About the astronaut who wanted to be a baker
Pension Business: A new name, a new advertising strategy. Swiss Life is «getting ready for the future.».
Pension business A new name, a new advertising strategy. Swiss Life is getting "ready for the future." Hardly ever before has an economic crisis caused such turbulence and public disrepute for the long-established pension provider as the latest one. Within three years, the once-proud blue chip melted to just under a tenth of its peak value in 2000 - and this in the middle of a capital increase, triggered not only by the stock market crash, but at least to the same extent by the discussion about lowering the BVG minimum interest rate, in which Rentenanstalt played the ungrateful pioneering role. In line with its position as market leader, it was more exposed than the competition, which was less associated with terms such as "pension theft" and "rip-off". This image was reinforced by repeated accounting errors, which ultimately turned a profit into a loss of over half a billion francs.
Farewell to castles in the air
As if mistakes, redundancies and the aborted expansion strategy had not already destroyed enough trust and damaged the company's image, the scandal surrounding the top management's secret investment company caused a further debacle. At the end of 2002, Rentenanstalt abruptly suspended an image campaign that was supposed to plug the credibility gap with happy children and bobbing sailing boats. Only the renewed management and the new CEO Rolf Dörig were able to draw a line under the past and tackle the new corporate strategy.
The ideal world of traditional advertising was put on hold in favour of PR, which was expected to deliver a higher return on investment. For an advertising campaign, it was first necessary to calm the waters and use the new brand architecture as a basis. "Due to the turbulent times in the pensions market and the difficult economic situation throughout the country, the public was not ready for long-term investments," says Corinne Pellerin, Head of Corporate Marketing at Swiss Life. "It wasn't just the situation at Swiss Life itself that made advertising investments seem pointless; the market itself was not ready to take notice of our product." However, other life insurers were already able to benefit from the trend towards single premiums at a time when Swiss Life's tarnished reputation was still getting in the way.
New brand promiseThe strategic refocusing on the core businesses of life insurance and pensions and the introduction of a clearer brand architecture provided the platform for a new advertising campaign, which was commissioned to the new in-house agency Spillmann Felser Leo Burnett. It is probably no coincidence that the campaign, which gives an idea of the newfound self-confidence, was launched just a few weeks before the investor and media conferences at the end of 2003.
The new brand promise "Ready for the future" also characterizes the advertising presence. The ads and TV commercials focus on real testimonials with their plans and aspirations, which have not been followed in their lives. They feature a teacher who originally wanted to become a hairdresser, a farmer who dreamed of becoming a pilot and, conversely, a pilot who would have preferred to drive a tractor.
A second spot is aimed at the future, in which children let their sporting ideas grow wings: They go straight from the sports field at home to the World Cup. "The short stories show that life doesn't stick to plans and that's precisely why it's important to make provisions," explains Corinne Pellerin, closing the conceptual circle with the brand promise "Be ready for the future", the origin of every provision. "Because making provisions means being ready for whatever may come." The new claim was also undoubtedly the most necessary message to the Swiss Life workforce.
Real testimonials instead of the Kukident generation on a sailing trip: Swiss Life presents itself authentically.
White instead of black coats: Swiss Life has reformed.
Logo with hand lines Swiss Life is underlining its strategic realignment with a simplified brand structure and a new image. While the latter is intended to help the pension company position itself clearly in international competition, the uniform appearance supports holistic and efficient communication. The new image was developed together with the Swiss CI agency MetaDesign and combines the company's tradition and origins with its new goals. The three lines of the new logo are intended to symbolize the most important lines of action and express the individuality of the pension business. What is not new is the company name, which builds on existing elements and succinctly links the company's origins with its core business. The new umbrella brand will be introduced in the first phase, followed step by step by the end of 2005 in all core countries by the sub-brands and independent brands indicating the Group affiliation. The costs for the entire rebranding of the Group will be spread over 2004 and 2005 and amount to CHF 15 million. (la)
Luca Aloisi
Farewell to castles in the air
As if mistakes, redundancies and the aborted expansion strategy had not already destroyed enough trust and damaged the company's image, the scandal surrounding the top management's secret investment company caused a further debacle. At the end of 2002, Rentenanstalt abruptly suspended an image campaign that was supposed to plug the credibility gap with happy children and bobbing sailing boats. Only the renewed management and the new CEO Rolf Dörig were able to draw a line under the past and tackle the new corporate strategy.
The ideal world of traditional advertising was put on hold in favour of PR, which was expected to deliver a higher return on investment. For an advertising campaign, it was first necessary to calm the waters and use the new brand architecture as a basis. "Due to the turbulent times in the pensions market and the difficult economic situation throughout the country, the public was not ready for long-term investments," says Corinne Pellerin, Head of Corporate Marketing at Swiss Life. "It wasn't just the situation at Swiss Life itself that made advertising investments seem pointless; the market itself was not ready to take notice of our product." However, other life insurers were already able to benefit from the trend towards single premiums at a time when Swiss Life's tarnished reputation was still getting in the way.
New brand promiseThe strategic refocusing on the core businesses of life insurance and pensions and the introduction of a clearer brand architecture provided the platform for a new advertising campaign, which was commissioned to the new in-house agency Spillmann Felser Leo Burnett. It is probably no coincidence that the campaign, which gives an idea of the newfound self-confidence, was launched just a few weeks before the investor and media conferences at the end of 2003.
The new brand promise "Ready for the future" also characterizes the advertising presence. The ads and TV commercials focus on real testimonials with their plans and aspirations, which have not been followed in their lives. They feature a teacher who originally wanted to become a hairdresser, a farmer who dreamed of becoming a pilot and, conversely, a pilot who would have preferred to drive a tractor.
A second spot is aimed at the future, in which children let their sporting ideas grow wings: They go straight from the sports field at home to the World Cup. "The short stories show that life doesn't stick to plans and that's precisely why it's important to make provisions," explains Corinne Pellerin, closing the conceptual circle with the brand promise "Be ready for the future", the origin of every provision. "Because making provisions means being ready for whatever may come." The new claim was also undoubtedly the most necessary message to the Swiss Life workforce.
Real testimonials instead of the Kukident generation on a sailing trip: Swiss Life presents itself authentically.
White instead of black coats: Swiss Life has reformed.
Logo with hand lines Swiss Life is underlining its strategic realignment with a simplified brand structure and a new image. While the latter is intended to help the pension company position itself clearly in international competition, the uniform appearance supports holistic and efficient communication. The new image was developed together with the Swiss CI agency MetaDesign and combines the company's tradition and origins with its new goals. The three lines of the new logo are intended to symbolize the most important lines of action and express the individuality of the pension business. What is not new is the company name, which builds on existing elements and succinctly links the company's origins with its core business. The new umbrella brand will be introduced in the first phase, followed step by step by the end of 2005 in all core countries by the sub-brands and independent brands indicating the Group affiliation. The costs for the entire rebranding of the Group will be spread over 2004 and 2005 and amount to CHF 15 million. (la)
Luca Aloisi
