Comments for Insurance Focus http://insurancefocus.wordpress.com A Cloes Perspective on Corporate Insurance Issues Wed, 24 Sep 2008 13:38:40 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 Comment on About Andy Gregory by andygregory http://insurancefocus.wordpress.com/about/#comment-5 andygregory Wed, 24 Sep 2008 13:38:40 +0000 #comment-5 I guess I am quick to include everything under the social media umbrella! I checked out the defaqto site and I can see your thought process. I will still offer an opinion that even this kind of site will have an impact, as it still fosters a higher level of competition. Additionally, social media(sorry, here I go again) is training the masses to realize that they can get knowledge and advice online, and more and more people will look online for such knowledge. I will check out the Mark Pesce talk later this morning... I guess I am quick to include everything under the social media umbrella! I checked out the defaqto site and I can see your thought process. I will still offer an opinion that even this kind of site will have an impact, as it still fosters a higher level of competition. Additionally, social media(sorry, here I go again) is training the masses to realize that they can get knowledge and advice online, and more and more people will look online for such knowledge. I will check out the Mark Pesce talk later this morning…

]]> Comment on About Andy Gregory by Peter http://insurancefocus.wordpress.com/about/#comment-4 Peter Tue, 23 Sep 2008 07:43:32 +0000 #comment-4 Hi Andy, I was really commenting on price comparisons platforms supplied by companies such as: http://www.defaqto.com/consumer/home.aspx often under white label brands. The Social Media websites are for me, a tribal social expression, its in my DNA to interact. I guess it will be a key marketing tool to hit on like minded tribes. I highly recommend reading this short Talk By Mark Pesce http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/pesce08/pesce08_index.html The last third is thought provoking. Hi Andy, I was really commenting on price comparisons platforms supplied by companies such as:
http://www.defaqto.com/consumer/home.aspx
often under white label brands. The Social Media websites are for me, a tribal social expression, its in my DNA to interact.
I guess it will be a key marketing tool to hit on like minded tribes.
I highly recommend reading this short Talk By Mark Pesce http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/pesce08/pesce08_index.html The last third is thought provoking.

]]> Comment on About Andy Gregory by andygregory http://insurancefocus.wordpress.com/about/#comment-3 andygregory Mon, 22 Sep 2008 13:10:09 +0000 #comment-3 Good morning to you Peter. As one who is fascinated with Social Media, I have been continuously pondering its place in the insurance marketplace and what its effect will be. I have witnessed the continual commoditization of insurance products not just on the personal lines side, but on the commercial as well. Furthermore, based on the effect that I have seen on other industries, direct writers and brokerage models alike will have to continually improve their services if they want to survive. To answer your question, my opinion is that social media websites that compare pricing, coverage terms, and service will certainly have an impact on the insurance industry. When the masses present opinions and attractive options that buyers trust and act on, pricing will compress based purely on competition. So if you combined lower premiums with the need/costs to improve the business model, margins would surely constrict. Whether or not it presents new brand opportunities in the European markets remains to be seen. I guess it could if a new company understood social media better than others and knew how to engage and tap its potential. I believe that we will also witness more commoditization on the commercial side of the insurance industry due to social media. On Friday, I attended a You Tube presentation in Boston attended by many social media pundits and big media players like Google, and it is safe to say that we are only seeing the tip of a very, very large iceberg. If you haven't already read it, I highly recommend that you pick up new book "Groundswell" by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff. The underlying theme of the book is that social media is here, it is growing exponentially, and there is nothing you can do to stop it. But in order to survive it, you must engage it. Good morning to you Peter. As one who is fascinated with Social Media, I have been continuously pondering its place in the insurance marketplace and what its effect will be. I have witnessed the continual commoditization of insurance products not just on the personal lines side, but on the commercial as well. Furthermore, based on the effect that I have seen on other industries, direct writers and brokerage models alike will have to continually improve their services if they want to survive.

To answer your question, my opinion is that social media websites that compare pricing, coverage terms, and service will certainly have an impact on the insurance industry. When the masses present opinions and attractive options that buyers trust and act on, pricing will compress based purely on competition. So if you combined lower premiums with the need/costs to improve the business model, margins would surely constrict. Whether or not it presents new brand opportunities in the European markets remains to be seen. I guess it could if a new company understood social media better than others and knew how to engage and tap its potential.

I believe that we will also witness more commoditization on the commercial side of the insurance industry due to social media. On Friday, I attended a You Tube presentation in Boston attended by many social media pundits and big media players like Google, and it is safe to say that we are only seeing the tip of a very, very large iceberg. If you haven’t already read it, I highly recommend that you pick up new book “Groundswell” by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff. The underlying theme of the book is that social media is here, it is growing exponentially, and there is nothing you can do to stop it. But in order to survive it, you must engage it.

]]> Comment on About Andy Gregory by Peter http://insurancefocus.wordpress.com/about/#comment-2 Peter Mon, 22 Sep 2008 09:10:45 +0000 #comment-2 Hi Andy My interest is in the evolving European insurance markets (Italian assicurazione in particular)I note the rise in the use of price comparisons websites threatening the established brands and as the North American markets are ahead of Europe, how do you see price comparison financial data platforms effecting the industry, and will this open up new brand opportunities in Europe I Quote "However, Duncan Russell, an analyst at JP Morgan, warned that the rapid growth of price comparison websites in the UK market has undermined Direct Line's business model and will therefore dent bidder appetite for the transaction. RBS's biggest insurance brand, Direct Line has deliberately avoided doing business with such sites, partly because they run counter to its model of direct customer contact and threaten margins. Yet price comparison websites are a growing force in the UK general insurance market and already account for 35% of all new motor insurance policies in the UK, against 5% three years ago, according to JP Morgan research. "Russell said RBS Insurance's dominant 32% share of the UK motor insurance market will be eroded as the market increasingly becomes "multi-branded along similar lines to the shampoo market in the supermarket world." Hi Andy
My interest is in the evolving European insurance markets (Italian assicurazione in particular)I note the rise in the use of price comparisons websites threatening the established brands and as the North American markets are ahead of Europe, how do you see price comparison financial data platforms effecting the industry, and will this open up new brand opportunities in Europe
I Quote
“However, Duncan Russell, an analyst at JP Morgan, warned that the rapid growth of price comparison websites in the UK market has undermined Direct Line’s business model and will therefore dent bidder appetite for the transaction. RBS’s biggest insurance brand, Direct Line has deliberately avoided doing business with such sites, partly because they run counter to its model of direct customer contact and threaten margins.
Yet price comparison websites are a growing force in the UK general insurance market and already account for 35% of all new motor insurance policies in the UK, against 5% three years ago, according to JP Morgan research.
“Russell said RBS Insurance’s dominant 32% share of the UK motor insurance market will be eroded as the market increasingly becomes “multi-branded along similar lines to the shampoo market in the supermarket world.”

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