Case Study
P&C Insurance Broker Brand Alignment Increases Awareness and Attracts Talent
Marketing Strategy
Branding
Thought Leadership
Content and Creative
Public Relations
Altus Partners provides comprehensive property and casualty insurance and risk management services for corporations, individuals and families throughout the U.S. and around the world.
The Situation: An insurance broker not fulfilling its potential
After more than two decades in business, Altus Partners was successful, providing comprehensive property and casualty insurance and risk management services. But they were nowhere near as successful as they wanted to be. Their pipeline did not match their ambition.
Altus had been through a number of marketing partners over the years, but nothing seemed to work. They tried being bombastic. They tried being quietly elegant. They tried splitting the company into two market-facing segments, with two websites, one for personal risk and one for corporate risk.
As we started working together, we quickly learned that 80 percent of their revenue came from the corporate risk side of the business. Better yet, they had a true differentiator for corporate risk—unlike every other commercial broker in the United States, they do not work on commission; they work on a flat fee. This truly unique approach positions them as objective advisors who are not incentivized to sell their clients more insurance.
The Complication: Insurance brokers are trained to avoid risk
All marketing requires some level of risk—to effectively market a business not only requires deciding what to do, but it also requires deciding what not to do. When you consciously decide not to do something, it’s tempting to wonder if you’re making a mistake.
Making these types of decisions is the core of positioning any firm. No, it isn’t easy, but it is necessary before setting out on a marketing journey. This became a hurdle to overcome.
The Solution: Bold choices spur a breakthrough
We were convinced that the personal risk side of the business could ride corporate risk’s coattails—and corporate risk a) had a better story to tell and b) drove the firm’s revenue.
With this value proposition clearly articulated, we created Altus’ essential content—a new website and a suite of marketing collateral carrying the now-unmuddied message.
Once the foundation was set, we embarked on a wide variety of activities to raise their profile and generate demand. It revolved around a thought leadership marketing effort, positioning the CEO and managing directors as experts in their field and fueling demand generation. We distributed content through a layered approach that included regular email blasts, LinkedIn posts, media relations and paid promotion.
The Result: Supercharged business growth
With a new website that finally matched the firm’s sophisticated approach and personality, Altus had true brand alignment for the first time in a decade.
The new approach greatly improved top-line brand awareness, including increased engagement and followership on LinkedIn and a significant uptick in website traffic.
Media relations led to multiple article placements, fueling an industry-wide conversation about Altus’ unique commission-free approach and what is best for clients, helping to make sales conversations more productive and improve talent recruitment. The new unified message even helped to attract a new member of the executive team who was drawn to the “Altus way.”
After years of slow-but-steady growth, the business surged ahead into a new era of double-digit growth, finally setting the firm on a path to win its fair share of business.
Website Design and Development
Social Media Content Creation
Marketing Collateral
