New Zealand insurer Sovereign has announced the appointment of JWT as its creative and communications agency partner. Sovereign also appointed Dentsu Aegis Network as its partner for other communications needs including media, PR, and social.
There was no creative incumbent. Sovereign already works with Dentsu Aegis-owned Carat for media strategy, planning and buying, but is growing its relationship to the wider Dentsu Aegis group and will be working with iProspect, Isobar and Haystac.
Sovereign has retained its existing relationship with Chemistry Interaction for direct and loyalty marketing, Tenfold for collateral design and Touchcast for digital build and user experience.
Sovereign head of brand Ben Rose said the company opted not to follow a traditional pitch process, choosing instead to work closely with a select number of agencies to determine the right fit.
“At Sovereign, we’re here to do things differently – better and smarter – and our approach to the pitching process is reflective of that. Pitching is expensive for agencies, time consuming for the client and doesn’t really tell you what it’s like to work with an agency day to day.”
Rose says the company believes New Zealanders’ expectations of health and insurance companies have changed.
“We’re changing how we work as a business, to meet the changing expectations and needs of New Zealanders and these changes need to be reflected in the conversations we have. Building an outstanding team of marketing partners is key to changing this conversation.
“JWT, Dentsu Aegis and Chemistry Interaction have impressed us with their outstanding talent, critical insights and proven track record of achieving fantastic results.
Rose says Sovereign also has partnerships with Datamine and Colmar Brunton, who together provide vital data and customer research to complete the picture of the behaviour and attitudes existing and potential customers have toward Sovereign and New Zealand’s financial services industry.
The appointments take effect immediately.
About Sovereign
Sovereign Assurance Company Limited is New Zealand’s largest life insurer; protecting the lives of more than 600,000 people through the provision of personal insurances (such as life, income protection, disablement and trauma and major medical health policies) and employer sponsored compulsory and voluntary workplace schemes. Sovereign’s financial strength is rated A+ (Superior) by insurance rating agency A.M. Best Inc. Sovereign is part of the ASB group of companies, which is in turn part of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia group.
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