Emotional IFA campaign introduces '21st century widow's tale'

Aviva has launched an adviser-facing awareness campaign to help IFAs emotionally engage with clients and their families while approaching the subject of protection.

It includes a '21st century version' of the widow's tale and builds upon the provider's popular life insurance adverts which it will begin airing again today.

The insurer has also agreed a partnership with childhood bereavement charity Grief Encounter to provide support to all claimants with children.

Nationwide training sessions and adviser tools will be available which will focus on the positive aspects of family life and encourage conversations around ‘what makes your family special?'

Aviva believes that by switching the emphasis from protection products to family life, advisers are able to change the way people talk and think about protection and turn a potentially awkward conversation into a positive experience for all.

As a prelude to this project, Aviva created an unbranded facebook page which has received hundreds of postings from people saying what they enjoy doing as a family.

It hopes further engagement in similar ways and through IFAs will help people to embrace the idea of protecting their families for the future.

A range of support materials on how to facilitate these conversations including written guides and video case studies has been produced, along with information on potential life stage triggers and how to pinpoint clients' hidden protection needs.

Louise Colley, head of protection sales and marketing at Aviva, told COVER one such video has been dubbed the '21st century version of the widow's tale' by those who had already seen it.

The materials also examine the most common objections that advisers can expect from their clients, along with guidance on how to overcome these obstacles.

All messages have been designed explicitly with a focus on families rather than finances, to resonate with consumers and help advisers create empathy with their clients, the provider added.

Colley continued: "Family life is such a compelling topic, it really helps to get consumers engaged - so we're helping advisers to shift the focus of conversation away from finances and on to families.

"We want to show how together we can protect the precious things that are unique to each individual family.

"By providing a financial cushion, as well as giving invaluable peace of mind, we can help to keep those special moments special - whatever the future holds.

"We genuinely care about the wellbeing of families across the UK so we've been working closely with bereavement charity Grief Encounter to understand the true impact of being financially under-protected," she added.