consumer engagement

Join us on this week's episode as Jay discusses the essential need for marketers to adapt to changing consumer behaviors and preferences.

"Sometimes marketers be like, oh, this channel doesn't work. Search doesn't work for us, or social or email doesn't work for us, when in fact it's the offer they're promoting,"

Jay explains, emphasizing the importance of identifying what truly works in the contemporary marketing landscape.

In this episode, Jay dives into:
- The least effective marketing offers and why they’ve lost traction?
- What type of content is working now compared to before?
- Is the power of using 'most read', 'most liked', or 'most popular' just a myth or reality?
- What is the importance of properly managing expectations in marketing?

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Key learning points:

1.The impact of dyslexia on someone’s life

2.The value of neurodiversity in your organisation

3.The benefits of making websites accessible for everyone

Today on the podcast we’re delighted to be joined by Ross Linnett, CEO at Recite Me, a company creating inclusive online experiences through its web accessibility plugin software. We're hear Ross’ story, including the impact that his late dyslexia diagnosis had on his journey, and discuss how companies in financial services and beyond can deliver a more inclusive digital customer experience.

We first chat about how Ross’ undiagnosed dyslexia impacted his school life. Ross was very confident but hated reading aloud to his classmates and wasn’t performing in exams. Ross asked his teachers if he was dyslexic and was dismissed. He thought ‘I must just be a bit thick!’ 

Ross then tells us how he made his life choices around dyslexia, picking electrical engineering, despite not having a passion for it. He eventually got tested after a friend noticed he was showing signs of dyslexia.

Ross explains that we are all on a neurodiverse scale, with Autism and Asperger’s on one side, dyslexia on the other and non-dyslexic people in between. He reminds us that the world is mostly built for neurotypical people, but having a dyslexic brain can be a superpower in itself. Whilst neurotypical brains can only process one or two streams of information at the same time, dyslexic people can handle four or five. Ross reminds us that dyslexia is about the brain performing differently, despite being labelled as a disability. He tells us that The World Health Organisation thinks that 10-15% of the western population is dyslexic, but it could be as high as 25%!

Ross then tells us about how he became President of his Student Union where his abilities could shine.: ‘I got into running a £3 million business when I was 22’. He even pitched into the white paper for the Disability Discrimination Act. Before this, it was up to disabled people, not employers, to make necessary adjustments. 

We then asked Ross about how his experiences led to founding Recite Me. After his diagnosis, accessibility software was a game-changer. Being able to have text read out aloud and change background page colour would allow him to stay switched on and work faster for longer. To make websites more accessible, Ross started Recite Me. Tools like text-to-speech, magnification, dyslexia-friendly fonts help his clients (including Boots and Tesco Bank) make their sites more readable for all. Ross tells us that these systems don’t just benefit dyslexics – everyone has their own combination of background colour, font and text colour that can make the work up to 20-25% faster. That’s why Ross believes that digital accessibility tools should be as common as a wheelchair ramp.

We then talk about the need for accessibility in financial services. Ross reminds us that we must read lots of legalese on websites. He questions how well companies could enforce a contract if someone couldn’t properly absorb that information. Walls of text like policy documents can easily make him bored – so he often leaves buying his insurance right to the last minute.

Ross warns us that the biggest impact on a dyslexic’s life can be the resistance of systems. Where something, like education, hasn’t worked for someone, they either design a system for themselves or reject it. He tells us that a study of a prison’s population revealed that 85% of the inmates were dyslexic. He urges people to get tested if they believe they are dyslexic.

Finally, we ask what non-dyslexic people can do to help, as community members and employers. Ross hopes that neurodiverse conditions are seen less as disabilities but more for their advantages in teams, such as their analytical and memory skills. He wants this to be as universal as having gender diversity in modern organisations.

This month Ben talks Marketing with Jim Joseph, author of The Conscious Marketer.

So what is a conscious marketer? It's a marketer, a brand or a company that is aware of what's going on in the world and as a result; is making a true difference in consumers' lives.  Jim and Ben discuss the ways the marketing industry is changing to meet the needs of a more conscious, engaged consumer and how brands are becoming true members in their communities, right alongside consumers. Jim talks about the tools he uses to navigate the ever-changing landscape of effective marketing and branding and explains how to market empathetically, actively, and with intent.

To learn more about Jim and The Conscious Marketer, visit www.jimjoseph.com

The Key Learning Points:

1. Workplace cultural challenges faced by women, ways to reclaim your power and the importance of doing so

2. Digital marketing approaches around life insurance and how they need to change as you move down the marketing funnel

3. The role of women in households today, the importance of recognising unpaid care and the use of targeted marketing messages to close the female protection gap

On this week's remote Risky Mix podcast, we're joined by Vickie Smith, now Chief Marketing Officer at Falling Rain, a global data privacy company, and a lady with lots of experience marketing life insurance in the US. Vickie calls herself an ‘international digital nomad’ and is speaking to us today from Barcelona. We’re looking forward to hearing more about her travels in this episode and diving into the world of marketing insurance.

Vickie started her career as a receptionist at an internet security company in Georgia and quickly moved into the marketing team. After a few years, Vickie moved to New York and secured a marketing job for a cable TV provider. In 2007, she moved back to Massachusetts, where she was born and raised, and joined a marketing agency which served non-profits. Eight years later she entered the world of insurance and joined a large corporation looking to launch a new direct-to-consumer offering. At the same time, she returned to school to get her MBA and recalls the learnings she gathered around D&I: “Schools, nowadays, are really aware of the struggles that diversity and gender and all these things - how they impact people in the workplace. They are teaching skills to develop a healthier work environment.” Vickie admits that her work environment was “tough culturally” and focused on applying techniques that she’d learnt in school to “take back her power.”

Vickie spent five years working in life insurance in the US and explains some of her marketing frustrations: “The biggest difference I noticed right away with marketing in insurance is that it was a little tougher to be really creative.” She adds that this was mainly due to the brands she worked with and a desire for these established brands to remain consistent, and while these approaches originally worked, Vickie questions whether a different approach may be needed to reach today’s consumers. 

We talk about the marketing funnel and the approaches Vickie has seen work, at each stage, when it comes to life insurance. She explains that to get people engaged in your brand, the creative is really important, especially on channels like social media. But as you move down the funnel to the point where a consumer is about to purchase, thinking becomes more practical, more product-focused, more price-led, and this is where things can get complicated: “You have to pay attention to which channel you are in the marketing funnel. Is it awareness, where you have to be more creative? Or are you now going to lower in the funnel where they’re aware and about to make a decision?” 

The conversion moves onto women and the need to get more women financially protected. Vickie explains that the makeup of households is very different today: “Never have we had a time when there are so many different types of roles in the household. We have stay at home mums, we have two mums, we have two working parents, we have households with multi-generational homes.” She adds that all of these groups need unique marketing messages. She has some experience of running a marketing campaign around life insurance for a targeted group of women but adds: “I don’t think we were risky enough in how we said it. What happened was that the messaging became bland and safe.” She wishes they’d gone a bit further and had more fun with it. 

The Key Learning Points:

1. Three things the insurance industry can do to help those outside of the industry with health conditions, who don’t know anything about insurance

2. The support that advisers need when speaking with customers who could be in vulnerable situations

3. How companies can create a culture that removes barriers for employees with health conditions

On this week's remote Risky Mix podcast, we're joined by Kathryn Knowles, managing director of Cura, protection advice business focused on ‘insuring the uninsurable’. She’s also a podcasting pro, hosting The Practical Protection Podcast and has won a number of industry awards including Female Diversity Champion of the Year and Social Media Influencer of the Year!

Kathryn entered the protection industry back in 2010 and around a similar time, she started looking for her own personal protection insurance. Because she has hypermobility syndrome and suffers with generalised anxiety disorder, only two insurers even considered her application: “I’ve got a mortgage, I’ve got a husband, I’m working full time. And yet I can’t have insurance.” Eventually, she accepted insurance at a higher premium, which she was told that was because of her mental health, an explanation she found difficult: “You’re being told that you’re still not normal!” Kathryn saw a need to help those outside of the industry with health conditions, who have limited knowledge of insurance. This became a focus when launching Cura in 2012.  

The conversation moves onto the support that advisers need when speaking with customers who could be in vulnerable situations and who need to have challenging conversations around physical and mental health. Kathryn explains that advisers at Cura have six months of training – three months training on the industry and three months on how to approach difficult conversations and also complete industry exams. “Tone and empathy is a massive thing with our advisers.” Cura has a “red flag system” in their office, so if someone needs support they wave their flag: “It’s the responsibility of the owners of advisory firms to make sure that the team is completely safe and they have these systems in place to feel safe.”

We ask Kathryn what three asks she has of insurers and the industry:

1.  More detailed decline letters - “I think there is a duty upon insurers to contact people and speak through it.”

2.  Broadening critical illness definitions – introducing more catch-all, broader, definitions

3.  More life cover for people who’ve had mental health conditions – using more self-harm and suicide exclusions: “A lot more people would be happy with exclusions than insurers think”

We then chat more about the Cura team that Kathryn and Alan have built. The team of 20 is very diverse in terms of gender, with 80% females and 20% males. She explains: “It’s who comes to apply to work for us. So far, it’s been a lot of women who want to work for us, and we’re getting quite a few female advisers now.” Kathryn explains that Cura still has some work to do to achieve a better racial mix: “I’ll be very honest and say that the company is white. That’s not something I like. I would absolutely love to have more diversity in the company." Kathryn hopes that remote working will help to achieve a greater mix around race and ethnicity.

Kathryn adds that many individuals within the Cura team have health conditions and explains: “We’re diverse when it comes to gender and we are very inclusive when it comes to health.” She has focused on removing barriers for Cura employees - for working parents, they offer adapted hours to fit around schooling. Cura also offers flexible hours to fit around sporting seasons and events for team members taking part in local sporting activities.

The Key Learning Points:

1. The long term financial impacts of Covid-19 

2. How insurance companies are helping those struggling financially in the pandemic

3. The impact of negative mainstream press on the insurance sector and the importance of discussing financial issues both personally and professionally 

Today on the Risky Mix Podcast (our first-ever remote episode!) we’re joined by Simoney Kyriakou who works at the FT and is editor of Financial Adviser, which delivers investments, mortgages, protection insurance and regulation news to the financial services world.  When Simoney’s not keeping us all up to date on the latest industry news, she’s dabbling in cookery, jewellery making and practising ancient languages! 

Simoney started her journey in financial journalism back in 1999 and admits: “For quite a long time, I didn’t know I was in financial journalism and didn’t even know I was a journalist!” After completing her master’s degree in Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic, she remembers thinking: “Oh my gosh, I have no skills for the modern world.” Simoney did some work at a pensions office during her time at university and was contacted by a lady from Pensions World who was looking for an assistant editor. Simoney explains that at one particular conference she was directed to the press bench: “It was at that moment that everything suddenly clicked! Okay, so I’m writing, I’m an assistant editor, I’m on a magazine, I’m covering conferences, I’m wearing a press badge and some guy’s just called me a journo. So, four weeks in I realised, I’m a financial journalist!” A rather unconventional entry into the financial services journalism industry.

When asked what she is seeing across the financial industry, Simoney explains: “Coronavirus has subsumed nearly every aspect of the financial and mainstream press over recent weeks, that’s not surprising. I think this is leading to some long-term trends that we need to be very aware of. One is an increasing financial pressure on more people, especially middle-income households. I think we will see a lot more credit card debt exploding in people’s faces this year. I think we are likely to see the continued erosion of the Highstreet happen at an accelerated pace this year which will lead to more questions about corporate responsibility and shareholder pressure.” 

We touch on the impact of coronavirus on inforce protection policies. Simoney explains that the ABI recently put out a warning explaining that people who are feeling cash-strapped may look for easy savings, their protection policy being one of those. She also refers to the insurers who are now offering premium payment holidays, which give people a financial break and help to ensure that important protection policies stay in place. 

We talk about the rise of rogue lead generators who are looking to prey on those who are financially vulnerable at this time. Simoney believes that it’s important for all of us to call this behaviour out. We also talk about the mainstream consumer press and some of the negative messages which are going out and are reducing the (already low) trust in our industry. Most people don’t get financial advice, so many rely on the messages coming out from the media. Simoney adds: “I think it’s important for us to have conversations with our friends and our families, raise these issues personally and professionally.”

The Key Learning Points:

1. The top four tips for companies looking to attract more millennials to the insurance industry

2. How companies can use marketing to build an employer brand

3. The important role gender diverse recruitment plays in attracting the best job candidates

In this week’s episode of the Risky Mix podcast we were joined by Victoria McLean, CEO of City CV. Victoria has had extensive and global experience in the recruitment industry with specialist recruitment consultancies and top-tier financial service companies, and founded City CV 10 years ago. She works closely with individuals and organisations on anything related to career development.

Victoria’s recruitment career started in London, moved to Sydney and subsequently returned to London, where she worked in the banking sector and eventually left to have children. On struggling to juggle 60-hour weeks, city life and motherhood, Victoria decided to invest in a coach which gave her the opportunity to really evaluate what she wanted to do, and from there decided to set up her own recruitment firm. 10 years on, Victoria has grown her business and now runs a team of 25, made up of writers and coaches.

Victoria explains that the challenge for the financial services industry is to recruit more millennials, to reflect the shift in the consumer base, but adds that “often the perception of insurance is that it can be quite traditional and not that attractive” and believes that “we need to make the industry appear as attractive as possible.” For organisations, Victoria explains that there are four key elements to focus on: Building a brand, communicating that brand, managing the recruitment process and holding onto the talent you have.

When it comes to brand, Victoria adds that insurers spend a fortune on marketing and building their brand, but that tends to be their consumer brand, and companies often forget about their employer brand. Once the employer brand has been developed, she explains that Linkedin can be an excellent tool to communicate that brand, but recognises that Linkedin has historically been used to communicate the consumer brand. Victoria recommends that employers review the Linkedin profiles of their team because “the average network size of a company’s employees is ten times larger than the network size of the company itself.”

The next stage of the process is attracting the best candidates to the company and the specific role. Victoria explains the role that diversity plays here, with a PwC survey finding that 70% of females in financial services look at the diversity of the leadership team when they were deciding whether to accept a role. Victoria also raised the point around the value of returnship programs, which are designed to encourage people back into the workforce, for example, after having children. Shockingly, less than half of financial services firms have a returnship program in place.

Thinking about the recruitment process, Victoria believes that the candidate experience is essential. Victoria adds that she’s “seen some real horror stories” when it comes to unprofessional interviews, things like interviewers being unprepared, not complying with legalities and having poor etiquette, all of which leave a horrible feeling for candidates.

For Victoria, eliminating bias is important in the recruitment process and she believes that the Women in Finance Charter has a part to play. The charter was set up by the treasury and aims to raise the profile of women in the sector. In the UK, more than 250 financial services firms have signed up so far. Their target is to achieve 40% female representation within senior management over the next three years and gender parity over the medium term. Victoria loves the fact that by signing up to the charter, at least one member of every firm’s senior executive team is responsible and accountable for gender diversity.

On today’s show, guest and free market champion Don McDaniel explores what it means to apply free market principles to healthcare, why being a stage-agnostic partner is a good thing, and the role of educational institutions in transforming the industry. This episode goes a full hour but is chock full of incredibly insightful free market thoughts and ideas from our guest, Don McDaniel, CEO of Canton & Company. 

About Don

Don is a serial entrepreneur with more than 25 years of experience in healthcare leadership. As CEO of Canton & Company, he helps pioneering healthcare firms across the industry achieve growth and success. He is a recognized thought leader and health economist, and a sought-after speaker, writer, and facilitator. Consistent across his diverse background is helping disruptive healthcare companies of all sizes and stages succeed through strategic growth. 

The Key Learning Points:

1. The 12 key financial perils that women face throughout their life course 

2. Advice on the six key moments when intervention can be made to improve women’s financial resilience 

3. How businesses can improve their services for customers as well as improving the financial inclusion and wellbeing of their employees 

In this special episode of the Risky Mix podcast we were lucky to be joined by two founders of Insuring Women’s Futures (IWF), Sian Fisher, CEO of the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII), and Jane Portas, Insurance Partner from PwC. The IWF is looking to improve the financial resilience of women in society. They launched their manifesto last year which outlines five pillars of activity, aiming to drive change in the profession and beyond.

IWF was born out of an Insurance Supper Club dinner, where Sian and Jane found themselves sat next to each other and spent the evening sharing stories about their experiences and those of their mothers and grandmothers, particularly around the topic of financial resilience. After agreeing that many women today still face the same money issues which impacted the older women in their families, Sian and Jane decided to take action and launched IWF, as part of the CII. Their beliefs around the financial resilience of women were confirmed while attending the Women of the World festival, and asking attendees the question; ‘Do you think women’s risks in life are the same as men’s, and do you think they are suitably engaged with those risks?’, with the overwhelming response being ‘no’.

Jane explains the risk assessment she conducted which enabled her to identify 12 key perils and pitfalls that women face throughout their life course. Contained within the Securing the financial future of the next generation report, Jane outlines some shocking statistics from her research, one such example being that men’s average pension wealth is five times that of women’s. Sian and Jane explain that their analysis enabled them to identify six moments that matter, six points in women’s lives when interventions can be made to improve their financial resilience.

Sian tells us about the manifesto, which prioritises five key pillars for action, based on the findings from the perils and pitfalls research and moments that matter. Three of those pillars are aimed at improving financial resilience for women in society, and Sian explains that they are working with government, regulators and the third sector. The two remaining pillars are aimed at our profession and how we can improve our services for customers, as well as improving financial inclusion and wellbeing of our employees.

Sian and Jane have kindly invited all those looking to support Insuring Women’s Futures to their event on the 19th November at the Odeon BFI IMAX, where they will launch the outputs of their work and the pledges they are asking of the industry.

For more information on the fantastic work of IWF, please see: www.insuringwomens futures.co.uk

The Key Learning Points:

1. Advice on making the transition from the corporate world to setting up your own business 

2. The importance of talking to friends about how to start saving and how to get on the property ladder 

3. How encouraging and supporting other women can help improve diversity and inclusion in the financial sector 

In this episode of the Risky Mix podcast we speak with Naomi Greatorex, managing director of Heath Protection Solutions, and her daughter Heather, case manager at advice firm LDN finance. 

Having spent time at AXA, Scottish Provident and Vitality, supporting intermediaries across mortgages and insurance, Naomi identified a gap in the market for specialist face-to-face protection advice so took the plunge and set up her own advice firm, Heath Protection Solutions, in 2014. Naomi has worked hard to build relationships with businesses in the professional services sector, such as accountants and lawyers, who refer their clients to Naomi to discuss protection needs.

Naomi explains that the decision to leave the corporate world and set up her own business came from a desire to take more control of her life, she wanted to make a real difference to peoples’ lives and was keen to bring back the client-facing element that she was missing in her previous B2B corporate positions. She admits that the early stages of her business journey were tough, but Heather being slightly older made the process easier because Naomi was able to dedicate the required time to developing Heath Protection Solutions.  

Heather entered the financial services industry after completing work experience with LDN Finance, where her mum is also protection director. She speaks of the excellent culture the business has developed and praises the diverse gender mix at the firm. Heather explains how her role in financial services inspired her to start saving into an ISA and explains that she regularly speaks with her friends about saving and getting onto the property ladder. 

Naomi believes that encouragement and supporting other women, particularly when that comes from women in leadership roles, will ultimately help to improve diversity and inclusion in our industry. For Heather, confidence is key. She was given the confidence to enter the industry, complete her exams, and is working towards a successful career in financial services. 

People often admit that they fell into financial services, but we have the power to change that and make our industry a career of choice by sharing the amazing things we do, whether that’s helping people to buy their first home, or being there during the tough times, we change lives, and that’s something we should all be proud of. 

The Key Learning Points:

 1. How financial awareness and the literacy of women can contribute to the gender pension gap

 2. The impact of the ‘Are You In’ movement and how it aims to change the culture within financial services

 3. The need for more financial education in schools and in the workplace

In this episode of the Risky Mix podcast we speak with Anna Sofat, founder and managing director of Addidi, a financial advice firm which specialises in supporting women and their families.

In part 2 of our chat with Anna, we learn more about Addidi, a family business that was built with women in mind. The ‘Create.Invest.Enjoy’ program delivers a holistic approach to Women’s wealth, encouraging younger women to think more about their financial futures and older women to enjoy their accumulated wealth. And for Anna, it’s as much about enjoying your money as it is accumulating it, which she explains can sometimes be at odds with traditional wealth advice.

When thinking about financial awareness and literacy of women, Anna believes that we need to think differently. She explains that, when it comes to money, we are often driven by our short-term needs, which for many women can be around starting a family. And those decisions will impact our future finances, leading to the large pension gap that women now face. Anna feels that we need more financial education in school and encourages corporates to provide their staff with access to financial education and support in the workplace.

We also learn more about the Are You In? movement, a movement that is designed to change the culture within financial services. Anna believes that we need an overarching purpose that people can engage with, both inside and outside of the industry. That’s why she’s working with 10-12 businesses to look at their purpose and how that’s impacting their company culture and changing behaviours. At an individual level, Anna believes that culture can be changed from the bottom up, and is asking everyone to sign up to one of the five pledges which form part of the movement.

For more information, and to make your pledge, visit: https://www.addidi.com/areyouin/

The Key Learning Points:

1. How the male-dominated financial services sector can lead to women committing huge personal sacrifices to climb the corporate ladder

2. How to create a successful business that still resonates with your personal values

3. The need for businesses to develop products and services with women in mind in order to reduce the gender inequality surrounding financial independence 

In this episode of the Risky Mix podcast we speak with Anna Sofat, founder and managing director of Addidi, a financial advice firm which specialises in supporting women and their families.

In part 1 of our chat with Anna, we hear about her career and personal journey in financial services. Starting out in the banking world, Anna realised that climbing the corporate ladder would mean a huge personal sacrifice, hearing “well that’s the end of that then” after explaining to her boss that she was pregnant, and working in a culture driven by facetime rather than flexibility, Anna knew the corporate world wasn’t for her.

On leaving the banking sector, Anna joined the first “for-women-by-women” business, set up in the late 80s, to help women become more financially independent, and admits that it was the first place she felt at home in financial services. Anna explains that she gained an appreciation of the fact that you can do business in a different way, knowing that you can build something successful that still resonates with your values, and so Addidi was born.

‘The voice of women’s wealth’, Addidi was set up with a strong focus on supporting women with their finances after Anna became aware of just how great the need was, explaining that by 2020, women will have more than 50% of all investable wealth. But worryingly, according to Anna’s research, only 10% of women feel that the financial industry meets their needs. Explaining that women cited ‘jargon’ and ‘being sold to’ as the main issues, Anna believes we can be doing more as an industry to develop products that are designed with women in mind.

Anna is on a mission to change the culture of wealth, spearheading the Are You In? movement. It’s a movement that’s not about men and women, it’s about values, and Anna believes that our industry could be the one to set a new tone, using our power for the better, to do things differently.