Allianz creates new marketing role highlighting ‘passion’ for brand
The financial services firm is bolstering its brand marketing capabilities with the creation of a new role dedicated to growing its “market visibility”.
Allianz has created its first director of brand role to take the company to “new levels” of customer and market visibility.
Carolyn Rich, who has worked at the financial services firm since 2013 in various roles across the brand marketing function, has been promoted to the role effective immediately (1 May).
She will be responsible for developing an overall brand strategy for Allianz across its personal, commercial and specialty businesses to help the brand gain a greater foothold in the UK market. Rich will report into managing director of Allianz Personal, Serge Raffard.
“We operate with a range of brands in the UK including Allianz, Petplan and LV= General Insurance, and so we wanted to create a more senior role focusing on how to leverage our brand portfolio fully,” Rich told Marketing Week.
“This new role will look after all our brands. The ultimate goal is to keep strengthening our brands so we continue to have a range of market-leading names, which both businesses and consumers know they can trust and love.”
Colm Holmes, CEO of Allianz Holdings, says the creation of this role reflects the “passion and importance” the business attaches to building its brand.
He describes Rich, who has also held roles at Barnardo’s as well as running her own consultancy, as a “dynamic leader” with a track record of creativity and success in the “branding and marketing world”.
“She is the perfect fit to bring more of our multi-branded story to our consumer and business clients, and to the wider market,” Holmes adds.
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Her first port of call will be directing Allianz’s sponsorship of the 2024 Paris Olympics and Paralympic Games. The business is the ‘Worldwide Olympic and Paralympic Insurance Partner’ of the Games, an eight-year collaboration it began in 2021, which involves sponsoring athletes and Allianz’s MoveNow programme that helps young people get into athletics and sport.
“As it’s a Games year we have the opportunity to activate our partnership, which opens up all kinds of creative options,” says Rich.
Allianz has been looking to increase its brand presence in the UK following its acquisition of LV= in 2020. The company rebranded its existing motor insurance product Flow to Allianz in March and today (1 May) rebranded its personal lines broker business from LV=Broker to Allianz.
Rich explains that in the UK Allianz has historically worked in commercial insurance and therefore has “very high awareness” amongst its target market of insurance brokers, but is less well known amongst consumers.
“We’re going to do more to reach them, as we’ve recently launched car insurance under the Allianz brand,” Rich explains.
Raffard hailed the “ambitious plans” to develop the Allianz business into a household name.
“This rebrand is the latest move in a series of strategic advances for the Allianz brand in the UK and is a new chapter for our personal lines broking business,” he adds.
