The Drum Awards for Marketing - Extended Deadline

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"The real key focus for us this year is customers" says RSA's global marketing consultant and The Drum Marketing Awards judge Paul Hudson

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By Stephen Lepitak, -

January 30, 2014 | 6 min read

RSA will focus its marketing strategy on giving back to customers this year according to the insurance firm's global marketing consultant Paul Hudson, a judge at the forthcoming The Drum Marketing Awards.

Paul Hdson, RSA global marketing consultant

Speaking to The Drum ahead of his involvement in the awards, Hudson took time to explain some of the plans for the marketing around the RSA brand, explaining that key focus areas for the insurance company, a pricing-led business, would also include underwriting and customer satisfaction.

"That might sounds a little bit strange but we are talking about an industry that is very data-driven, very price driven, very risk driven and what we are trying to do is say that there are some people behind all of this and what we want to do is focus in the customer and not on a lot of our products," Hudson said.

"We've spent a lot of time and a lot of work trying to develop customer insight and use Net Promoter Score (NPS) and develop propositions with customers in mind rather than product in mind. It's a huge shift."

The company, which focuses on B2B and B2C customers, also works with intermediaries and affiliates to reach customers.

"It's about finding the right balance across each of those different areas to reach our customers. We also do that in lots of different pockets around the world - we have around 30 different countries where we are active. That means we are doing some very good things in lots of different places."

He went on to explain that RSA's approach sees him take a central role which aims to get its teams to work together by highlighting best practice from across the different countries to take forward.

"We are obviously multi channel/multi platform," he added. "There is a lot of work being done at the moment to see just how we should be servicing customers. Some small businesses and consumers want that approach - ease of doing business, ease of service and email communication. Then you have a lot of intermediaries and a lot of complicated risk products. That's going to be a lot more face-to-face and we are never going to get away from the fact that this is both account managed and sales and a face-to-face driven business at that level."

Hudson described RSA's car, home and pet insurance brand, More Than, as "a very strong brand in its own right" which he believes will continue to grow and develop as its marketing team progresses.

"It's definitely a brand that is going to evolve and grow and we feel like we are in the right place with it now. We're doing a lot of things to support this customer focus and we are doing some nice things like More 4 Me which includes high street retail offers and days out. There is an example of how we try to give back to customers and try and support them in situations. We are trying to make it less about people paying for their insurance policy and more about the service that they are going to get and what happens if they need us."

As to what he is expecting from judging The Drum Marketing Awards, Hudson revealed that he is in agreement with fellow judge, Christian Woolfenden, global marketing director of Paddy Power when it comes to seeing both powerful creative work, married with positive results.

"You have got to be meticulous around numbers these days and as the economy improves, it is a great opportunity for marketers to show that we drive revenue and we do make money for the business. Perceptions have changed. 10 years ago we were seen as a cost centre, but now it's about driving that revenue and proving results and if you can do that then now is a good time to be pushing for extra budget. It's a great opportunity."

Hudson also plans to look out for successfully integrated campaign work as well as insight and innovation.

"I'd really like to see how companies are moving in different directions, while being brave and bold. Whether it is new sectors or facing new challenges and new channels...So how are people doing that now and using customer insight to make the change, rather than just saying we want to do this," he explains, citing the brand expansion of Lego to Star Wars and Harry Potter franchises as an example in his mind.

Finally, the response to changing situations is another aspect that he plans to watch out for within this year's entries: "As a marketing team there's four things to be thinking about; social, cultural, economical or environment and how well marketers are responding to the changes to help them with their messaging and marketing as well."

Extensions are available to enter The Drum Marketing Awards 2014 by contacting kimberley.baran@thedrum.com, or by calling 01415596078 to arrange.

Sponsoring this year's The Drum Marketing Awards will be Havas Worldwide London, TubeMogul, Gask & Hawley, The Drum Network and the Recommended Agency Register.

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