Breaking
Some people absolutely love it – selling things. The thrill of clinching a sale that
with tradition
CEO/Managing Director Leo Peeters Weem | Number
of employees 2400 | Company turnover e197m |
Brand values reliable, accessible, sympathetic, clear-cut,
positive | Brand promise ‘With the accent on Ù’ |
Target group business and private | Primary adver-
tising media magazines, newspapers, POS, outdoor, radio
128
The joy of selling
nobody else could. The knowledge that they’re on their own out there, master of
their own destiny and whit, battling a world that is increasingly cynical and wily.
Imagine the number of pep talks over the years – standing in front of the mirror
- “You can do it. You’re the best. You’re the one! Go! Go! GO!” Scary stuff.
Let’s face it, though, most of us are not exactly waiting for a phone call at 7:30 in the
evening after a hard day’s work and the kids are finally in bed. Sometimes they’re
welcome, though, offering the perfect opportunity to let off steam. Just keep the
children out of earshot or your nursery teacher will be knocking on your door asking
you where Johnny learned his new words.
Thing is, middlemen have been around for years and financial services too have
passed through their hands for centuries, bringing together supply and demand.
Mortgages for a home. Life insurances. Or selling real estate. And the modus
operandi hasn’t changed, either. The middlemen offer their knowledge and are
compensated in accordance with the value of the deal they broker. The fee, of
course, is paid by the supplier. It’s no surprise therefore that the average inter­
129 mediaries’ alliance lies with them. Only in real estate does the purchasing party
foot the bill – with an associated reversal in solidarity.
Where’s my world gone?
In essence, Meeùs is also an intermediary. Starting out in 1927 with just two staff
and offering car and fire insurance, the company is now one of the Netherlands’
leading players in insurances, mortgages and real estate and part of the AEGON
group. It is an intermediary in essence only as it has distinguished itself from the pack
with deeper know-how and a nationwide network with over 2400 specialists and a
client base that has grown to include 400,000 private and 70,000 business clients.
Yet, despite standing a head above the rest as far as quality and reach is concerned,
the company is subject to market developments as any other. And much like the
dinosaurs must have felt pretty secure, there are meteoric changes afoot in the
financial services market.
First, there is a structural over-capacity. There are legions of brokers - just open
the Yellow Pages. Virtually everyone is with at least one bank, and every bank is
entitled to offer financing, let alone insurances. There are also numerous new
suppliers ranging from the automobile associations to the local supermarket.
Second there’s the internet, which has permanently changed the intermediaries’
world. With the click of a button consumers have the entire range of products at their
fingertips with minimal response times and minimal costs. A tough act to follow.
Finally, strict new regulations mean that intermediaries nowadays have to be
transparent towards their clients regarding the costs related to the transactions
and services. Clearly, the intermediary has to have a pretty good story up his or
her sleeve.
The world is changing and, if the intermediary doesn’t change as well, there will be
little or no right of existence for them in the near future. Of course, the same applies
to Meeùs. So what do you do about it?
Tag – ù are it
The middleman’s market is characterised by four main features that they
must exhibit if they are to be viable market contenders - the ‘must haves’:
integrity, reliability, expertise and the desire to help clients. Clearly, however,
if all financial service providers offer them, they are not enough to create client
preference.
Another feature of the market is that it is a people’s business. So, bringing the
two together, the key to success clearly lies with the people. Everyone at Meeùs
has to feel like an intermediary – not just those in direct contact with the clients.
HRM got to work defining the profile of the new intermediary, so that each new
staff member fits the new profile. In addition to the ‘must haves’, they selected
three balanced, end values, which indicate what the company stands for, and
how the company wants to be seen: professional, involved and client-focused .
All existing staff were subsequently informed about what Meeùs should mean
to its clients and how they can make sure the company lives up to its new brand
promise each day. These ‘Meeùs People’ are also the basis for the national and
local campaigns. No models – real staff. In all shapes and sizes, across all age
groups and one common goal: Ù.
With the new internal proposition in place, the outside world was next. A
new tagline was needed to make it clear what the company was offering. It
became ‘With the accent on ù’ placing its services in a positive, future-oriented
context. It looks to respect the individual and help its clients make choices
by assuming the possibilities they can create themselves, not those that can
happen to them.
Finally, in order to maximise the leverage of its advertising in a tightening
market for the entire organisation and to ensure the same company-wide
positioning across the insurance, mortgage and real estate departments, Meeùs
decided to brings its various parts under a single umbrella, moving from multi-
brand to a monobrand in 2002. To create greater brand awareness and clarity
on what the company (now) stands for, the company launched an advertising
campaign with Dutch folk singer Guus Meeuwis with a clever play on words
with his name.
Breath of fresh air
With its new positioning and new internal and external campaigns, Meeùs has
broken out of its original positioning by defining a new type of intermediary,
intermediaries that the company believes will be the standard all others are
judged by in the future but that are already hard at work at Meeùs:
• Intermediaries who live for a long-term relationship with his or her client,
not for the short-term provision and fees
• Intermediaries who do what they say and not only say what they do
• Intermediaries who are involved and honourable
The new Meeùs intermediary is on our side. Pleased to
meet ù. The kids can stay in the room.