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Exeter Friendly Society Case Study

l_exeter-friendly-society

Client Name Exeter Friendly Society The Organisation Established in 1927, Exeter Friendly Society have been providing Private Medical Insurance ("PMI") ever since. Unlike many of their competitors, Exeter Friendly Society provides easy to understand and totally transparent cover which is designed to be used. The Challenge With an average prospect age of around 65, Exeter wanted to find a younger audience and achieve substantial sales. This was a particularly challenging task as company strategy was to be upfront about coping with serious illness which, of course, resonates more with an older age group. The Insight Our insight revealed that the target audience we wanted to engage with was well versed in the advantages and disadvantages of PMI and wouldn't respond favourably to cosy images of wellbeing. They clearly understood the potential pitfalls and limitations of PMI policies and they wanted to know in some detail what made Exeter different and, more importantly, right for them. Our Solution

The communication strategy was to create four hard hitting propositions:  

  • Family
  • Cancer
  • Financial
  • Unlimited cover

Two thirds of the media budget was allocated to loose inserts in quality and mid-market newspapers.  We also included lifestyle and women's magazines to reach a younger audience. It was felt that inserts gave the creative scope to explain policy benefits and would therefore generate a more informed and better-quality lead.

The remainder of the budget was invested in online display and search to proivde engagement as well as online leads.

With 50% of responses generated by the inserts going directly to the web site it was vital that the online customer journey followed the same theme and proposition that prompted the response. It was decided that Exeter's home page would feature all 4 propositions allowing the prospect to continue their journey based on what information was most relevant to them. A sophisticated tagging and cookie placement strategy was employed so that we could track which proposition lead to a quote request with special reference to their age.

The Results By gaining a clear understanding through painstaking online tracking which proposition was most responsive by volume, cost effectiveness and age group, we were able to optimise the insert activity. We also benefited from applying these learnings to improve the effectiveness of the search campaign.

Post campaign results analysis revealed that we had been successful in

  • Reducing the average age of a prospect by seven years to 58
  • Reducing the cost per policy by 40%
What we did Used online insights to improve offline media efficiency
Client View "I've been extremely impressed in MC&C's digital capability both in terms of planning and implementation. I also like the way they blend good old fashioned business sense with online innovation"

Nigel Killick
Head of Consumer Sales
Exeter Friendly Society

 

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