An attempt to begin a generic protection campaign has already been enthusiastically received by the ...
An attempt to begin a generic protection campaign has already been enthusiastically received by the industry, according to LifeSearch.
Tom Baigrie, managing director of the protection specialist, is approaching providers and reinsurers with the intention of putting together a basic concept for a generic protection campaign aimed at consumers. Initially he is looking to raise an amount in the order of £10,000 which will be used as seed capital to get three pitches from commercial, rather than financial, advertising agencies. Once an advertiser is chosen he will return to the industry for more cash in order to fund a campaign he estimates to cost £4m to £5m. Following this campaign he expects the industry to launch company specific campaigns to soak up the interest generated.
As COVER was going to press, Matt Morris, policy adviser at LifeSearch, said four providers have expressed explicit interest but said there were more that had responded positively. He said: "Bupa Individual Protection has been extremely positive and has made a financial offer to support it."
While Bupa was the first provider to offer to financially support the campaign, LifeSearch also had some particularly positive feedback from Royal Liver, Fortis and Norwich Union. He added: "Lots of other life offices have responded positively, as have the Association of British Insurers (ABI)."
Jon French, assistant director of media relations, said the ABI was always in favour of a generic campaign to promote protection but had no advertising budget. However, he added the body would offer its "full support" to LifeSearch taking the lead in this issue.
Joe Wiggins, PR manager at Legal & General said: "Generally speaking, we agree that consumer and adviser education is important and we are already involved in this type of activity through our various touch points with advisers and their clients. However, there are important considerations with regards to an industry-wide collaborative campaign including competitive issues and the sheer cost if it is to be successful.'
