Supporting insurance people

Understanding what insurance professionals want and need

The project began with a comprehensive listening phase. We kicked things off with an internal workshop for staff and trustees, then ran 54 in-depth interviews with beneficiaries, brokers, insurers, Managing General Agents (MGAs), service providers and the trade press.

There was much to celebrate from the research and it was clear The Insurance Charities (as the organisation was known when we met them) was having a positive impact on people’s lives and providing a ‘safety blanket’ for the industry’s professionals past and present.

But we also heard some more challenging feedback around:

Awareness – not enough people know the charity exists. It’s the industry’s ‘best kept secret’ (which no brand should ever be).

Messaging – it needed to be clearer and more welcoming – people weren’t always sure who the charity helped, or how.

Engagement – they were struggling to reach younger industry professionals.

Name – people didn’t understand why the name was a plural. Who exactly were the Insurance Charities? This harked back to a merger many years prior, and was largely introduced to placate internal stakeholders.

Associations – marketing efforts relied on people self-identifying as ‘insurance professionals’, which many don’t.

Stigma – like many beneficiary charities, they struggled to encourage people to recognise when they needed help, and ask for support.

Understanding – even when people knew they had a problem, they didn’t necessarily know where to turn. They weren’t looking for The Insurance Charities, because they didn’t think such an organisation would even exist.

One interviewee summed it up perfectly when he said, “I’ve been in insurance for 45 years and only found out about them at a lunch two years ago. It’s a tragedy.”

As part of our immersion phase, we also reviewed the Charity’s comms, including the website. The verdict? Too corporate, too confused and too cold.

Time to think again

Following the listening exercise, we shared our findings. We advised The Insurance Charities to fundamentally transform how it communicates with prospective beneficiaries. We recommended they conduct a full SEO audit to capture common keyword searches and implement targeted PPC advertising, particularly on LinkedIn, to reach people who may need support but wouldn't necessarily search for it.

We also suggested they address their brand tone and messaging, moving away from a perceived corporate and clinical communication style towards a warmer, more approachable brand personality that's ‘more Martin Lewis than Werther's Original Granddad.’ This involves using case studies and video testimonials throughout the website to help overcome the stigma of asking for help, showing real people that support is normal and accessible.

To reduce confusion around eligibility, IE suggested creating an online eligibility calculator similar to mortgage qualification tools, allowing nervous prospective beneficiaries to explore their options quickly and privately. We also advised the Charity should balance its current outbound marketing with stronger inbound strategies, creating valuable content and fostering genuine social media conversations rather than simply broadcasting information.

Early on, we recognised a complete visual identity refresh was essential, as the current branding appeared dated and failed to appeal to younger professionals.

Finally, IE recommended a modest name change, moving to The Insurance Charity – a simple change, but an important one.

These changes should be accompanied by operational improvements including hiring more staff, creating ambassador programmes, and better demonstrating the Charity’s impact and spending to counter perceptions of being overly cautious with funds.

Three months on from a successful roll-out we are energised by our new identity and looking forward to embedding everything fully over the coming months. The key thing has always been to reach even more people in the industry who are struggling, and we are confident our simplified messaging, new website and more engaging identity will all help us to achieve this.

Victoria Sutton, Marketing & Communication Manager

Looking and sounding as good as they are

Our rebrand began with a small change to their old name and a new strapline: Supporting insurance people when they need us most. 

Following a messaging workshop, we created a messaging matrix that helped the Charity to establish a tone that felt like a conversation, not a policy document, that emphasised empathy and understanding and normalised asking for help.

We also introduced clearer, friendlier messaging about eligibility, busting myths like:

• ‘I don’t work in a traditional insurance job.’
• ‘I left the industry five years ago, so I probably don’t qualify.’
• ‘My situation isn’t serious enough to need help.’

Our identity makes use of two contrasting headline typefaces – a sans and semi serif – and a bold underline which draws people’s attention to certain words and messages and represents the lifeline the charity offers its beneficiaries.

The brand proudly embodies The Insurance Charity’s personality: friendly and compassionate, positive and proactive, trustworthy and empowering – and features real people and real stories to demonstrate the breadth and diversity of beneficiaries.

The Insurance Charity’s former Chief Executive, Annali-Joy Thornicroft, who retired in Spring 2025, said: “Collectively, these changes mark an exciting new chapter for The Insurance Charity. We’d like to thank everyone who shared their feedback along the way, which has helped us move forward and reach even more insurance people going through challenging times.”