Liberty Life is “working on it”

This approach stems from market research identifying that the assurance industry worldwide needs to seriously re-examine the way it operates, and re-strategise its future.

Liberty's own brand perception research, conducted with 1400 of its customers, concluded that future leadership in the assurance sector demanded competitive advantage in customer service. By and large, customers accepted that investment returns could fluctuate if markets did not perform. But what they would not tolerate was a bad attitude, poor advice and shoddy service.

This struck a chord with Liberty Life's new Chief Executive Myles Ruck, who since his appointment last year, has consistently emphasised top-quality service as the non-negotiable priority for Liberty to achieve for their customers – both policyholders and financial advisers.

"No insurer can get away with a high-handed approach these days. We need to re-engage our customers and remind ourselves who's actually calling the shots," says Ruck.

"Although we can't control financial markets, we can and must be excellent at what we do control. Everything we do must focus on adding value for the customer. We're in a highly competitive service industry, and winning companies will be those that give outstanding service to the people that ultimately pay our salaries. Markets may go up and down, but I want our customers to keep coming back to us because they enjoy doing business with us."

Ruck further signalled his intent earlier this year, by appointing senior Liberty executive Alan Woolfson as MD, Group Customer Service. Woolfson's brief is quite simply to ensure Liberty's customer service standards are world-class.

Woolfson's strategic review of Liberty's customer service activities is ongoing and wide-ranging. Business processes, staff competencies and attitudes, and the way Liberty Life communicates and interacts with customers - especially those with gripes - are all coming under the microscope.

Although comparison to date of Liberty's customer service standards against conventional industry norms has by no means revealed a train smash, Ruck and Woolfson are aware there is also still plenty of room for improvement.

As Liberty re-aligns its core business operations to become far more "customer-centric" it also became important to communicate its strategic intent.

"Commitments you make to yourself are too easily avoided," says Ruck. "A promise only means something when you tell someone. So we decided we had to make our commitment publicly, and to our key business partners – our policyholders, the financial advisers who represent us, and our own staff."

Liberty commissioned J Walter Thompson Johannesburg to develop a communication campaign that would not only make their promise to customers public, but also put them squarely "on the line" to deliver.

The campaign's first billboard: "A new attitude. We're working on it." emphasises that Liberty is committing to, rather than claiming, excellent service. "I think the life industry generally has a way to go in jacking up its service standards and attitudes," concedes Ruck.

The campaign will commence early June on billboards in major urban areas, and will be followed by radio and television executions the week of July 5, reinforcing the brand message of Liberty Life's commitment to customer service.

Something special for marketers in particular to watch out for: included in JWT's campaign roll-out is the world's longest billboard – a 48m x 3m monster at Johannesburg International Airport, with the adapted line: "The extra mile. We're working on it. Liberty Life."