global economic situation or prevent natural disasters, the key area a company can improve is the relationship with the Consumer. Ernst and Young joined forces with independent firm IPSOS between August and October 2011 to canvass 24,000 consumers globally to enquire about what drives consumer behaviour in the Insurance process. A key finding was that, although the level of online purchasing of insurance is generally low globally, a significant number of Consumers will conduct their research on the Internet before purchasing their insurance through the conventional channels.

Figure 1 The % of respondents who research Insurance online by Country.

The UK is ahead of the other Countries shown as it has an already developed comparison site structure, whereas the US is less mature, resulting in a weaker percentage. The online desire and capacity for research is emphasised by those regional respondents who indicated that they wanted to make more use of websites for information in the future.8

7 http://www.ey.com/GL/en/Industries/Financial-Services/Insurance/Global-insurance-outlook-for-2012---US-

property-casualty-insurance-outlook 8 http://www.ey.com/Publication/vwLUAssets/Global_Consumer_Insurance_Survey_2012_-

_The_Americas/$FILE/EY_GIR_AMERICAS_SML.pdf Page 22.

39%

57%

23%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Australia U.K U.S

% who research insurance online

% who research insurance online

http://www.ey.com/Publication/vwLUAssets/Global_Consumer_Insurance_Survey_2012_-_The_Americas/$FILE/EY_GIR_AMERICAS_SML.pdf

http://www.ey.com/Publication/vwLUAssets/Global_Consumer_Insurance_Survey_2012_-_The_Americas/$FILE/EY_GIR_AMERICAS_SML.pdf


Page | 4

Figure 2 the % of participants who planned to use the internet to research future insurance options.

The research established that the majority of participants found the option of being able to communicate personally important, especially if the query/purchase was a complex one. Having access to multiple resource channels and highlighting the CHOICE factor led the report to state: 9“Customers expect insurers to integrate different methods of communication; they want to be able to choose the communication method that suits them at the time and for a particular purpose, and to switch between channels without repeating part of a transaction. “

With the focus on the online sector, the report also indicated that the choice of communication methods should extend to the extensive technological platforms being utilised. The Insurance Consumer market is broad and communicates through web, blogs, forums and social media platforms and the insurance sector needs to integrate traditional communication channels with these rapidly evolving platforms.

In Ireland, the Insurance Industry struggled amid difficult conditions in 2011. The Irish Insurance Federation Report of 2012 acknowledged that economic stability, fall in premium income, new regulatory conditions and the introduction of the Government levy, all had an impact on the Industry with non-life premium income falling almost 5% to less than €2.9 billion.10 The Irish Insurance industry, as with other global regions, is increasingly aware of the

9 http://www.ey.com/Publication/vwLUAssets/Global_Consumer_Insurance_Survey_2012_-

_The_Americas/$FILE/EY_GIR_AMERICAS_SML.pdf 10

http://www.iif.ie/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=hdIeOaddr6o%3d&tabid=124&language=en-GB page 7

Americas 28%

Asia-Pacific 38%

Europe 34%

% who want to make more use of websites in the future

http://www.iif.ie/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=hdIeOaddr6o%3d&tabid=124&language=en-GB


Page | 5

changing trends in product research and purchase by the Consumer. Figures from the January 2012 TNS Digital Life study11 show that a significant proportion of Irish consumers are writing about products online.

Figure 3 Source www.tnsdigitallife.com / amas.ie

These results suggest that the Irish Insurance Industry, along with the rest of the world, needs to evaluate its customer strategy to integrate with and manage the C2CaB conversation about brands, in a profitable way. Insurance brands/companies interact with the Consumer at various stages in the lifespan of an Insurance policy. The next section considers the stages within the value chain and how social business is managed throughout the process. iii. Social Business through the Value Chain As mentioned above; the main stages of the Customer Value Chain are:

a. Customer Acquisition

11

http://www.tnsdigitallife.com/news / http://amas.ie/online-research/state-of-the-net/state-of-the-net-issue-24-

spring-2012/brand-conversations/

51% write about

products

44% post for advice

15% post to praise

12% post to complain

74% join brand

community for special

offer

http://www.tnsdigitallife.com/

http://www.tnsdigitallife.com/news%20/


Page | 6

b. Customer Service and Renewal c. Claims Handling d. Product Development

Insurance companies focus on these areas to maximise ROI and control cost. These stages have historically been managed from the Insurance side; however, with the increase in activity through social business, they now have to re-define online strategy to incorporate C2CaB.

a. Customer Acquisition Two key issues are relevant to customer acquisition 1) how to capture the customer in the first place and, 2) how to attract the customer to the company. 1. Capturing the Customer In the US, in a recent Insurance Shopping survey by J.D. Power & Associates, their insurance practice examined the habits of over 16,100 Insurance shoppers in the States. Mark Garrett from J.D. Power & Associates noted that:12 “With retention and satisfaction with insurers at high levels, many of the people who are simply "price checking" are taken out of the market. However, of those who are looking to switch, 34% are looking to complete the process, from quoting to closing, entirely online. This number is up from last year, and increasingly correlates to success in customer acquisition.” The important point is that the online system must be accessible and usable by the customer to achieve his/her objectives. It is surprising, for example, how many companies refer a Customer to an operator whilst they are seeking a quote online, rather than providing the actual quote. This is not good practice because:

The customer may not want the hassle of switching to an alternative form of communication in order to take the quote further.

Insurance companies invest in online analytics; switching online customers offline means they are not utilising this tool effectively.

The customer will feed back his/her experience through social media thereby immediately creating a C2CaB conversation that could be potentially damaging.

A New York based user-experience firm - Corporate Insight - released a report in January 2012 on eight Insurance firms, evaluating their quote process online. It identified positives

12

http://www.insurancetech.com/distribution/232901488

http://www.insurancetech.com/distribution/232901488


Page | 7

in Allstate’s13 ease of use and attractiveness and commended the ‘get live help’ feature providing the Customer with an option to go further with their enquiry. Statefarm14 in Illinois also stood out for their features at the end of the quotation process. They offered a choice of policies and described the pricing discounts and benefits of each and they also automatically assigned a local agent to the quote and gave the Customer the option of either progressing online or through the agent. Ohio based Progressive Insurance offers a unique feature at the start of the user’s online experience - it invites the Customer to ‘Name Your Price’, saving time when it comes to sifting through policies. Corporate Insight credits Geico15 (Government Employees Insurance Company) with its clear discounting structures and observes that, if this was combined with Progressive’s ‘Name Your Price’ feature, it would be of optimal benefit to the Consumer. These examples of enhancing the basic online quote infrastructure benefit both the Consumer and the Company and set the groundwork for a positive C2CaB. 2. Attracting the Customer to the company With the focus purely on social business, the issue of attracting the Customer can be examined through:

Branding and Recognition The Insurance industry is commonly regarded as somewhat unimaginative as far as marketing is concerned. To improve and compete, the industry needs to become more innovative and creative in the way it portrays itself. A popular way is to launch a Campaign: Allianz was named 67th in the Interbrand 2011 overall global branding. The brand is now worth in the region of €5.3 billion as a result of its work on brand recognition. The Company explains:

16“Interbrand affirmed Allianz’ brand strength, customer focus and credible brand promise as the core of its success. In particular the latest communications campaign “One”, which gives a human face to the brand, received the highest recognition from Interbrand. For the second year in a row, Allianz was ranked 67th in the overall global

13

http://www.insurancetech.com/slideshows/business-intelligence/232900374?pgno=2 14



https://www.allianz.com/media/responsibility/documents/awards_and_recognition_2011.pdf

http://www.insurancetech.com/slideshows/business-intelligence/232900374?pgno=2

http://www.insurancetech.com/slideshows/business-intelligence/232900374?pgno=4


Page | 8

ranking. The Allianz brand is now valued at some EUR 5.3 billion, an increase of 9%”

The 17“One” Campaign centred on one of the core values of the Company in caring for the customer. This was shown by both employees and customers sharing knowledge and experience in authentic situations. Whilst the Campaign was pushed through the traditional media channels it also focussed on the digital media channels utilising a dedicated YouTube channel, a specially designed website and a smartphone app. The 18YouTube channel has just fewer than 1.3 million views which for the traditional Insurance Industry is a significant amount. Joe Gross, Head of Global Market Management SE states: 19“In order to really share knowledge, the "One" campaign makes broad use of the digital space. “One" encourages dialogue, engagement and participation by being online and interactive and by incorporating user generated content. Other delivery channels include press, TV, billboard and a global airport campaign. Local adaptations use the different channels with different emphases; however they all use the central "sharing knowledge" theme.” Another way to attract Consumers is through clever use of a mascot. Jeff Charney, Chief Marketing Officer of Progressive Insurance (U.S.) states “Consumers are less likely to have a conversation with a logo or a PR guy on social media,"20 Progressive Insurance have been successful with their mascot ‘Flo the Progressive Girl’.

She has a separate Facebook page to the company page and currently has over 4 million likes and over 58,000 talking about the page (Aug 2012). The page does not focus on the Insurance Industry, it engages by uploading interesting photographic and video content whilst ensuring that the ‘Progressive’ name is consistently prevalent.

17

http://www.cashcow.in/?p=1987 18

http://www.youtube.com/user/allianz 19

https://www.allianz.com/en/about_us/strategy_values/brand/index.html 20

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303812904577299763370731598.html

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303812904577299763370731598.html


Page | 9

In the UK, one of the most recognized Insurance mascots is the nodding Churchill dog.

Again, the dog, which has been synonymous with engaging TV ads since 1996, has a separate Facebook page with over 34,000 likes and 800 talking about the page (Aug 2012). The Churchill Twitter page, although set up, is not being managed despite having over 312 followers. To verify the authenticity of this page we used the link from the official Churchill Insurance website which took us to the page. This highlights the point that, whilst attraction to the brand is important, managing the engagement and interaction with a consumer through social business is vital. The consumer may hit your page but will not stay if there is nothing with which to engage. Aviva UK have released a smartphone app named Rate My Drive21. It offers potential Customers the chance to participate in the drive and then receive a customised quote with applicable discounts. This has generated conversation on their social media platforms which has increased their brand visibility and enabled them to attract potential Customers to their website.

b. Customer Service and Renewal Insurance traditionally has dealt with Customer Service through less public channels i.e. telephone, email, mail and face to face. Social Platforms on the internet have enabled Consumers to express their views on a brand and the Industry has to adapt to channel this expression profitably. Multi Direction Expression Capability (MDEC) is the way forward when conducting social business. Direct sales through traditional media are now combined with a forward thinking online strategy whereby the Industry has to manage:

21

http://www.aviva.co.uk/ratemydrive/?source%3DRDFP%26entry%3D129095


Page | 10

Business to Business (B2B),

Business to Consumer (B2C)

Consumer to Consumer about Business (C2CaB) Effective management of social platforms is of paramount importance as the internet is an openly expressive platform for the consumer. Responding to both positive and negative conversation about a brand and managing these responses with honesty and transparency is a vital component of social business. A Company needs to respond and engage online:

In a timely manner

With an appropriate tone that befits the Company ethos

In an open and honest manner

With the right degree of transparency

With content that adds value to the Consumer The Irish Insurance Company, NoNonsense.ie, promotes its Facebook page with questions asking if certain things are ‘nonsense or not’ setting the tone and the theme of the brand. Consumers have interacted with a mixture of queries and complaints and these have been addressed speedily, honestly and the Consumer has been invited to converse on a more private scale.22 The engagement appears to be professional, timely and honest and allows the company a degree of control of the C2CaB that it ultimately would not have, simply because the conversation is taking place on a platform managed by it. In contrast, their mascot Mags has her own Facebook page where the tone is light hearted and in keeping with her character on the TV ads.

22

https://www.facebook.com/nononsenseinsurance

https://www.facebook.com/nononsenseinsurance


Page | 11

With this page the company can jokingly insult the Consumer through the character without causing offence.23 The Australian Insurance Company RACV maintains a Twitter page that imparts information and retweets positive messages from Consumers however it does not engage with negative conversation. This does not prevent other Twitter users from having a conversation with the complainant about the brand and ultimately recommending another insurance company to them.24 Result: potential loss of future business and minimal customer retention at renewal. By utilising social business in an effective manner, brand recognition, customer loyalty and an enhanced trust of the company can all be successfully generated. In the past, if there have been no policy changes or claims, contact with a Customer has been minimal which has generated impartiality at policy renewal time. The Global Consumer Insurance Survey 2012 by Ernst & Young25 in fact shows that there is a lack of effort to retain business at the renewal stage: With increased effort at renewal and a pro-active social business strategy that generates customer loyalty, these figures can be significantly reduced whilst improving ROI.

c. Claims Handling

Principal applications of social business related to claims handling are:

23

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mags/306701772700187 24

https://twitter.com/rosscify/status/233467128609644544 25

http://www.ey.com/Publication/vwLUAssets/Global_Consumer_Insurance_Survey_2012/$FILE/Global_Consu

mer_Insurance_Survey_2012.pdf

Figure 4 Regional Average of lack of effort made by insurer at renewal.

(Ernst & Young)

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mags/306701772700187


Page | 12

Minimising claim potential

Improving the Customer claim experience

Extracting information from a customers’ social platform These are currently very topical within the Insurance industry as they can directly affect the ROI of a company.

Minimising Claim Potential Joanna Moore, Chief claims officer with Mercury Insurance in the US remarks: 26“People are updating their Facebook page and say that they just checked in at the airport. It's telling people where you are at any given moment. I think people don't realize the possible consequences of doing that. There are bad elements that are trying to find opportunities to go to peoples' homes when they're overseas. It's the awareness that people need to start thinking about.” Social Business can be utilised for online engagement with a consumer to increase awareness of ways to minimize claims. Availability of advice and information on social platforms can lead the Consumer to apply such information in situations that could result in a claim.

The Customer Claims Experience

An incident which results in a claim is generally an emotional and negative experience for the Consumer. Insurance Companies are finding new ways to enable the process to be quick and trouble free and technology is playing an increasing part in this. Example: The Australian Insurance company AAMI has just launched an app that assists with managing claims:

26

http://www.insurancetech.com/claims/232601820


Page | 13

27The AAMI Claim Assist app gives advice on gathering information at an accident, uses GPS to mark the location and has camera integration to capture photos of the damage. This means that before filling out forms and registering a claim, AAMI can be made aware of the claim instantly and begin the process in a timely manner. Another example is that of Progressive (US) where a claims assistance app is integrated with both a quotation and payment facility. 28 Utilising technology to assist the claims process has enabled the Insurance industry to reduce costs and minimise workflow - a benefit to both the business and the consumer. • Extracting information from a Customers’ Social Platform A Report from Celent entitled Using ‘Social Data in Claims and Underwriting Creating a Social Risk Profile’29 has this to say about data mining: “Celent predicts that social data will be incorporated into core underwriting and claims processes over the next three years and become standard inputs into risk evaluation and settlement activities,” the report states. “This transition will not be without challenges. Key techniques that must be developed or enhanced include authentication methods, improved data extraction tools and more advanced analysis tools”30

27

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/claim-assist/id540958620?mt=8 28

http://www.progressive.com/resources/progressive-app-iphone.aspx 29

http://www.celent.com/ 30

http://www.insurancenetworking.com/news/social_media_claims_underwriting_celent-29049-1.html


Page | 14

The validity of use of this unstructured data is subject to much debate. However, it is being widely used by Insurance Companies particularly in regard to Health Insurance claims. The31 ‘Altura Insurance Social Media Report’ estimates that as many as 22%-40% of companies are using social media in claims management and it also cites difficulties encountered to include:

Lack of explicit regulatory and legal guidance

Cost effectiveness

Reliability concerns

Privacy and ethical issues They recommend that a company should use social media on a case by case basis, ensure the data gathered can be substantiated by other means and should not submit fake friend requests as a means of data gathering. This is a new area for the Insurance Industry and one that has no tangible regulatory guidelines. It is recommended that companies utilise social data mining with caution until such guidelines are in place.

d. Product Development

Ernst & Young comment that the traditional forms of Product Development that would have been

described as:32

Conservative, limited choice range

Mass market appeal and offers

Focus group, small sample size driven

are now emerging into:

31

http://www.registration123.com/pci/12ACICGCS/media/Altura-Insurance_Social_Media.pdf

http://www.ey.com/Publication/vwLUAssets/Insurance_Agenda_Scoial_media_article_final/$FILE/Insurance_

Agenda_Scoial_media_article_final.pdf32


Page | 15

Crowd sourced ideation & co-development

Mass market forecasting and direction

Niche, more targeted offerings

It is becoming increasingly apparent that the focus of influence is moving from the Insurer towards

the Consumer as expression generated online can spark policy ideas and form risk profiles for niche

products.

iv. The Health Insurance Industry

As mentioned in the Executive Summary, the potential for social Business in the Health insurance

Industry is huge. Radian 633 identified that the main social business areas impacting the Health

Insurance Industry are:

Customer Service

Crisis Management

Campaign Management

Loyalty/Retention

Competitor Knowledge

33

http://www.slideshare.net/Radian6/social-media-strategy-for-the-healthcare-industry-11694096


Page | 16

Customer Service

The strategy for social Business when looking at Customer service is similar to that of the General

Insurance Industry and Radian 6 advises use of the three ‘R’’s:

Respect

Use key phrases in engagement that empathise with the Consumer and acknowledge that the

business is listening to the query/statement/complaint and taking it seriously.

Reliability

Reply to the engagement in a timely manner and manage expectations with the Consumer by

providing clear and concise Service Level Agreements (SLA’s).

Reciprocation

Always acknowledge and reply to an online engagement whether in response to a positive comment,

a question or a complaint. Australian Unity Health Insurance utilised all these guidelines in response

to a negative comment on their Facebook Page and applied key phrasing to ensure the Consumer

knew the matter was being dealt with in an appropriate manner.


Page | 17

34“Thanks for the feedback and I’m sorry to hear that you have been unwell. Australian Unity takes

all customer service issues seriously and the Customer Relations team is currently formally

investigating your issue. You will be contacted with the outcome of our investigations once

complete. Kind regards James”

The one omission in Australian Unity’s reply to the Consumer above is the lack of a clear indication

of the time it would take them to contact the Customer. The Customer’s perception of a reasonable

time in which to complete the investigation into the query could greatly differ from the company

perception and this could ultimately lead to negative C2CaB conversation about the brand.

BUPA UK also responds to queries in a timely manner. It appears to be inconsistent, however, as

some queries do not receive responses.35 BUPA manages contact expectations by explaining that it

will be conversing on the page between certain times during weekdays; the Consumer does not

expect a response at evenings and weekends, therefore.

In one conversation clear details were given to the Consumer on when they should expect a call

from the company, this turned a negative conversation into a positive outcome when the Customer

replied36:

34

https://www.facebook.com/AustralianUnityHealth 35

https://www.facebook.com/BupaUK 36

https://www.facebook.com/BupaUK


Page | 18

“Thanks for call x”

The ability to be able to convert a negative expression into a positive one on a public social platform

is vital to the protection of a company’s brand. The Business to Consumer (B2C) conversation may

appear to be one-on-one, however, as the conversation is conducted on a public platform, the reach

can be extensive and the B2C conversation can escalate into a Consumer to Consumer about

Business (C2CaB) conversation that the company does not have the same ability to manage

effectively as they are not directly involved. Thus it is imperative for a company to manage the initial

B2C conversation successfully to limit the escalation into a C2CaB one.

Crisis Management

The importance of having a cohesive crisis management plan is critical to a business, regardless of

the Industry. In the Health Insurance Industry, the lack of a plan can lead to disaster for a brand

unless a crisis is handled in an immediate and effective manner. Social Platform activity can have an

almost instant impact on a brand unless they are monitored and addressed in a timely manner.


Page | 19

Aetna Insurance in the US were subject to a crisis in the form of cancer patient Arijit Guha who,

having battled Stage 4 colon cancer, found that his lifetime limit for care of €300,000 had been used

and Aetna would pay no more.37 Guha took to the social platforms to highlight his plight and in doing

so, prompted negative C2CaB conversation that had the potential to severely damage the brand.

Guha took to the website ‘PoopStrong’ to sell items to raise money for his treatment and received

almost $20,000 in the first three days. As well as raising his own funding Guha expressed his disgust

at Aetna and the Health Care system in general on Twitter. Numerous consequent negative

expressions were generated by other online users who mentioned Aetna and its CEO Mark Bertolini;

he conducted a conversation with Guha on Twitter that could have turned into a Public Relations

catastrophe.

Examples of some of the comments:

@Aetna has now denied $118k in claims (in just 5 mos) since kicking me to the curb. Gotta preserve

that $2 billion annual profit somehow.

My bud @poopstrong, a PhD student w Stage 4, was shamefully kicked off his insurance, @Aetna.

Btw congrats on the $10.6M CEO salary @mtbert!

@mtbert You, sir, have blood on your hands. Man up & pay for @Poopstrong’s treatment, & for

others like him. You don't need the $, they do 37

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/31/arijit-guha-cancer-patient_n_1724478.html#slide=1322205


Page | 20

The outcome of the Bertolini : Guha exchange was that Bertolini agreed to pay for all Guha’s

medical costs until the end of the plan year.

Guha tweeted:

Congrats, Twitter hordes! @Aetna just agreed to cover the full extent of my bills. Every last penny.

Thanks, @mtbert, for listening.

Bertolini commented:

@AEMayo @Poopstrong This chapter is another step in the journey. The system is broken, and I am

committed to fixing it.

This outcome was, in many ways, positive. The handling of the affair, however, was unstructured,

reactive and drawn out. The episode highlights the importance of having a strong and structured

crisis management strategy designed to minimise the risk of negativity to the brand through online

channels. In this case, the Multi Direction Expression Capability (MDEC) through social business could

have had a profound negative impact on the brand.

Campaign Management

There are many examples of successful online Campaign Management within the Health Insurance

Industry. Samples of the key areas of Campaign Management are:


Page | 21

To create a cost effective campaign

To set clear goals and objectives

To effectively raise brand awareness and extend online reach

To engage positively by ensuring a constructive MDEC.

UK online health insurer Health365.com conducted a successful Campaign that earned them a DADI

award38 for the ‘Financial Services Campaign or Website’ category.

Working with Umpf39 they defined their objectives as:

Drive traffic to the new website

Use social media to generate sales (particularly with the 25 – 40 year old age bracket)

Use social media to make Health Insurance appealing and accessible online.

The experts created the world’s first ‘Ouch map’ which Umpf describe as40:

38

http://www.dadiawards.com/pages/about 39

http://www.umpf.co.uk/blog/tag/social-media-campaigns/ 40

http://www.umpf.co.uk/blog/tag/social-media-campaigns/


Page | 22

“A fun, interactive social media experiment that would map minor injuries and see which parts of the

body Brits hurt most. We proposed the Ouch Map as an interactive and social media friendly way to

monitor those minor in real-time using an interactive Twitter app and a glowing skeleton. We

believed the Ouch Map would also enable Health365.com to achieve the primary objective of making

online health insurance more interesting and accessible, whilst boosting site traffic and sales.”

Creating dynamic content whilst providing a unique way to engage, certainly brought the results in

for Health365.com.

41“Since the Ouch Map launched and in the subsequent months, traffic to the Health365.com trebled

with the monthly sales average of policies doubling over the same period. What’s more, targeting the

25 – 40 year old age bracket has been achieved through the Ouch Map, with the average age of

Health365.com policy holders sitting within this demographic.”

The campaign achieved the goals and objectives set and increased sales for the company, yet the

participants engaged fully as the concept was interesting and without pressure. Another valuable

outcome was the data gathered during the campaign as it provided research data and risk

assessment data for the company too.

Loyalty /Retention

A report by Accenture, entitled ‘The 7 Things Your Health Insurance Customers Are Not Telling You’42

, stated that 26% of respondents feel no loyalty to their Health Insurance provider and 41% of

respondents would not purchase additional products from their current provider.

Customer Service is key to retention and this was made clear in the same report that found that only

6% of customers were willing to compromise on levels of customer service in exchange for a lower

price. In fact, 44% strongly disagreed with diminishing the quality of service in exchange for reduced

costs.

41

http://www.umpf.co.uk/blog/tag/social-media-campaigns/ 42

http://www.accenture.com/SiteCollectionDocuments/PDF/Accenture-7-Things-Health-Insurance-Customers-

Not-Telling-You.pdf


Page | 23

As well as applying the three R’s, Respect, Reliability and Reciprocation, discussed above, it is

apparent that the Health Insurance Industry should engage through social Business platforms in a

manner similar to the General Insurance Market. The importance of MDEC together with the ability

to engage:

• in a timely manner

• with an appropriate tone that befits the Company ethos

• in an open and honest manner

• with the right degree of transparency

• with content that adds value to the Consumer.

is vital to assuring Consumer retention.

Figure 5- Source FN 42- Accenture Report


Page | 24

Competitor Knowledge and Data Mining

Monitoring competition is obviously important, not alone competitive pricing and insurance plan

offerings, but also extracting data for the purpose of product development and assessment of

claims.

Data mining on social Platforms has increased significantly with the rise in social media. Information

publically available has already been used to advantage in minimising cost and assessing risk.

Mike Fitzgerald, Senior Analyst with Celent’s Insurance Group explains43

“The information that is posted by individuals on multiple sites reflects their preferences, lifestyles,

and habits. Postings from companies include descriptions of product offerings, services, and

operations. In both cases, this social data can be used to build a real-time risk profile.”

Data mining has been used to check facts on insurance proposals, assess health risk and investigate

fraudulent claims. The right to privacy, ethics and legal implications of this use of social platforms by

Insurance companies are all subject to debate but, as yet, no clear guidelines have been set.

Typical examples of use are:

A customer claims to be a non-smoker and drinker on the proposal form yet photos tagged on Facebook show them smoking and drinking.

A potential customer uses ‘Foursquare’ to geo-tag themselves at venues that promote dangerous sports such as sky diving.

A claimant off work for back pain and hip trouble tweets about running a marathon or is shown in tagged photos dancing at a disco.

Most Insurance companies would debate that anything made public on the internet is accessible

information and can be used accordingly. Access to Consumers information can also depend on the

privacy restrictions they place on their accounts.

43

http://www.celent.com/reports/using-social-data-claims-and-underwriting


Page | 25

v. Engagement Case Study – General Insurance

From a social business perspective, Multi-Directional Expression Capability (MDEC) is the ability of a

company to embrace online engagement with Consumers and manage the engagement in a way

that enables increased profitability for that company. Social Media platforms enable this open and

transparent discussion.

The primary approach a company should adopt is to make it simple for a Consumer to engage with

them online and, at the very least, provide quick and easy access to their social media sites from

their own website. A sample of Insurance companies from Australia, Ireland, UK and US was

examined to determine if this was the case. (Figures correct up to 13th August 2012)

Australia

CompanyFacebook

Likes

Number of

FollowersOther Info

QBE Insurance No link on

website

No link on

website

No link on

website

No link on

website

GIO InsuranceNo link on

website

No link on

website

No link on

website

No link on

website

RACVNo link on

website

Link on

website1,766

No link on

website

No link on

website

SM links provided

to share content.

AAMILink on

website

46,287 likes

1023 talking

No link on

website

No link on

website

No link on

website

RACQLink on

websiteno page found

Link on

website1,706

No link on

website

No link on

website

FB link clicks to

my own account.

Searched for

Company and no

page found.

SunCorpNo link on

website

No link on

website

No link on

website

No link on

website

One PathNo link on

website

No link on

website

No link on

website

No link on

website

NRMANo link on

website

No link on

website

No link on

website

No link on

website


Page | 26

The results show that only 37.5% of the Insurers sampled have a link to a social media Platform on

their website.

Facebook:

AAMI promote their FB page from their website and have a large following of 46,287. They engage frequently with the posting community of (currently) 1023

RACQ provided a link to FB; however, clicking on the links takes one to own account. A search on FB for the Company did not reveal an active page or group.

RACV provided a ‘share this’ link to FB as a means of promotion rather than engagement.

Twitter:

Only two of the Insurers sampled provided a link to their Twitter account namely RACV and RACQ.

Ireland:

CompanyFacebook

Likes

Number of

Followers

Subscribers

& ViewsOther Info

Axa IrelandLink on

website

428 likes 24

talking

Link on

website1,477

No link on

website

No link on

website

Aviva IrelandNo link on

website

No link on

website

No link on

website

No link on

website

Allianz IrelandLink on

website

1,468 likes

11 talking

Link on

website411

Link on

website

10 subs

12,119 views

No link on

website

Blog on

website

NononsenseLink on

website

11,102 likes

3 talking

No link on

website

Link on

website

92 subs

153,164 views

No link on

website

WP blog on

website

Aon InsureNo link on

website

No link on

website

No link on

website

No link on

website

F.B.D.No link on

website

Link on

website3,153

Link on

website

6 subs

3090 views

Link on

website

319

followers

Option to

engage via

Skype

Liberty InsuranceNo link on

website

No link on

website

No link on

website

No link on

website

123.ieNo link on

website

No link on

website

No link on

website

No link on

website


Page | 27

The results show that 50% of the Insurers sampled have a link to a social media platform on their

website.

Facebook:

FBD has embraced social media through Twitter and YouTube and even offers the Consumer an opportunity to communicate with the company via Skype. It appears to have deliberately chosen not to engage via Facebook. On investigation this could be down to the content in the tweet shown below.

FBD Insurance @fbd_ie

Facebook doubles audience Year-on-Year; but if you think that's good, how about Twitter? 800+% increase! http://short.ie/twt800

Reply

Retweet

Favorite

8:56 AM - 26 Feb 10 via TweetDeck · Embed this Tweet

Axa Ireland updates their Facebook page regularly. They personalise it with the name which elicits positive consumer response. They respond to negative queries and follow up on queries in a timely manner.

Whilst Axa can be commended for the management of their Facebook page, it appears that pages, set up for local offices, have never been actioned. A clear strategy is needed to assess whether to keep these pages and manage them effectively or to delete them and concentrate on the main Axa Ireland page.

Allianz Ireland promotes their Facebook page from their website and responds and engages in a timely manner.

NoNonsense.ie has the largest Irish following on Facebook. They respond to queries in an open and timely manner; however they do not consistently update their content.

https://twitter.com/fbd_ie

https://twitter.com/fbd_ie/statuses/9670276573



http://www.tweetdeck.com/



Page | 28

Twitter:

Axa Ireland regularly updates and retweets on their Twitter page

Allianz Ireland update and engage consistently on their Twitter Account

FBD update and engage consistently on their Twitter Account

UK

The results show that only 37.5% of the Insurers sampled have a link to a social media platform on

their website.

Facebook:

Aviva UK update and engage with queries on a consistent basis. They also personalise with a name and provide an option to discuss a query away from page.

Churchill converses in the character of their mascot - the nodding dog. This generates light hearted engagement with the Consumer.

CompanyFacebook

Likes

Number

of

Followers

Subscriber

s & ViewsOther Info

Axa U.K.No link on

website

No link on

website

No link on

website

No link on

website

Aviva U.K.Link on

website

32,551 likes

197 talking

Link on

website767

Link on

website

542 subs

171,257

views

No link on

website

G+ Link on

website

Direct LineNo link on

website

No link on

website

No link on

website

No link on

website

video on

website

ChurchillLink on

website

34,959 likes

897 talking

Link on

website312

Link on

website

146 subs

844,553

views

No link on

website

WP blog on

website

Admiral No link on

website

No link on

website

No link on

website

No link on

website

video on

website

Tesco U.K.No link on

website

No link on

website

No link on

website

No link on

website

Links to

share

content

provided

LV=Link on

website

1,414 likes

16 talking

Link on

website2,159

Link on

website

85 subs

781,934

views

No link on

website

community

forum link

on website

AANo link on

website

No link on

website

No link on

website

No link on

website


Page | 29

LV= also manage their page effectively with timely engagement. They manage Consumer expectation by declaring weekly that they will not respond at weekends.

Twitter:

Aviva UK post tweets and engage consistently. They also personalise their tweets and post avatars of the employees the Consumer is engaging with.

Churchill has set up a Twitter page yet has not actioned the account despite having over 300 followers already.

LV= post tweets and engage consistently on their Twitter page.

US

Company (U.S.)Facebook

Likes

Number of

Followers

Subscribers

(subs) &

Views

Other Info

StatefarmLink on

website

265,659

likes

2,104

talking

Link on

website24,968

Link on

website

6,623 subs

over 21mm

views

Link on

website

44,637

followers

Flickr link on

website

AllstateLink on

website

79,485 likes

845 talking

Link on

website28,549

Link on

website

8,314 subs

over 25mm

views

Link on

website

38,759

followers

Google + link

on website

GeicoLink on

website

265,004

likes 2,446

talking

Link on

website9,614

Link on

website

17,104 subs

over 46mm

views

No link on

website

Have a Flickr

account but

not visible

on website

ProgressiveLink on

website

48,278 likes

676 talking

Link on

website13,890

Link on

website

3,150 subs

over 12mm

views

No link on

website

Have a Flickr

account but

not visible

on website

NationwideLink on

website

24,660 likes

10,287

talking

Link on

website15,025

Link on

website

460 subs

over 2.5mm

views

No link on

website

Google +

and Flickr

link on

website

GMACNo link on

website

No link on

website

No link on

website

No link on

website

esuranceLink on

website

75,303 likes

5,644

talking

Link on

website5,549

Link on

website

340 subs

over

592,000

views

No link on

website

Now owned

by Allstate

Google + link

on website


Page | 30

The results show that 86% of the Insurers sampled have a link to a social Media Platform on their

website.

Facebook:

Statefarm does engage and respond on its Facebook page however it can be inconsistent and the replies are generic. The FB link from the website has over 256k likes; however, a search revealed a page entitled ‘Statefarm Nation’ with over 1.4mm likes, managed by the same employee.

Allstate posts consistently and also engages with customers. The responses are not personalised; however, the majority of queries are dealt with.

Geico is generally consistent in its engagement with the consumer. However, it is apparent from a few of the posts that SLAs are either not in place for social business or, if they are, they are not being adhered to. Geico also has a separate page for its mascot with a similar number of likes to their main page.

Progressive are consistently active on their Facebook account. They also have a page for their mascot ‘Flo the Progressive Girl’, which is regularly managed.

Nationwide manage their Facebook account effectively, their replies are generic yet they respond in an open and honest manner.

Esurance (now owned by Allstate) effectively engage on their page in a timely manner.

Twitter:

Statefarm regularly post updates on Twitter

Allstate regularly post updates on Twitter. They also have a service account (link not on website) named @allstatecares

Geico regularly posts updates on Twitter. They also have a separate service account. (link not on website)

Progressive introduce their Twitter team on their page and regularly engage.


Page | 31

Nationwide regularly post updates on Twitter.

Esurance regularly post updates on Twitter.

Engagement Case Study – Health Insurance

(Figures correct up to 7th Sept 2012)

Australia

The information shows that 100% of the companies detailed in the table have a link to their

Facebook account from their main website page.

Bupa Australia invites the Consumer to connect with them on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and

LinkedIn. The Facebook page is well managed in a timely manner and is personalised with the

employee’s name utilised in the comments. The same employee manages the Twitter page regularly

and has instigated a weekly chat under the hashtag #healthychat.

Medibank update regularly on Facebook and invite engagement by conducting questions and polls.

It is managed by different employees who take ownership of the expression by giving their name

and addressing a query in a timely manner. The twitter account is updated regularly and is also used

as a recruitment tool.

Company Facebook LikesNumber of

Followers

Subscribers

& ViewsOther Info

Bupa AustraliaLink on

Website

8,465 likes

304 talking

Link on

Website1,814

Link on

Website

38 subs

60,957

views

Link on

Website

1444

followers

MedibankLink on

Website

988 likes

87 talking

Link on

Website555

No link on

website

No link on

website

Australian UnityLink on

Website

44 likes

8 talking

No link on

website

Link on

Website

8 subs

121,374

views

No link on

website

Twitter Account

but not linked to

Website

NIB AustraliaLink on

Website

Clicks to own

account

Link on

Website714

Link on

Website

62 subs

59,679

views

No link on

website

HCF AustraliaLink on

Website

2,544 likes

89 talking

No link on

website

No link on

website

No link on

website


Page | 32

Australian Unity promotes their Facebook and YouTube accounts from their website. They have a

Twitter account which is not linked to the website and is not utilised as an engagement tool with

only 97 Tweets (as at 07/09/12) since May 2011.

NIB has Facebook, Twitter and YouTube links on their website. The Facebook link, when clicked, does

not direct to the Company page, it clicks through to the Consumer Account. A search on Facebook

could not find a Facebook page for NIB.

HCF concentrate on Facebook, providing a link on the website to a page that is managed on a timely

basis with quality content.

Ireland

Out of the three companies examined in Ireland, only one has provided a link to a Facebook account.

Aviva Ireland has buttons on their website for Facebook and Twitter, however these links are for the

Consumer to share the Aviva page on their own account rather than access their social Platforms.

Laya Healthcare has a link to Facebook on the website. The Facebook account is regularly

maintained.

VHI displays no links to social platforms and a search of Facebook did not reveal an active account.

CompanyFacebook

Likes

Number of

Followers

Subscribers

& ViewsOther Info

Aviva HealthcareNo link on

website

No link on

website

No link on

website

No link on

website

Laya HealthcareLink on

Website

931 likes

74 talking

No link on

website

No link on

website

No link on

website

VHINo link on

website

No link on

website

8 subs

121,374

views


Page | 33

UK

Three out of the five companies examined in the U.K. provided links to social Platforms on their

Company websites.

In contrast to Bupa Australia, who has links to four Social Platforms on their website, Bupa UK do not

provide any links. This may indicate lack of a coherent Social Business Strategy on a companywide

level.

Axa in the UK provide links to Facebook, Twitter and YouTube on their website. Both Facebook and

Twitter are actively managed on a timely basis.

Simply Health UK provide links to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn and also display a link to

a Flickr Account and Google +.

Pru Health provides links to Facebook and Twitter on their website which are both regularly updated

with relevant content.

April UK provide no links to a social platform from their website.

CompanyFacebook

Likes

Number of

Followers

Subscribers

& ViewsOther Info

Bupa U.K.No link on

website

No link on

website

No link on

website

No link on

website

AxaPPPLink on

Website

2,939 likes

81 talking

Link on

Website4,068

Link on

Website

65 subs

72,603

views

No link on

website

Simply Health U.K.Link on

Website

15,460 likes

43 talking

Link on

Website3,499

Link on

Website

19 subs

221,246

views

Link on

Website

910

followers

Flickr and G+

buttons on

website

Pru HealthLink on

Website

385 likes

16 talking

Link on

Website921

No link on

website

No link on

website

April U.K.No link on

website

No link on

website

No link on

website

No link on

website


Page | 34

US

All the US companies examined, apart from Aetna, provided links from their company website to

relevant social Platforms.

Humana provides a link to Google + as well as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. The accounts are

regularly updated with relevant content in an engaging manner.

Cigna utilises the majority of social Platforms through links on their website with the addition of a

Podcast and a Daily Features link. The Twitter account is personalised with the name of the Public

Relations Officer and all other links and other useful contact points are displayed on their Twitter

wallpaper.

WellPoint has links to Twitter and YouTube on their site whilst United Health Care only provides a

link to the company Twitter account.

Company

Facebook

Likes

Number of

Followers

Subscribers

& Views Other Info

Humana

Link on

Website

14,166 likes

1,411

talking

Link on

Website 2,696

Link on

Website

155 subs

52,798

views

No link on

website

G+ link on

website

Cigna

Link on

Website

3,025 likes

87 talking

Link on

Website 5,109

Link on

Website

121 subs

100,925

views

Link on

Website

12,570

followers

Podcast and

daily Features

link on

website

Aetna

No link on

website

No link on

website

No link on

website

No link on

website

Wellpoint

No link on

website

385 likes

16 talking

Link on

Website 98

Link on

Website

13 subs

4,116 views

No link on

website

United Health

Care

No link on

website

Link on

Website 1,380

No link on

website

No link on

website


Page | 35

vi. Conclusion

The general Consumer perception of Insurance companies is that of being traditional in their

methods and autocratic in their outlook. Operating in a heavily-regulated industry and with

increased Industry competition, Insurance companies need to seek innovative and effective new

means to acquire, engage and retain the Consumer. The emerging online platforms have to be fully

embraced by them and a clearly defined strategy of how to engage online has to be implemented

and maintained.

This strategy is necessary as Consumers are migrating to the online space for immediate information

about these companies and they obtain it, often not from the company itself, but from the online

Community.

Consumer to Consumer about Business (C2CaB) conversations are now the norm; if a company does

not provide a Consumer with an online channel with which to engage, the Consumer will listen to

the advice of an online peer or find a company that will engage online.

The Industry needs to embrace the social business model by:

Listening to online conversation

Reciprocating to online conversation in a respectful manner

Providing innovating and dynamic ways to attract and engage

The potential to innovate is great, perhaps especially in the Health Insurance sector. Health Groups

are forming on a global level as the Internet removes the borders of communication and people seek

support and advice from peers with similar experiences. There is now a great opportunity for Health

Insurance companies to utilise their expertise to provide the Consumer with advice and support

from a qualified source, rather than them having to rely on anecdotal evidence from unqualified

peers.

The social business model needs to be carefully integrated with market factors that influence a

Consumer, such as price and product. Price is not the key influencer, however, as only 6% of

Consumers said they would change insurance policy due to price alone.44 In the Social Business

44

http://www.accenture.com/SiteCollectionDocuments/PDF/Accenture-7-Things-Health-Insurance-Customers-

Not-Telling-You.pdf


Page | 36

world, the key influencer is access to real time information, both factual and anecdotal, in order to

make informed choices.

The scalability of the online social platforms offers huge potential to increase market share. It also

brings with it the potential to assess public information online and utilise this information for

product development and risk minimisation (claims handling) in a profitable way. Data mining is in

its infancy and the Industry is exercising caution bringing this forward, mindful of ethical and

regulatory/legal implications. Change is imminent, however, and the information available on the

web will become a valuable future resource for all Industries.

Social business is now a key component in all elements of the Insurance Value Chain. The Industry

must embrace the business-support potential that exists (and is rapidly expanding) within the World

Wide Web. Those who fail to do so will most surely be left behind as competitors seize the social

business model opportunities available.

General and health insurance, social business, digital economy report

Economy & Finance

social business

social media

customers

daily features

pdf social

social media

health insurance

irish insurance