The health insurance company as a partner

Health insurance companies The campaigns are deceptive. Pro
customer and year, the industry only invests a few francs in advertising -
or: just under one per thousand of the total insurance benefit. "The first provisional premiums for 2006
are here!" currently announces the internet comparison service Comparis.ch.
Knowing full well that only a few of the premium comparison
Draw the consequences and switch to another insurance company. "That
fluctuates between three and five percent from year to year," says Richard
Eisler, Managing Director of Comparis. Behavior when it comes to health insurance
Despite steadily rising costs and moderate growth, the Swiss
Satisfaction like couch potatoes. As a decision-making aid for the
In addition, only one percent of those who chose a health insurance fund indicated advertising, so the
Result of last year's Comparis-GfS study. A sobering
17.5 million francs, which, according to Media Focus, was spent in 2004 on
"above-the-line" measures were invested and an increase of a good
37 percent. So why bother with advertising?

In the public eye
The impression is deceptive: on the one hand, the advertising spending of the
health insurance companies far below the 24 million francs in 2000:
Compared to the services rendered of around 18 billion
francs and the relatively low administrative costs (just under 6 percent of
total healthcare costs), traditional advertising has virtually
modest dimensions. Nicole Graf, Head of PR & Information at
Swica, has nothing to hide: "The costs for above- and
Below-the-line costs amount to around 2.9 million francs." Just under a
five francs per customer. Helsana, the largest health insurer, is also very frugal
with the advertising franc, says Wirz CD Matthias Freuler. Because: "Nobody
should have the feeling that the money from the premium increase
expensive campaigns," says Freuler.
But this is not the only challenge facing commercial communication.
Challenges. "The topic of health insurance companies cannot be seen as a
be described as particularly pleasurable or attractive," says Isabelle
Vautravers, Head of Communications at Sanitas, admitted frankly. In the
On the contrary, there is a difficult field of tension between
sensitive and sober topics - between illness and money, between
Low interest and statutory basic insurance. Get into
from the competition every year in this environment and at the same time offer cheap
To avoid punchlines and platitudes is allowed without false modesty.
can be described as a challenge. Roland Lacher from the CSS in-house agency
In addition to running against popular opinion, Pinx also recognizes the
The challenge is to generate interest, understanding and
to promote personal responsibility.

A lack of profile that bothers few
The peak season for image campaigns is not about acquiring new customers.
The goal, that much is clear. The priority is to confirm the
customers and sales support for agents. In addition, the
The precarious goodwill that the media had been talking about in the run-up to the premium increase
is additionally strained, with positive image messages in the perpendicular
be kept. And what could be better than protection and
Reliability motifs, which are related to the content and the
concentrated advertising presence?
Since the product area and the legally required information
via changes to the explanatory, mass-media BtL channels such as
Brochures, DM, Internet, trade fairs, customer magazines and community
educational competitions and benefits that are reserved for
media mix, on average two thirds of the media mix are also
this year for the image presentations in a new version.
implementation.
This does not seem to bother either clients or advertisers, especially as the low
Price sensitivity among the majority of health insurance policyholders for the
traditional concepts. Delimiting concepts such as comparisons or
the topic of supplementary insurance, where the true future
market will be in vain. This circumstance is mainly due to
The large health insurers such as Helsana, CSS and Swica, whose
image campaigns are mainly formally differentiated and above all
with feel-good arguments such as security through size, the confidence of their
customers. According to the Comparis survey, loyalty to the
At 55 percent, the checkout is simply a matter of tradition or satisfaction.
This is often accompanied by the dramatization of ever new
performance aspects - as in the case of the factual-plakative
Helsana campaign. KPT is also facing the challenge of "converting customers to
that, despite annual premium increases for the
are the right health insurance," says communications expert Sabine
Zaugg, with a profiling strategy that focuses on service orientation
and progressiveness. The LangGysiKnoll campaign is based on
for this purpose humorously stages a laptop in exaggerated situations in order to
the KPTNet Internet platform.

Saving as an advertising message
Several health insurance companies are targeting their main message
"Saving" to a more price-sensitive and younger segment, i.e. the
good risk. For every fourth insured person
Value for money and premiums for the choice of fund
decisive. With savings stockings as a platform for ideas, the
Lucerne agency Felder und Vogel for Concordia. What catches the eye:
the young and fresh motif that draws attention to the
alternative insurance models with which premiums can be
can be saved. Pinx declines the big picture for CSS.
Savings potential for the family with funny subjects and a
surprising TV commercial.
That this does not require fresh originality every year seems to be the
ÖKK by attempting a balancing act between the
13-year-old creative grid - children's face, slogan and house colors
- and the new headline "Ahead of the times!". With the again
recognizable concept, according to Markom manager Roger Müller, it has "the
the highest sympathy ratings from the public and clearly recognized ÖKK as the
family-friendly cash register".
The same agency that was responsible for the ÖKK brand development in the 80s and
90s, SEC in Lucerne, is currently positioning the
former Landis and Gyr company health insurance fund as a nationwide
KLuG. The "styled" approach with the ironically raised index finger
"Are you insured with KLuG?" is intended to raise awareness of the small
health insurance company with the benefits of a large one, so
Concept designer Mark Furrer.
Particularly high growth rates were recorded by those insurance companies -
Assura and Groupe Mutuel, among others - which had already
dramatized and primarily focused on direct response and
personal selling. The expansion of this Markom area
paid off because interpersonal communication proved to be very effective.
efficient and this type of support and closeness has proven
is appreciated.
These two important elements, but implemented very unobtrusively,
Atupri's agency Fruitcake takes up this idea in its new advertising approach and
replaces the advertising character Clown Linaz after four years with "real
Stories". In the first of the two TV commercials, the fillet pieces of the
recently launched campaign, in several situations the
The emergence of a modern nuclear family. In several places
are the parallels to building a relationship with the health insurance company
woven into it. "The story has two aspects for the target group
Moments of identification: the couple - the new love - and the child - the
new life," explains Fruitcake CD Lahor Jakrlin. Flanking
the poster and advertising presence positions Atupri as a
Health insurance that stands by you in the important moments of life.
With a view to the banking sector, which has long been just as exposed
Jakrlin for a more offensive, more independent and more demanding
Health insurance advertising. Advertising is an important factor for these
component of the corporate identity, which says a lot about the philosophy of the
Cash register reveals.
The new Sanitas campaign by the Zurich-based company Sanitas can also be seen in this light.
Frei Partner agency. With a lot of courage for emotions - from the
From fatherly love with a cheerful effect to eroticism with a daring headline - will
communicates the core message to a very broad target group that
Sanitas is committed to its policyholders for life. The
The realization allows the people portrayed and their all-too-human
weaknesses and vices appear sympathetic and true to life. With
Sanitas shows its intentions from an unusual perspective,
that she is there for them - no matter what happens.

Luca Aloisi