One brand, three identities & hundreds of brokers
Marsh
We started working with insurance leader Marsh in 2009. We were called in to develop the brand for three new offerings, ProBroker, Labyrinth and Connections, all under the new Marsh Networks umbrella. The new set up gave regional insurance brokers the opportunity to market enhanced products to their own SME clients – as well as access Marsh’s crucial business services. Since the launch we have worked alongside their marketing teams in London, Manchester and Leeds, supporting the Network offering and delivering a number of key projects.
Brands with built in versatility
The Marsh brands have to underpin many different broker communications. These include acquisition materials and campaigns for potential new members (adverts, direct mail and web) as well as ongoing engagement and up selling to existing members (brochures, email updates, event materials, service checklists and product matrices).
Our work also involves communicating complex product information relating to Marsh’s extensive panel of insurance providers. This is where the brand needs to be even more adaptable – working alongside affiliated brands and key product information seamlessly under the overarching Marsh Network identity.
Taking the brand online
Our work with Marsh included setting up the three Network websites – marshprobroker.co.uk, marshlabyrinth.co.uk and marshconnections.co.uk – and email marketing of products and services. The information we learned from this proved invaluable when we were asked to take the key role in building the online trading portals, developed in Microsoft SharePoint. These broker facing websites help deliver the full range of provider products to members.
We kicked off the six-month project with workshops and broker interviews at Marsh’s London offices. Our in-depth research made sure we used the most effective and appropriate interface and product language for the portals. It also informed the way we shaped the Marketplace – an area for the searching, bookmarking and trading of provider’s insurance products – to make it an intuitive and valuable resource. Visual designs were created in tandem with the development of the SharePoint based platform. For the build we used ‘out-of-the-box’ functionality where possible, but we also customised certain features for more accurate results.
The sites also feature social channels to help the Marsh team communicate more effectively with their broker audience. For the first time, Marsh employees appear as visible personalities online, sharing expert insight and expertise through the extranet platforms.
Evolving the brand over time
Since 2009 the brand has evolved visually, becoming increasingly versatile in its look and feel. This was achieved whilst still ‘tipping a hat’ to the Marsh global brand which itself has gone through a couple of revisions over time. We refreshed the brands by introducing a new visual ‘swoosh’, which provides greater flexibility when animating graphics and creating images. A library of new icons and assets give greater creative freedom and help Marsh’s in-house design team to easily illustrate a range of product areas and benefits.
A large project, what’s left for the future? A more open approach, greater personality and creativity, combined with persuasive copywriting, has ensured the Marsh Network brands continue to move forward.
Branding Services:
- New identity and brand hierarchy
- Identity audit
- Guidelines and design templates
- Brand expression (design of materials)
- Photography and image creation
- Name and url generation
- Copy and tone of voice
- Messaging and straplines
- Brand toolkit
- Brand workshops
- Art direction
- Internal engagement and launch
It’s refreshing to work with designers with such commercial savvy, who also deliver outstanding creativity and as our business grows rapidly, it’s good to know we have an agency on side that can keep up with our pace of change. They continually think about our business and love nothing more than rolling up their sleeves and helping us work through the challenges. They’ve inspired us to invest in and value good design.
Marsh Email Marketing
We were brought in to create and evolve the brand of Marsh’s broker placement and professional services division – Marsh Networks. This involved three separate offerings, all which needed unique yet cohesive approaches to their email marketing.
Marsh Events & Exhibitions
Marsh’s networks practice host a few events over the year, the biggest being the Marsh ProBroker conference, which brings together all their members and insurance panel providers. We were on hand to enhance and showcase the ProBroker brand at the event.
Kingston St Georges
The Faculty of Health, Social Care and Education is a joint enterprise of Kingston University and St George’s, University of London. Their unique status called for a design exercise that would create one brand around the partnership of both institutions.