General and health insurance, social business, digital economy report

Social Business
General & Health Insurance Industry

Social Business - General and Health Insurance Industry www.ahaingroup.com
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Contents:
i. Executive Summary
ii. Current Situation
iii. Social Business through the Value Chain
iv. Health Insurance Industry
v. Engagement Case Study
vi. Conclusions
i. Executive Summary
David Williams of Axa Insurance UK was recently quoted as saying that the UK Insurance
Industry was “traditionally known as not being the most responsive to change.” 1
This
comment could be applied in a general sense to many Insurance Companies throughout the
globe. Traditionally, Insurance Companies have focussed on customer acquisition, customer
service and renewal, claims handling and product development. A consumer would typically
have two touch points with their Insurance Company: at the time of acquiring a policy and
again at the time of renewal of the policy. Other touch points would, in the main, be
instigated by the Consumer, the most common being informing the company of a change in
circumstance or instigating a claim.
The social business model is rapidly evolving into social business strategy and Insurance
companies are now aware that, to manage the online conversation about their brand, they
have to interact and respond to the Consumer to Consumer about Business (C2CaB)
community. Online activity is instant and whilst Insurance companies have, in the past,
adhered to caution when addressing a query and have had the time to format a reply under
regulatory guidelines, they now have to find a way to respond in real time whilst ensuring
that the compliance requirements of the industry are met. This challenge is huge for, as
David Williams notes above, these Companies are not traditionally responsive to change. So
how can it be managed and what are they doing to interact and to retain/enhance the
traditional brand recognition they have painstakingly worked to achieve?
The approach to social business involvement has been varied amongst Insurance companies
globally. Nick Smith of Accenture UK reasons that some companies are still pondering the
'Why get involved stage' whilst others are immersed in the ’How do we get involved stage'.
As a
panellist on a recent Market force Webinar2
he agreed that companies need to make a clear
commitment to social business and define their goals and objectives with a concise strategy.
1
http://marketforce.eu.com/Conferences/socialmediainsurance12/
2
http://marketforce.eu.com/Conferences/socialmediainsurance12/

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The Health Insurance industry is mindful of combining the need to be accessible and engage
with the Consumer with current regulatory requirements that are fragmented by
Country/Region. The personal nature of the Industry, i.e. peoples’ health makes providers
ever more cautious when engaging on social platforms.
The social business potential is huge, however CBO3
estimates, for example, that there are
about 150 million Americans under the age of 65 who currently have an employment-based
health insurance plan as their primary source of cover. They also estimate another 13 million
people have primary health insurance cover purchased directly from an insurer. PWC take
this further in their Healthcare Report4
where they state “Health insurers understand that
focusing on the individual population will be key as more partnerships in population health
are formed and insurance exchanges bring in 12 million newly-insured individuals in 2014
and up to 28 million by 2019.”
This Paper sets out findings and observations arising from a review of the areas of the social
Business Model that can add value to Insurance companies. It also looks at existing strategy
and how it is administered in Countries such as Australia, Ireland, U.K. and the U.S.
ii. Current Situation
Ernst & Young identified the global insurance outlook for 2012 as:
5
“The general outlook for the global insurance industry is mixed, a consequence of
persistently challenging economic, market and regulatory circumstances. Other than Asia
Pacific, where continued growth is expected in 2012, the rest of the world is mired in
economic instability.”
From a European perspective they found that:
6
“Consumer needs and expectations are rapidly changing. These forces are combining to
create considerable challenges for insurers seeking to improve both top- and bottom-line
performance. Those companies that have a deep understanding of these challenges, and
respond with strategic solutions, will outperform their peers.”
They also commented that, in the US:
3
http://www.cbo.gov/budget/factsheets/2011b/HealthInsuranceExchanges.pdf
4
http://www.pwc.com/us/en/health-industries/index.jhtml
5
http://www.ey.com/GL/en/Industries/Financial-Services/Insurance/Global-insurance-outlook-for-2012---
Overview
6
http://www.ey.com/GL/en/Industries/Financial-Services/Insurance/Global-insurance-outlook-for-2012---
Europe-insurance-outlook

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7
“The scale and efficiency of insurer operating structures are eroding the ability of many
companies to respond to emerging opportunities. As the US property-casualty industry
confronts these macroeconomic conditions, it is also challenged by regulation, and an
uncertain governance and compliance agenda.”
As it is less within the control of companies to manage the global economic situation or
prevent natural disasters, the key area a company can improve is the relationship with the
Consumer. Ernst and Young joined forces with independent firm IPSOS between August and
October 2011 to canvass 24,000 consumers globally to enquire about what drives consumer
behaviour in the Insurance process.
A key finding was that, although the level of online purchasing of insurance is generally low
globally, a significant number of Consumers will conduct their research on the Internet
before purchasing their insurance through the conventional channels.
Figure 1 The % of respondents who research Insurance online by Country.
The UK is ahead of the other Countries shown as it has an already developed comparison
site structure, whereas the US is less mature, resulting in a weaker percentage. The online
desire and capacity for research is emphasised by those regional respondents who indicated
that they wanted to make more use of websites for information in the future.8
7
http://www.ey.com/GL/en/Industries/Financial-Services/Insurance/Global-insurance-outlook-for-2012---US-
property-casualty-insurance-outlook
8
http://www.ey.com/Publication/vwLUAssets/Global_Consumer_Insurance_Survey_2012_-
_The_Americas/$FILE/EY_GIR_AMERICAS_SML.pdf Page 22.
39%
57%
23%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Australia U.K U.S
% who research insurance online
% who research insurance online

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Figure 2 the % of participants who planned to use the internet to research future insurance
options.
The research established that the majority of participants found the option of being able to
communicate personally important, especially if the query/purchase was a complex one.
Having access to multiple resource channels and highlighting the CHOICE factor led the
report to state:
9
“Customers expect insurers to integrate different methods of communication; they want to
be able to choose the communication method that suits them at the time and for a particular
purpose, and to switch between channels without repeating part of a transaction. “
With the focus on the online sector, the report also indicated that the choice of
communication methods should extend to the extensive technological platforms being
utilised. The Insurance Consumer market is broad and communicates through web, blogs,
forums and social media platforms and the insurance sector needs to integrate traditional
communication channels with these rapidly evolving platforms.
In Ireland, the Insurance Industry struggled amid difficult conditions in 2011. The Irish
Insurance Federation Report of 2012 acknowledged that economic stability, fall in premium
income, new regulatory conditions and the introduction of the Government levy, all had an
impact on the Industry with non-life premium income falling almost 5% to less than €2.9
billion.10
The Irish Insurance industry, as with other global regions, is increasingly aware of the
9
http://www.ey.com/Publication/vwLUAssets/Global_Consumer_Insurance_Survey_2012_-
_The_Americas/$FILE/EY_GIR_AMERICAS_SML.pdf
10
http://www.iif.ie/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=hdIeOaddr6o%3d&tabid=124&language=en-GB page 7
Americas
28%
Asia-Pacific
38%
Europe
34%
% who want to make more use of
websites in the future

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changing trends in product research and purchase by the Consumer. Figures from the
January 2012 TNS Digital Life study11
show that a significant proportion of Irish consumers
are writing about products online.
Figure 3 Source www.tnsdigitallife.com / amas.ie
These results suggest that the Irish Insurance Industry, along with the rest of the world,
needs to evaluate its customer strategy to integrate with and manage the C2CaB
conversation about brands, in a profitable way.
Insurance brands/companies interact with the Consumer at various stages in the lifespan of
an Insurance policy. The next section considers the stages within the value chain and how
social business is managed throughout the process.
iii. Social Business through the Value Chain
As mentioned above; the main stages of the Customer Value Chain are:
a. Customer Acquisition
11
http://www.tnsdigitallife.com/news / http://amas.ie/online-research/state-of-the-net/state-of-the-net-issue-24-
spring-2012/brand-conversations/
51%
write
about
products
44% post for
advice
15% post to
praise
12% post to
complain
74% join
brand
community
for special
offer

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b. Customer Service and Renewal
c. Claims Handling
d. Product Development
Insurance companies focus on these areas to maximise ROI and control cost. These stages
have historically been managed from the Insurance side; however, with the increase in
activity through social business, they now have to re-define online strategy to incorporate
C2CaB.
a. Customer Acquisition
Two key issues are relevant to customer acquisition 1) how to capture the customer in the
first place and, 2) how to attract the customer to the company.
1. Capturing the Customer
In the US, in a recent Insurance Shopping survey by J.D. Power & Associates, their insurance
practice examined the habits of over 16,100 Insurance shoppers in the States. Mark Garrett
from J.D. Power & Associates noted that:12
“With retention and satisfaction with insurers at high levels, many of the people who are
simply "price checking" are taken out of the market. However, of those who are looking to
switch, 34% are looking to complete the process, from quoting to closing, entirely online. This
number is up from last year, and increasingly correlates to success in customer acquisition.”
The important point is that the online system must be accessible and usable by the customer
to achieve his/her objectives. It is surprising, for example, how many companies refer a
Customer to an operator whilst they are seeking a quote online, rather than providing the
actual quote. This is not good practice because:
 The customer may not want the hassle of switching to an alternative form of
communication in order to take the quote further.
 Insurance companies invest in online analytics; switching online customers offline
means they are not utilising this tool effectively.
 The customer will feed back his/her experience through social media thereby
immediately creating a C2CaB conversation that could be potentially damaging.
A New York based user-experience firm - Corporate Insight - released a report in January
2012 on eight Insurance firms, evaluating their quote process online. It identified positives
12
http://www.insurancetech.com/distribution/232901488

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in Allstate’s13
ease of use and attractiveness and commended the ‘get live help’ feature
providing the Customer with an option to go further with their enquiry.
Statefarm14
in Illinois also stood out for their features at the end of the quotation process.
They offered a choice of policies and described the pricing discounts and benefits of each
and they also automatically assigned a local agent to the quote and gave the Customer the
option of either progressing online or through the agent.
Ohio based Progressive Insurance offers a unique feature at the start of the user’s online
experience - it invites the Customer to ‘Name Your Price’, saving time when it comes to
sifting through policies. Corporate Insight credits Geico15
(Government Employees Insurance
Company) with its clear discounting structures and observes that, if this was combined with
Progressive’s ‘Name Your Price’ feature, it would be of optimal benefit to the Consumer.
These examples of enhancing the basic online quote infrastructure benefit both the
Consumer and the Company and set the groundwork for a positive C2CaB.
2. Attracting the Customer to the company
With the focus purely on social business, the issue of attracting the Customer can be
examined through:
 Branding and Recognition
The Insurance industry is commonly regarded as somewhat unimaginative as far as
marketing is concerned. To improve and compete, the industry needs to become more
innovative and creative in the way it portrays itself.
A popular way is to launch a Campaign:
Allianz was named 67th
in the Interbrand 2011 overall global branding. The brand is now
worth in the region of €5.3 billion as a result of its work on brand recognition. The Company
explains:
16
“Interbrand affirmed Allianz’ brand strength, customer focus and credible
brand promise as the core of its success. In particular the latest
communications campaign “One”, which gives a human face to the brand,
received the highest recognition from Interbrand. For the second year in a
row, Allianz was ranked 67th
in the overall global
13
http://www.insurancetech.com/slideshows/business-intelligence/232900374?pgno=2
14
15
16
https://www.allianz.com/media/responsibility/documents/awards_and_recognition_2011.pdf

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ranking. The Allianz brand is now valued at some EUR 5.3 billion, an increase
of 9%”
The 17
“One” Campaign centred on one of the core values of the Company in caring for the
customer. This was shown by both employees and customers sharing knowledge and
experience in authentic situations. Whilst the Campaign was pushed through the traditional
media channels it also focussed on the digital media channels utilising a dedicated YouTube
channel, a specially designed website and a smartphone app. The 18
YouTube channel has
just fewer than 1.3 million views which for the traditional Insurance Industry is a significant
amount.
Joe Gross, Head of Global Market Management SE states:
19
“In order to really share knowledge, the "One" campaign makes broad use of the digital
space. “One" encourages dialogue, engagement and participation by being online and
interactive and by incorporating user generated content. Other delivery channels include
press, TV, billboard and a global airport campaign. Local adaptations use the different
channels with different emphases; however they all use the central "sharing knowledge"
theme.”
Another way to attract Consumers is through clever use of a mascot. Jeff Charney, Chief
Marketing Officer of Progressive Insurance (U.S.) states “Consumers are less likely to have a
conversation with a logo or a PR guy on social media,"20
Progressive Insurance have been
successful with their mascot ‘Flo the Progressive Girl’.
She has a separate Facebook page to the company page and currently has over 4 million
likes and over 58,000 talking about the page (Aug 2012). The page does not focus on the
Insurance Industry, it engages by uploading interesting photographic and video content
whilst ensuring that the ‘Progressive’ name is consistently prevalent.
17
http://www.cashcow.in/?p=1987
18
http://www.youtube.com/user/allianz
19
https://www.allianz.com/en/about_us/strategy_values/brand/index.html
20
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303812904577299763370731598.html

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In the UK, one of the most recognized Insurance mascots is the nodding Churchill dog.
Again, the dog, which has been synonymous with engaging TV ads since 1996, has a
separate Facebook page with over 34,000 likes and 800 talking about the page (Aug 2012).
The Churchill Twitter page, although set up, is not being managed despite having over 312
followers. To verify the authenticity of this page we used the link from the official Churchill
Insurance website which took us to the page.
This highlights the point that, whilst attraction to the brand is important, managing the
engagement and interaction with a consumer through social business is vital. The consumer
may hit your page but will not stay if there is nothing with which to engage.
Aviva UK have released a smartphone app named Rate My Drive21
. It offers potential
Customers the chance to participate in the drive and then receive a customised quote with
applicable discounts. This has generated conversation on their social media platforms which
has increased their brand visibility and enabled them to attract potential Customers to their
website.
b. Customer Service and Renewal
Insurance traditionally has dealt with Customer Service through less public channels i.e.
telephone, email, mail and face to face.
Social Platforms on the internet have enabled Consumers to express their views on a brand
and the Industry has to adapt to channel this expression profitably.
Multi Direction Expression Capability (MDEC) is the way forward when conducting social
business. Direct sales through traditional media are now combined with a forward thinking
online strategy whereby the Industry has to manage:
21
http://www.aviva.co.uk/ratemydrive/?source%3DRDFP%26entry%3D129095

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 Business to Business (B2B),
 Business to Consumer (B2C)
 Consumer to Consumer about Business (C2CaB)
Effective management of social platforms is of paramount importance as the internet is an
openly expressive platform for the consumer. Responding to both positive and negative
conversation about a brand and managing these responses with honesty and transparency is
a vital component of social business.
A Company needs to respond and engage online:
 In a timely manner
 With an appropriate tone that befits the Company ethos
 In an open and honest manner
 With the right degree of transparency
 With content that adds value to the Consumer
The Irish Insurance Company, NoNonsense.ie, promotes its Facebook page with questions
asking if certain things are ‘nonsense or not’ setting the tone and the theme of the brand.
Consumers have interacted with a mixture of queries and complaints and these have been
addressed speedily, honestly and the Consumer has been invited to converse on a more
private scale.22
The engagement appears to be professional, timely and honest and allows
the company a degree of control of the C2CaB that it ultimately would not have, simply
because the conversation is taking place on a platform managed by it.
In contrast, their mascot Mags has her own Facebook page where the tone is light hearted
and in keeping with her character on the TV ads.
22
https://www.facebook.com/nononsenseinsurance

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With this page the company can jokingly insult the Consumer through the character without
causing offence.23
The Australian Insurance Company RACV maintains a Twitter page that imparts information
and retweets positive messages from Consumers however it does not engage with negative
conversation. This does not prevent other Twitter users from having a conversation with the
complainant about the brand and ultimately recommending another insurance company to
them.24
Result: potential loss of future business and minimal customer retention at renewal.
By utilising social business in an effective manner, brand recognition, customer loyalty and
an enhanced trust of the company can all be successfully generated. In the past, if there
have been no policy changes or claims, contact with a Customer has been minimal which has
generated impartiality at policy renewal time. The Global Consumer Insurance Survey 2012
by Ernst & Young25
in fact shows that there is a lack of effort to retain business at the
renewal stage:
With increased effort at renewal and a pro-active social business strategy that generates
customer loyalty, these figures can be significantly reduced whilst improving ROI.
c. Claims Handling
Principal applications of social business related to claims handling are:
23
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mags/306701772700187
24
https://twitter.com/rosscify/status/233467128609644544
25
http://www.ey.com/Publication/vwLUAssets/Global_Consumer_Insurance_Survey_2012/$FILE/Global_Consu
mer_Insurance_Survey_2012.pdf
Figure 4 Regional Average of lack of effort made by insurer at renewal.
(Ernst & Young)

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 Minimising claim potential
 Improving the Customer claim experience
 Extracting information from a customers’ social platform
These are currently very topical within the Insurance industry as they can directly affect the
ROI of a company.
 Minimising Claim Potential
Joanna Moore, Chief claims officer with Mercury Insurance in the US remarks:
26
“People are updating their Facebook page and say that they just checked in at the airport.
It's telling people where you are at any given moment. I think people don't realize the
possible consequences of doing that. There are bad elements that are trying to find
opportunities to go to peoples' homes when they're overseas. It's the awareness that people
need to start thinking about.”
Social Business can be utilised for online engagement with a consumer to increase
awareness of ways to minimize claims. Availability of advice and information on social
platforms can lead the Consumer to apply such information in situations that could result in
a claim.
 The Customer Claims Experience
An incident which results in a claim is generally an emotional and negative experience for
the Consumer. Insurance Companies are finding new ways to enable the process to be quick
and trouble free and technology is playing an increasing part in this.
Example:
The Australian Insurance company AAMI has just launched an app that assists with
managing claims:
26
http://www.insurancetech.com/claims/232601820

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27
The AAMI Claim Assist app gives advice on gathering information at an accident, uses GPS
to mark the location and has camera integration to capture photos of the damage. This
means that before filling out forms and registering a claim, AAMI can be made aware of the
claim instantly and begin the process in a timely manner.
Another example is that of Progressive (US) where a claims assistance app is integrated with
both a quotation and payment facility. 28
Utilising technology to assist the claims process has enabled the Insurance industry to
reduce costs and minimise workflow - a benefit to both the business and the consumer.
• Extracting information from a Customers’ Social Platform
A Report from Celent entitled Using ‘Social Data in Claims and Underwriting Creating a
Social Risk Profile’29
has this to say about data mining:
“Celent predicts that social data will be incorporated into core underwriting and claims
processes over the next three years and become standard inputs into risk evaluation and
settlement activities,” the report states. “This transition will not be without challenges. Key
techniques that must be developed or enhanced include authentication methods, improved
data extraction tools and more advanced analysis tools”30
27
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/claim-assist/id540958620?mt=8
28
http://www.progressive.com/resources/progressive-app-iphone.aspx
29
http://www.celent.com/
30
http://www.insurancenetworking.com/news/social_media_claims_underwriting_celent-29049-1.html

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The validity of use of this unstructured data is subject to much debate. However, it is being
widely used by Insurance Companies particularly in regard to Health Insurance claims.
The31
‘Altura Insurance Social Media Report’ estimates that as many as 22%-40% of
companies are using social media in claims management and it also cites difficulties
encountered to include:
 Lack of explicit regulatory and legal guidance
 Cost effectiveness
 Reliability concerns
 Privacy and ethical issues
They recommend that a company should use social media on a case by case basis, ensure
the data gathered can be substantiated by other means and should not submit fake friend
requests as a means of data gathering.
This is a new area for the Insurance Industry and one that has no tangible regulatory
guidelines. It is recommended that companies utilise social data mining with caution until
such guidelines are in place.
d. Product Development
Ernst & Young comment that the traditional forms of Product Development that would have been
described as:32
 Conservative, limited choice range
 Mass market appeal and offers
 Focus group, small sample size driven
are now emerging into:
31
http://www.registration123.com/pci/12ACICGCS/media/Altura-Insurance_Social_Media.pdf
http://www.ey.com/Publication/vwLUAssets/Insurance_Agenda_Scoial_media_article_final/$FILE/Insurance_
Agenda_Scoial_media_article_final.pdf32

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 Crowd sourced ideation & co-development
 Mass market forecasting and direction
 Niche, more targeted offerings
It is becoming increasingly apparent that the focus of influence is moving from the Insurer towards
the Consumer as expression generated online can spark policy ideas and form risk profiles for niche
products.
iv. The Health Insurance Industry
As mentioned in the Executive Summary, the potential for social Business in the Health insurance
Industry is huge. Radian 633
identified that the main social business areas impacting the Health
Insurance Industry are:
 Customer Service
 Crisis Management
 Campaign Management
 Loyalty/Retention
 Competitor Knowledge
33
http://www.slideshare.net/Radian6/social-media-strategy-for-the-healthcare-industry-11694096

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Customer Service
The strategy for social Business when looking at Customer service is similar to that of the General
Insurance Industry and Radian 6 advises use of the three ‘R’’s:
Respect
Use key phrases in engagement that empathise with the Consumer and acknowledge that the
business is listening to the query/statement/complaint and taking it seriously.
Reliability
Reply to the engagement in a timely manner and manage expectations with the Consumer by
providing clear and concise Service Level Agreements (SLA’s).
Reciprocation
Always acknowledge and reply to an online engagement whether in response to a positive comment,
a question or a complaint. Australian Unity Health Insurance utilised all these guidelines in response
to a negative comment on their Facebook Page and applied key phrasing to ensure the Consumer
knew the matter was being dealt with in an appropriate manner.

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34
“Thanks for the feedback and I’m sorry to hear that you have been unwell. Australian Unity takes
all customer service issues seriously and the Customer Relations team is currently formally
investigating your issue. You will be contacted with the outcome of our investigations once
complete. Kind regards James”
The one omission in Australian Unity’s reply to the Consumer above is the lack of a clear indication
of the time it would take them to contact the Customer. The Customer’s perception of a reasonable
time in which to complete the investigation into the query could greatly differ from the company
perception and this could ultimately lead to negative C2CaB conversation about the brand.
BUPA UK also responds to queries in a timely manner. It appears to be inconsistent, however, as
some queries do not receive responses.35
BUPA manages contact expectations by explaining that it
will be conversing on the page between certain times during weekdays; the Consumer does not
expect a response at evenings and weekends, therefore.
In one conversation clear details were given to the Consumer on when they should expect a call
from the company, this turned a negative conversation into a positive outcome when the Customer
replied36
:
34
https://www.facebook.com/AustralianUnityHealth
35
https://www.facebook.com/BupaUK
36
https://www.facebook.com/BupaUK

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“Thanks for call x”
The ability to be able to convert a negative expression into a positive one on a public social platform
is vital to the protection of a company’s brand. The Business to Consumer (B2C) conversation may
appear to be one-on-one, however, as the conversation is conducted on a public platform, the reach
can be extensive and the B2C conversation can escalate into a Consumer to Consumer about
Business (C2CaB) conversation that the company does not have the same ability to manage
effectively as they are not directly involved. Thus it is imperative for a company to manage the initial
B2C conversation successfully to limit the escalation into a C2CaB one.
Crisis Management
The importance of having a cohesive crisis management plan is critical to a business, regardless of
the Industry. In the Health Insurance Industry, the lack of a plan can lead to disaster for a brand
unless a crisis is handled in an immediate and effective manner. Social Platform activity can have an
almost instant impact on a brand unless they are monitored and addressed in a timely manner.

Page | 19
Aetna Insurance in the US were subject to a crisis in the form of cancer patient Arijit Guha who,
having battled Stage 4 colon cancer, found that his lifetime limit for care of €300,000 had been used
and Aetna would pay no more.37
Guha took to the social platforms to highlight his plight and in doing
so, prompted negative C2CaB conversation that had the potential to severely damage the brand.
Guha took to the website ‘PoopStrong’ to sell items to raise money for his treatment and received
almost $20,000 in the first three days. As well as raising his own funding Guha expressed his disgust
at Aetna and the Health Care system in general on Twitter. Numerous consequent negative
expressions were generated by other online users who mentioned Aetna and its CEO Mark Bertolini;
he conducted a conversation with Guha on Twitter that could have turned into a Public Relations
catastrophe.
Examples of some of the comments:
@Aetna has now denied $118k in claims (in just 5 mos) since kicking me to the curb. Gotta preserve
that $2 billion annual profit somehow.
My bud @poopstrong, a PhD student w Stage 4, was shamefully kicked off his insurance, @Aetna.
Btw congrats on the $10.6M CEO salary @mtbert!
@mtbert You, sir, have blood on your hands. Man up & pay for @Poopstrong’s treatment, & for
others like him. You don't need the $, they do
37
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/31/arijit-guha-cancer-patient_n_1724478.html#slide=1322205

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The outcome of the Bertolini : Guha exchange was that Bertolini agreed to pay for all Guha’s
medical costs until the end of the plan year.
Guha tweeted:
Congrats, Twitter hordes! @Aetna just agreed to cover the full extent of my bills. Every last penny.
Thanks, @mtbert, for listening.
Bertolini commented:
@AEMayo @Poopstrong This chapter is another step in the journey. The system is broken, and I am
committed to fixing it.
This outcome was, in many ways, positive. The handling of the affair, however, was unstructured,
reactive and drawn out. The episode highlights the importance of having a strong and structured
crisis management strategy designed to minimise the risk of negativity to the brand through online
channels. In this case, the Multi Direction Expression Capability (MDEC) through social business could
have had a profound negative impact on the brand.
Campaign Management
There are many examples of successful online Campaign Management within the Health Insurance
Industry. Samples of the key areas of Campaign Management are:

Page | 21
 To create a cost effective campaign
 To set clear goals and objectives
 To effectively raise brand awareness and extend online reach
 To engage positively by ensuring a constructive MDEC.
UK online health insurer Health365.com conducted a successful Campaign that earned them a DADI
award38
for the ‘Financial Services Campaign or Website’ category.
Working with Umpf39
they defined their objectives as:
 Drive traffic to the new website
 Use social media to generate sales (particularly with the 25 – 40 year old age bracket)
 Use social media to make Health Insurance appealing and accessible online.
The experts created the world’s first ‘Ouch map’ which Umpf describe as40
:
38
http://www.dadiawards.com/pages/about
39
http://www.umpf.co.uk/blog/tag/social-media-campaigns/
40

Page | 22
“A fun, interactive social media experiment that would map minor injuries and see which parts of the
body Brits hurt most. We proposed the Ouch Map as an interactive and social media friendly way to
monitor those minor in real-time using an interactive Twitter app and a glowing skeleton. We
believed the Ouch Map would also enable Health365.com to achieve the primary objective of making
online health insurance more interesting and accessible, whilst boosting site traffic and sales.”
Creating dynamic content whilst providing a unique way to engage, certainly brought the results in
for Health365.com.
41
“Since the Ouch Map launched and in the subsequent months, traffic to the Health365.com trebled
with the monthly sales average of policies doubling over the same period. What’s more, targeting the
25 – 40 year old age bracket has been achieved through the Ouch Map, with the average age of
Health365.com policy holders sitting within this demographic.”
The campaign achieved the goals and objectives set and increased sales for the company, yet the
participants engaged fully as the concept was interesting and without pressure. Another valuable
outcome was the data gathered during the campaign as it provided research data and risk
assessment data for the company too.
Loyalty /Retention
A report by Accenture, entitled ‘The 7 Things Your Health Insurance Customers Are Not Telling You’42
, stated that 26% of respondents feel no loyalty to their Health Insurance provider and 41% of
respondents would not purchase additional products from their current provider.
Customer Service is key to retention and this was made clear in the same report that found that only
6% of customers were willing to compromise on levels of customer service in exchange for a lower
price. In fact, 44% strongly disagreed with diminishing the quality of service in exchange for reduced
costs.
41
42
http://www.accenture.com/SiteCollectionDocuments/PDF/Accenture-7-Things-Health-Insurance-Customers-
Not-Telling-You.pdf

Page | 23
As well as applying the three R’s, Respect, Reliability and Reciprocation, discussed above, it is
apparent that the Health Insurance Industry should engage through social Business platforms in a
manner similar to the General Insurance Market. The importance of MDEC together with the ability
to engage:
• in a timely manner
• with an appropriate tone that befits the Company ethos
• in an open and honest manner
• with the right degree of transparency
• with content that adds value to the Consumer.
is vital to assuring Consumer retention.
Figure 5- Source FN 42- Accenture Report

Page | 24
Competitor Knowledge and Data Mining
Monitoring competition is obviously important, not alone competitive pricing and insurance plan
offerings, but also extracting data for the purpose of product development and assessment of
claims.
Data mining on social Platforms has increased significantly with the rise in social media. Information
publically available has already been used to advantage in minimising cost and assessing risk.
Mike Fitzgerald, Senior Analyst with Celent’s Insurance Group explains43
“The information that is posted by individuals on multiple sites reflects their preferences, lifestyles,
and habits. Postings from companies include descriptions of product offerings, services, and
operations. In both cases, this social data can be used to build a real-time risk profile.”
Data mining has been used to check facts on insurance proposals, assess health risk and investigate
fraudulent claims. The right to privacy, ethics and legal implications of this use of social platforms by
Insurance companies are all subject to debate but, as yet, no clear guidelines have been set.
Typical examples of use are:
 A customer claims to be a non-smoker and drinker on the proposal form yet photos tagged
on Facebook show them smoking and drinking.
 A potential customer uses ‘Foursquare’ to geo-tag themselves at venues that promote
dangerous sports such as sky diving.
 A claimant off work for back pain and hip trouble tweets about running a marathon or is
shown in tagged photos dancing at a disco.
Most Insurance companies would debate that anything made public on the internet is accessible
information and can be used accordingly. Access to Consumers information can also depend on the
privacy restrictions they place on their accounts.
43
http://www.celent.com/reports/using-social-data-claims-and-underwriting

Page | 25
v. Engagement Case Study – General Insurance
From a social business perspective, Multi-Directional Expression Capability (MDEC) is the ability of a
company to embrace online engagement with Consumers and manage the engagement in a way
that enables increased profitability for that company. Social Media platforms enable this open and
transparent discussion.
The primary approach a company should adopt is to make it simple for a Consumer to engage with
them online and, at the very least, provide quick and easy access to their social media sites from
their own website. A sample of Insurance companies from Australia, Ireland, UK and US was
examined to determine if this was the case. (Figures correct up to 13th
August 2012)
Australia
Company
Facebook
Likes
Number of
Followers
Other Info
QBEInsurance
No link on
website
No link on
website
No link on
website
No link on
website
GIOInsurance
No link on
website
No link on
website
No link on
website
No link on
website
RACV
No link on
website
Link on
website
1,766
No link on
website
No link on
website
SMlinks provided
to share content.
AAMI
Link on
website
46,287 likes
1023 talking
No link on
website
No link on
website
No link on
website
RACQ
Link on
website
no page found
Link on
website
1,706
No link on
website
No link on
website
FB link clicks to
my own account.
Searched for
Company and no
page found.
SunCorp
No link on
website
No link on
website
No link on
website
No link on
website
One Path
No link on
website
No link on
website
No link on
website
No link on
website
NRMA
No link on
website
No link on
website
No link on
website
No link on
website

Page | 26
The results show that only 37.5% of the Insurers sampled have a link to a social media Platform on
their website.
Facebook:
 AAMI promote their FB page from their website and have a large following of 46,287.
They engage frequently with the posting community of (currently) 1023
 RACQ provided a link to FB; however, clicking on the links takes one to own account. A
search on FB for the Company did not reveal an active page or group.
 RACV provided a ‘share this’ link to FB as a means of promotion rather than engagement.
Twitter:
 Only two of the Insurers sampled provided a link to their Twitter account namely RACV and
RACQ.
Ireland:
Company
Facebook
Likes
Number of
Followers
Subscribers
& Views
Other Info
Axa Ireland
Linkon
website
428 likes 24
talking
Linkon
website
1,477
No link on
website
No link on
website
Aviva Ireland
No link on
website
No link on
website
No link on
website
No link on
website
Allianz Ireland
Linkon
website
1,468 likes
11 talking
Linkon
website
411
Linkon
website
10 subs
12,119 views
No link on
website
Blogon
website
Nononsense
Linkon
website
11,102 likes
3 talking
No link on
website
Linkon
website
92 subs
153,164 views
No link on
website
WP blogon
website
Aon Insure
No link on
website
No link on
website
No link on
website
No link on
website
F.B.D.
No link on
website
Linkon
website
3,153
Linkon
website
6 subs
3090 views
Linkon
website
319
followers
Option to
engage via
Skype
Liberty Insurance
No link on
website
No link on
website
No link on
website
No link on
website
123.ie
No link on
website
No link on
website
No link on
website
No link on
website

Page | 27
The results show that 50% of the Insurers sampled have a link to a social media platform on their
website.
Facebook:
 FBD has embraced social media through Twitter and YouTube and even offers the Consumer
an opportunity to communicate with the company via Skype. It appears to have deliberately
chosen not to engage via Facebook. On investigation this could be down to the content in
the tweet shown below.
FBD Insurance@fbd_ie
Facebook doubles audience Year-on-Year; but if you think that's good, how about Twitter? 800+% increase! http://short.ie/twt800
 Reply
 Retweet
 Favorite
8:56 AM - 26 Feb 10 via TweetDeck · Embed this Tweet
 Axa Ireland updates their Facebook page regularly. They personalise it with the name which
elicits positive consumer response. They respond to negative queries and follow up on
queries in a timely manner.
 Whilst Axa can be commended for the management of their Facebook page, it appears that
pages, set up for local offices, have never been actioned. A clear strategy is needed to assess
whether to keep these pages and manage them effectively or to delete them and
concentrate on the main Axa Ireland page.
 Allianz Ireland promotes their Facebook page from their website and responds and engages
in a timely manner.
 NoNonsense.ie has the largest Irish following on Facebook. They respond to queries in an
open and timely manner; however they do not consistently update their content.

Page | 28
Twitter:
 Axa Ireland regularly updates and retweets on their Twitter page
 Allianz Ireland update and engage consistently on their Twitter Account
 FBD update and engage consistently on their Twitter Account
UK
The results show that only 37.5% of the Insurers sampled have a link to a social media platform on
their website.
Facebook:
 Aviva UK update and engage with queries on a consistent basis. They also personalise with a
name and provide an option to discuss a query away from page.
 Churchill converses in the character of their mascot - the nodding dog. This generates light
hearted engagement with the Consumer.
Company
Facebook
Likes
Number
of
Followers
Subscriber
s & Views
Other Info
Axa U.K.
No link on
website
No link on
website
No link on
website
No link on
website
Aviva U.K.
Link on
website
32,551 likes
197 talking
Link on
website
767
Link on
website
542 subs
171,257
views
No link on
website
G+Link on
website
Direct Line
No link on
website
No link on
website
No link on
website
No link on
website
video on
website
Churchill
Link on
website
34,959 likes
897 talking
Link on
website
312
Link on
website
146 subs
844,553
views
No link on
website
WP blog on
website
Admiral
No link on
website
No link on
website
No link on
website
No link on
website
video on
website
Tesco U.K.
No link on
website
No link on
website
No link on
website
No link on
website
Links to
share
content
provided
LV=
Link on
website
1,414 likes
16 talking
Link on
website
2,159
Link on
website
85 subs
781,934
views
No link on
website
community
forum link
on website
AA
No link on
website
No link on
website
No link on
website
No link on
website

Page | 29
 LV= also manage their page effectively with timely engagement. They manage Consumer
expectation by declaring weekly that they will not respond at weekends.
Twitter:
 Aviva UK post tweets and engage consistently. They also personalise their tweets and post
avatars of the employees the Consumer is engaging with.
 Churchill has set up a Twitter page yet has not actioned the account despite having over 300
followers already.
 LV= post tweets and engage consistently on their Twitter page.
US
Company (U.S.)
Facebook
Likes
Number of
Followers
Subscribers
(subs)&
Views
Other Info
Statefarm
Link on
website
265,659
likes
2,104
talking
Link on
website
24,968
Link on
website
6,623 subs
over 21mm
views
Link on
website
44,637
followers
Flickr link on
website
Allstate
Link on
website
79,485 likes
845 talking
Link on
website
28,549
Link on
website
8,314 subs
over 25mm
views
Link on
website
38,759
followers
Google +link
on website
Geico
Link on
website
265,004
likes 2,446
talking
Link on
website
9,614
Link on
website
17,104 subs
over 46mm
views
No link on
website
Have a Flickr
account but
not visible
on website
Progressive
Link on
website
48,278 likes
676 talking
Link on
website
13,890
Link on
website
3,150 subs
over 12mm
views
No link on
website
Have a Flickr
account but
not visible
on website
Nationwide
Link on
website
24,660 likes
10,287
talking
Link on
website
15,025
Link on
website
460 subs
over 2.5mm
views
No link on
website
Google +
and Flickr
link on
website
GMAC
No link on
website
No link on
website
No link on
website
No link on
website
esurance
Link on
website
75,303 likes
5,644
talking
Link on
website
5,549
Link on
website
340 subs
over
592,000
views
No link on
website
Now owned
by Allstate
Google +link
on website

Page | 30
The results show that 86% of the Insurers sampled have a link to a social Media Platform on their
website.
Facebook:
 Statefarm does engage and respond on its Facebook page however it can be inconsistent
and the replies are generic. The FB link from the website has over 256k likes; however, a
search revealed a page entitled ‘Statefarm Nation’ with over 1.4mm likes, managed by the
same employee.
 Allstate posts consistently and also engages with customers. The responses are not
personalised; however, the majority of queries are dealt with.
 Geico is generally consistent in its engagement with the consumer. However, it is apparent
from a few of the posts that SLAs are either not in place for social business or, if they are,
they are not being adhered to. Geico also has a separate page for its mascot with a similar
number of likes to their main page.
 Progressive are consistently active on their Facebook account. They also have a page for
their mascot ‘Flo the Progressive Girl’, which is regularly managed.
 Nationwide manage their Facebook account effectively, their replies are generic yet they
respond in an open and honest manner.
 Esurance (now owned by Allstate) effectively engage on their page in a timely manner.
Twitter:
 Statefarm regularly post updates on Twitter
 Allstate regularly post updates on Twitter. They also have a service account (link not on
website) named @allstatecares
 Geico regularly posts updates on Twitter. They also have a separate service account. (link
not on website)
 Progressive introduce their Twitter team on their page and regularly engage.

Page | 31
 Nationwide regularly post updates on Twitter.
 Esurance regularly post updates on Twitter.
Engagement Case Study – Health Insurance
(Figures correct up to 7th Sept 2012)
Australia
The information shows that 100% of the companies detailed in the table have a link to their
Facebook account from their main website page.
Bupa Australia invites the Consumer to connect with them on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and
LinkedIn. The Facebook page is well managed in a timely manner and is personalised with the
employee’s name utilised in the comments. The same employee manages the Twitter page regularly
and has instigated a weekly chat under the hashtag #healthychat.
Medibank update regularly on Facebook and invite engagement by conducting questions and polls.
It is managed by different employees who take ownership of the expression by giving their name
and addressing a query in a timely manner. The twitter account is updated regularly and is also used
as a recruitment tool.
Company FacebookLikes
Number of
Followers
Subscribers
& Views
Other Info
BupaAustralia
Linkon
Website
8,465 likes
304 talking
Linkon
Website
1,814
Linkon
Website
38 subs
60,957
views
Linkon
Website
1444
followers
Medibank
Linkon
Website
988 likes
87 talking
Linkon
Website
555
No link on
website
No link on
website
Australian Unity
Linkon
Website
44 likes
8 talking
No link on
website
Linkon
Website
8 subs
121,374
views
No link on
website
Twitter Account
but not linked to
Website
NIB Australia
Linkon
Website
Clicks to own
account
Linkon
Website
714
Linkon
Website
62 subs
59,679
views
No link on
website
HCF Australia
Linkon
Website
2,544 likes
89 talking
No link on
website
No link on
website
No link on
website

Page | 32
Australian Unity promotes their Facebook and YouTube accounts from their website. They have a
Twitter account which is not linked to the website and is not utilised as an engagement tool with
only 97 Tweets (as at 07/09/12) since May 2011.
NIB has Facebook, Twitter and YouTube links on their website. The Facebook link, when clicked, does
not direct to the Company page, it clicks through to the Consumer Account. A search on Facebook
could not find a Facebook page for NIB.
HCF concentrate on Facebook, providing a link on the website to a page that is managed on a timely
basis with quality content.
Ireland
Out of the three companies examined in Ireland, only one has provided a link to a Facebook account.
Aviva Ireland has buttons on their website for Facebook and Twitter, however these links are for the
Consumer to share the Aviva page on their own account rather than access their social Platforms.
Laya Healthcare has a link to Facebook on the website. The Facebook account is regularly
maintained.
VHI displays no links to social platforms and a search of Facebook did not reveal an active account.
Company
Facebook
Likes
Number of
Followers
Subscribers
& Views
Other Info
Aviva Healthcare
No link on
website
No link on
website
No link on
website
No link on
website
Laya Healthcare
Link on
Website
931 likes
74 talking
No link on
website
No link on
website
No link on
website
VHI
No link on
website
No link on
website
8 subs
121,374
views

Page | 33
UK
Three out of the five companies examined in the U.K. provided links to social Platforms on their
Company websites.
In contrast to Bupa Australia, who has links to four Social Platforms on their website, Bupa UK do not
provide any links. This may indicate lack of a coherent Social Business Strategy on a companywide
level.
Axa in the UK provide links to Facebook, Twitter and YouTube on their website. Both Facebook and
Twitter are actively managed on a timely basis.
Simply Health UK provide links to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn and also display a link to
a Flickr Account and Google +.
Pru Health provides links to Facebook and Twitter on their website which are both regularly updated
with relevant content.
April UK provide no links to a social platform from their website.
Company
Facebook
Likes
Number of
Followers
Subscribers
& Views
Other Info
BupaU.K.
No link on
website
No link on
website
No link on
website
No link on
website
AxaPPP
Link on
Website
2,939 likes
81 talking
Link on
Website
4,068
Link on
Website
65 subs
72,603
views
No link on
website
Simply Health U.K.
Link on
Website
15,460 likes
43 talking
Link on
Website
3,499
Link on
Website
19 subs
221,246
views
Link on
Website
910
followers
Flickr and G+
buttons on
website
Pru Health
Link on
Website
385 likes
16 talking
Link on
Website
921
No link on
website
No link on
website
April U.K.
No link on
website
No link on
website
No link on
website
No link on
website

Page | 34
US
All the US companies examined, apart from Aetna, provided links from their company website to
relevant social Platforms.
Humana provides a link to Google + as well as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. The accounts are
regularly updated with relevant content in an engaging manner.
Cigna utilises the majority of social Platforms through links on their website with the addition of a
Podcast and a Daily Features link. The Twitter account is personalised with the name of the Public
Relations Officer and all other links and other useful contact points are displayed on their Twitter
wallpaper.
WellPoint has links to Twitter and YouTube on their site whilst United Health Care only provides a
link to the company Twitter account.
Company
Facebook
Likes
Number of
Followers
Subscribers
& Views Other Info
Humana
Link on
Website
14,166 likes
1,411
talking
Link on
Website 2,696
Link on
Website
155 subs
52,798
views
No link on
website
G+link on
website
Cigna
Link on
Website
3,025 likes
87 talking
Link on
Website 5,109
Link on
Website
121 subs
100,925
views
Link on
Website
12,570
followers
Podcast and
daily Features
link on
website
Aetna
No link on
website
No link on
website
No link on
website
No link on
website
Wellpoint
No link on
website
385 likes
16 talking
Link on
Website 98
Link on
Website
13 subs
4,116 views
No link on
website
United Health
Care
No link on
website
Link on
Website 1,380
No link on
website
No link on
website

Page | 35
vi. Conclusion
The general Consumer perception of Insurance companies is that of being traditional in their
methods and autocratic in their outlook. Operating in a heavily-regulated industry and with
increased Industry competition, Insurance companies need to seek innovative and effective new
means to acquire, engage and retain the Consumer. The emerging online platforms have to be fully
embraced by them and a clearly defined strategy of how to engage online has to be implemented
and maintained.
This strategy is necessary as Consumers are migrating to the online space for immediate information
about these companies and they obtain it, often not from the company itself, but from the online
Community.
Consumer to Consumer about Business (C2CaB) conversations are now the norm; if a company does
not provide a Consumer with an online channel with which to engage, the Consumer will listen to
the advice of an online peer or find a company that will engage online.
The Industry needs to embrace the social business model by:
 Listening to online conversation
 Reciprocating to online conversation in a respectful manner
 Providing innovating and dynamic ways to attract and engage
The potential to innovate is great, perhaps especially in the Health Insurance sector. Health Groups
are forming on a global level as the Internet removes the borders of communication and people seek
support and advice from peers with similar experiences. There is now a great opportunity for Health
Insurance companies to utilise their expertise to provide the Consumer with advice and support
from a qualified source, rather than them having to rely on anecdotal evidence from unqualified
peers.
The social business model needs to be carefully integrated with market factors that influence a
Consumer, such as price and product. Price is not the key influencer, however, as only 6% of
Consumers said they would change insurance policy due to price alone.44
In the Social Business
44
http://www.accenture.com/SiteCollectionDocuments/PDF/Accenture-7-Things-Health-Insurance-Customers-
Not-Telling-You.pdf

Page | 36
world, the key influencer is access to real time information, both factual and anecdotal, in order to
make informed choices.
The scalability of the online social platforms offers huge potential to increase market share. It also
brings with it the potential to assess public information online and utilise this information for
product development and risk minimisation (claims handling) in a profitable way. Data mining is in
its infancy and the Industry is exercising caution bringing this forward, mindful of ethical and
regulatory/legal implications. Change is imminent, however, and the information available on the
web will become a valuable future resource for all Industries.
Social business is now a key component in all elements of the Insurance Value Chain. The Industry
must embrace the business-support potential that exists (and is rapidly expanding) within the World
Wide Web. Those who fail to do so will most surely be left behind as competitors seize the social
business model opportunities available.

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General and health insurance, social business, digital economy report