Following a pitch process, Ogilvy & Mather will take over responsibility as global brand communication agency for Allianz. Mediacom will remain the global media agency.
The objective of the pitch was to find the best partner to work with Allianz in tackling the existing and upcoming brand strategy challenges. Allianz was looking for a strong and innovative business partner for the digital transformation journey.
“Today, consumer behavior and technologies are evolving faster and more unpredictably than ever before, even in insurance and investments. Identifying a true business partner who is joining us on our journey to keep and enhance our superior position as trusted partner and a leading insurer of the world was the number one goal of our pitch,” says Joseph K. Gross, Head of Group Market Management at Allianz SE.
“We have a very clear view that the customer should have the freedom of choice of access points and the delivery of consistent Allianz branded products and services. Meeting and anticipating these customer needs is essential to further build our brand and business. This is not only a challenge for us but also the partners with whom we are working”, Gross continues. “To achieve our objectives we require a truly integrated best way of working and a highly developed set of relevant skills on the agency side. Ogilvy has mastered the challenges we provided them throughout the pitch process best,” says Christian Deuringer, Head of Global Brand Management at Allianz SE.
Brand strength is up: ONE communication strategy successfully continues
Incumbent agency partners Grey and Mediacom have supported Allianz over the past five years to re-position the Allianz brand. The global communication concept ONE came to life in more than 30 countries, reaching 86 percent of the Allianz customer base (83 million customers worldwide). This success is also evidenced by continued developments in the Interbrand Best Global Brands ranking, where Allianz shows strong brand value growth from USD 4.9 bn in 2010 to USD 6.7 bn in 2013.
“Over the past five years we have managed to rejuvenate the Allianz brand and create one of the strongest global brands. With choosing Ogilvy plus staying with Mediacom, we stay committed to the WPP network, which is giving us access to great talents and capabilities in all brand management disciplines globally.” explains Deuringer.
Both the global and the local brand business of Allianz Group were part of the pitch. In order to represent global and local interests, as well as insurance and asset management business, the pitch process was led by Allianz SE together with Allianz Germany, Allianz Italy, Allianz France and Allianz Global Investors.
Thomas Lukowsky, Head of Customer Relations in Market Management at Allianz Germany, commented, “In Germany, Allianz’s home market, the next step in the communications journey is to create even closer, more integrated links between traditional and new media, including the various social media channels. We are delighted to have found and confirmed agency partners and a corresponding team set-up that will allow us to tackle the challenges that lie ahead together. The joint pitch was an excellent way to find the best partners for our local as well as global needs.”
To help meet the requirements of the digital focus, Allianz departed from a classic pitch approach and utilized a dynamic process involving case studies and co-creation to encourage innovative thinking and assess the capabilities of the future partner.
The account covers the areas of brand communication strategy through to execution including media, digital, social, mobile as well as the global sponsorship platforms. Ogilvy will manage the entire account from Düsseldorf, supplementing this infrastructure through regional teams and local agency support in the core markets. The partnership is effective as per October 2014. The local entities will transfer throughout 2015. The partnership was signed for three years.
Speaking about the future cooperation with the Allianz Group, Thomas Strerath, CEO of Ogilvy & Mather Germany, says, “We are proud that a Triple-A brand has chosen us as their partner. The pitch process has shown that Allianz understands how consumer behavior has adapted to a world based on technology and is ready to take on the challenge of accessing these markets.”
